Much has been debated about the how the use of helmets impacts bicycling rates (or doesn’t). Now the debate is finding a new battlegrounds among the burgeoning crop of bike-share systems throughout North America. Vancouver B.C. is an interesting case. The city is lauded as a leader in bicycling (they’re even hosting the major international … Read more
Looking west on Broadway with a van turning right on Wheeler.(Photo © J. Maus/BikePortland) Yet another person has been injured due a collision on North Broadway where it crosses Flint and Wheeler (map). This has been a known problem spot for years and just last week there was a collision that ended up with a … Read more
“It took losing a couple of teeth for me to definitively decide to ride a different route.”— Karl Zickrick, victim of the Broadway/Flint intersection Given the media attention around Wednesday’s nasty collision on N Broadway between Flint and Wheeler, I thought it’d be worthwhile to highlight the words of the man whose body shattered the … Read more
Bike share is a runaway success in Washington D.C. We knew this was coming. With bike share finally moving forward in Portland, we could count on The Oregonian to do their best undermine it before it even hits the street. Why? Because it’s about bikes, it’s new — and most importantly — because it is … Read more
Adams in a guest op-ed today. Lest you think my repeated criticisms of the way The Oregonian frames transportation issues was just my personal axe to grind, it’s worth noting that the front page story in their Sunday edition is being called out from many corners. In addition to the numerous intelligent citizens we’ve heard … Read more
Give me a break. Well, you can’t say I didn’t warn you. The Oregonian’s strange, anti-bike editorial last week, seems to have laid the groundwork for Sunday’s front page story that unfairly and inaccurately blames bikes for PBOT’s budget problems. As you can see from the front page image, under massive font that reads, “Portland’s … Read more
The Oregonian Editorial Board weighed in on the state of bicycling in Portland today. The editorial appeared on the same week that PBOT released its annual bike counts showing a 6.4% increase between 2010 and 2011. Whenever our state’s newspaper of record devotes major opinion space to bicycling, it’s worth noting. Regardless of what you … Read more
Rep. John Mica at a bike industry fundraising event in March 2009.(Photo © J. Maus/BikePortland) Since the House transportation bill has gone all crazy, I’ve been banging my head against my desk to figure out why Republican members of the House Transportation & Infrastructure Committee are so afraid of including any mention of bicycling, transit … Read more
A memorial on SE Foster near site of fatal collision back in November 2009.(Photos © J. Maus) The Portland Bureau of Transportation (PBOT) has been doing “crosswalk enforcement actions” for several years. The events, which place a human decoy in a crosswalk with a phalanx of cops waiting to pull people over nearby, have helped … Read more
Could the route for the streetcarbecome a bicycle highway?(Image: Metro) After what the Oregonian called “persistent doubts from suburban taxpayers and a wealthy enclave of homeowners” the Lake Oswego streetcar project is on the rocks. Concerns about construction and operating costs of the streetcar were the reasons for its demise, but over $2 million has … Read more
I believe it’s time for a new transportation vision.(Photo © J. Maus/BikePortland) Tonight, President Obama will give the annual State of the Union address. While there’s zero chance he’ll mention bicycling, there is a chance he’ll mention transportation investments (likely in the context of creating jobs). If you were writing the speech, what would you … Read more
Comment of the Week: We need more public restrooms downtown