“As a 30-year cyclist, I feel this message is crucial.”–Howard Russell, ODOT The Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) has launched a bike safety campaign. Word of the campaign comes from ODOT’s Howard Russell. Russell is the safety enforcement manager of the agency’s Motor Carrier Division, which he says is a specialized unit devoted to preventing … Read more
The winning design in action.(Photo: NYC DOT) The New York City Department of Transportation has picked a winner in their City Bike Racks Competition. It’s an elegant and simple hoop design created by a team from Copenhagen (which is quite fitting). The NY Times City Room blog has the story: A simple circle, resting on … Read more
An ad from UPS for bike delivery personnel. Shipping giant United Parcel Service (UPS) will add a new weapon to its arsenal in the holiday shipping battle this year — bicycles. Jeff Grant, the company’s workforce planning manager for the Oregon district (that includes Vancouver, WA), says UPS plans to hire 28 bike delivery employees … Read more
PDOT is working on safety improvements at the Broadway/Williams intersection.(Photo © J. Maus) This is the preliminary plan for Broadway Williams that was presented at the Bicycle Advisory Committee meeting last night.
“There’s no way we could have put in the facilities we’ve put in in the last 20 years without the bike tax.”— A Colorado Springs city planner as told to the Gazette newspaper In light of the bike excise tax idea that is being mulled about here in Oregon, I thought I’d share a story … Read more
On Monday, the New York Times featured a story about bike-sharing in Europe. I’ve got an in-depth story (guest article actually) about Portland’s bike-sharing status that will hit the Front Page in the next few days, but there were so many great quotes in this story that I thought it deserved a story (and so … Read more
Riding naked is a “well-establishedtradition”.(Photo © J. Maus) The Oregonian reports that a Multnomah County Judge has thrown out indecent exposure charges in a naked biking case because he feels that it’s a, “‘well-established tradition’ in Portland and understood as a form of ‘symbolic protest.’” Here’s a snip from the Oregonian’s story: Judge Jerome LaBarre … Read more
Let’s help the county pick a better bridge.(Photo © J. Maus) Multnomah County has released the Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) for the Sellwood Bridge Project. Included in the DEIS are details of the five bridge design configurations that are being considered. Now, the County needs your feedback to help them decide what type of … Read more
Liz Dickey will return this year with her fantastic bike-inspired clocks.(Photo © J. Maus) BikeCraft IV is just around the corner! Wednesday, December 10th, at Roots Organic Brewing (on SE 7th, just south of Hawthorne). The event is in Roots’ great new space next door to the regular bar, and will go from 5:30 until … Read more
*[UPDATE: I have edited this story to clarify that the bike tax is not, at this time, a part of Governor Kulongoski’s Jobs and Transportation Act.] The BTA’s Karl Rohde (in red) says he supports the concept of a bike tax.(Photo J. Maus) Both Metro and the Bicycle Transportation Alliance (BTA) are supportive of an … Read more
A very cool new sign.(Photos: Adam Reiser) Custom Bicycles of Portland — the new Guru Bicycles concept store we profiled a few weeks ago — had their first official day of business on Saturday. The store offers a unique, Dell Computer-like approach to bike retail. Only one brand is offered and customers can choose any … Read more
Transportation activist, streetcar advocate, former City Commissioner candidate and blogger Chris Smith was at an event last night where U.S. Congressman Earl Blumenauer had some choice words about the Columbia River Crossing project. Here’s an excerpt from Smith’s report: Blumenauer said the the Columbia River Crossing was a metaphor for the lack of consensus for … Read more