Ron Buel(Photos © J. Maus) [The following editorial was written by Ron Buel. Buel is a long time Portland transportation activist through his work with Riverfront for People. Back in November 2006, BikePortland covered his initiative to bury the I-5 freeway through Portland’s eastside. In this editorial, Mr. Buel shares his concerns that, despite intentions, … Read more
Marcella Red Thunder on the way to pick her daughter up from school.(Photos © J. Maus) There has been a lot of talk and action around bicycle boulevards lately. The term is used to describe low-traffic streets where bicycles are encouraged and supported through a number of engineering measures. They’re all the rage in the … Read more
Approaching the Hawthorne Bridge.(Photos © J. Maus) Since last Thursday, readers have left nearly 500 comments on our stories about a horrific crash on the Hawthorne Bridge between two bike riders. The discussion has revolved around who’s at fault, the design of the sidewalk/path (it’s still unclear what it is, technically), how people should behave … Read more
Traffic on the Hawthorne.(Photos © J. Maus) Traffic on the Hawthorne Bridge can be bad. And I don’t mean car traffic. Roger Geller, the city’s bicycle coordinator received an email from someone who witnessed a horrifying, nearly tragic crash on the Hawthorne Bridge during last Wednesday’s evening rush hour. The witness, who asked to remain … Read more
More trains, more bikes, fewer cars.(Photos © J. Maus) Portland’s transportation future is set to change drastically in the coming years. The stars are aligning for a city — and especially the downtown core — where public transit, feet, and bicycles are the vehicles of choice for most people. Don’t believe me? Just look around … Read more
Roger Geller(Photo © J. Maus) [Editor’s note: This guest editorial was written by Roger Geller, Bicycle Coordinator for the City of Portland.] “What does it mean to be exemplary? To me it means the two “C’s” of cycling: Courtesy and confidence.” In the past week I’ve been noticing harbingers of spring: flowering magnolia, daffodils in … Read more
“The US has big economic problems. But they have been made worse, and harder to resolve, by a half-century in which, at federal urging, the country was misbuilt.”— Christopher Caldwell, The Weekly Standard Reflecting on Obama’s address to congress last week (in which he said that America “cannot walk away from” the automobile), columnist Christopher … Read more
New York City has a plan to radically transform Broadway at 7th Ave. near Times Square.(Photo courtesy Streetsblog)
“Amsterdam is a wonderful city, but Americans never seem to want to live there.”— David Brooks in the New York Times In his latest piece in the New York Times, columnist David Brooks opines that, while Americans might appreciate the finer points of Amsterdam’s urban life (like bikes and beer), they really would rather have … Read more
I recently came across this image again — it’s the map that might have sealed our fate, developed by Portland city planners in 1966 in response to freeway guru Robert Moses’ vision for the city. Robert Moses’ freeway plan for the City of Portland Moses was known for saying “Cities are for traffic,” and he … Read more
Chris Smith [This article was written by Chris Smith. Chris is a multi-modal transportation advocate who writes regularly on PortlandTransport.com. In the late 1990s he helped win neighborhood approval of the NW Bikeways plan that established the bicycle network in NW Portland and the Pearl District. He currently serves as chair of the Streetcar Citizens … Read more
[Editor’s note: This guest editorial was written by first-time BikePortland contributor Spencer Boomhower. Spencer testified in front of City Council during a hearing on the Columbia River Crossing held last Thursday.] Spencer Boomhower I’m sitting at a table with a microphone sticking in my face, and a little digital counter telling me how much time … Read more