A recent flap over Sunday Parkways funding at City Council underscores what seems to be a growing reality for people who run active transportation programs: You better start looking for private funds because city/state/federal budgets are shrinking fast. Portland would not be getting a bike-sharing system (at least right now) if it weren’t for the … 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
(Image: BikePortland) Bikes Belong just announced that Volkswagen will donate “significant funding” to support their ongoing People For Bikes campaign and other programs the organizations funds like like the Safe Routes to School National Partnership. Here’s an excerpt from the press release: “We are working with VW as part of its Think Blue initiative, which … Read more
Good thing someone was riding by!(Photo © J. Maus/BikePortland) Portland Fire & Rescue (PF&R) shared a heroic tale this morning about a man who was riding his bike on the Eastbank Esplanade late last night and heard someone yelling for help and struggling in the Willamette River. According to the fire department, Dan Sinclair was … Read more
Kaufman at an Occupy Portland event in November.(Photo © J. Maus/BikePortland) Local media activist, musician and filmmaker Dan Kaufman of Crank My Chain! CycleTV had his “Disco Trike” impounded by the Portland Police tonight. Kaufman was downtown participating in the “J25” Occupy Portland event in support of the Egyptian uprising. It was planned as a … Read more
Say hello to Milano.(Rendering by Ankrom Moisan Architects) Here in Portland we’ve seen many commercial and residential developments that are built with bicycling in mind. Whether they’re directly marketed to people who ride bikes, or come with impressive bike parking, catering to Portlanders’ love of bicycling is nothing new. But the Milano Apartments, set to … Read more
What Portland needs is a road that connects a close-in neighborhood to downtown that’s designed in such a way that people who choose to ride a bicycle on it can enjoy the same level of comfort, efficiency, and safety that people who choose to drive or take transit currently experience. Contrary to the vision of … Read more
A man riding down NW Lovejoy yesterday, alongside what used to be plastic bollards.(Photos © J. Maus/BikePortland) It looks like PBOT will have to head back to the drawing board in their effort to create separation between bike and auto traffic on the NW Lovejoy ramp leading down from the Broadway Bridge. About a month … Read more
Governor Geer, bike lover.(Photo: Oregon State Library) Remember Oregon’s tenth governor, Theodore T. Geer? He’s the great Oregonian who, in May of 1900, rode his bike from the capital in Salem to Champoeg to establish a monument to an historic vote that took place there in 1843. That vote paved the way to Oregon statehood … Read more
One of the installations by Johnnie Olivan at The 2012 Bicycle Experience show currently going on at the Gallery at Port City on N. Williams and Thompson.
“To me, driving off and leaving a bicyclist or pedestrian laying on the side of the road is one of the most cold-hearted things a driver can do. We’ll go after them every chance we get.”— Sgt. Todd Davis, Portland Police Bureau The Portland Police Bureau takes hit-and-runs seriously — especially when they involve someone … 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