This story is part of our special 2009 National Bike Summit coverage (sponsored by Planet Bike). For more coverage, follow BikePortland on Twitter and browse the latest photos in our Bike Summit photo gallery. Rep. Doris Matsui wants to slay the evil, bloated, highway dragon.(Photos © J. Maus) With a commitment to focus on livable … Read more
“This is an opportunity for the bicyclists to start contributing to our roads… everybody needs to contribute to what’s there… if there were not bicycles we wouldn’t need bicycle lanes.” — Rep. Wayne Krieger Representative Wayne Krieger (R-Gold Beach) wants everyone who owns a bicycle in the state of Oregon to pay a mandatory, $54 … Read more
Rep. Wayne Krieger is one of the bill’s sponsors. Four members of Oregon’s House of Representatives have put forward a new bill that would require all bicycles in Oregon to be registered. House Bill 3008 would establish a “bicycle registration and licensing system.” The bill would also create new offenses for altering bicycle serial numbers … Read more
(Photo © J. Maus) The BTA’s proposal for an Idaho-style stop sign law will get its first public hearing and committee vote later this month. BTA lobbyist Karl Rohde told me this morning that the bill, HB 2690, is scheduled to go in front of the House Transportation Committee at 1:00 p.m. on Wednesday, March … Read more
Idaho-style law fails in Arizona. Will Oregon be any different?(Photos © J. Maus) Arizona’s attempt to adopt an “Idaho-style” stop sign law for bikes has come to a complete stop. According to an article published yesterday in the Tucson Citizen, the bill — which would have changed Arizona’s stop sign law to permit bicycles to … Read more
“Our hope is to find funding to backfill the Safe Routes program…but we can’t guarantee that.” — Catherine Ciarlo, transportation policy advisor for Mayor Adams Mayor Adams made his first State of the City address at the City Club in downtown Portland today. According to a report just published by the Portland Tribune, he apologized … Read more
Commissioner Fritz voiced many concerns before voting “no” on the proposal last night.(Image: City of Portland) At their meeting last night, Portland’s City Council gave Mayor Sam Adams authorization to vote in favor of a 12-lane Columbia River Crossing (CRC) bridge. But, according to Adams’ office, the vote does not mean the Mayor (and council) … Read more
She would have gotten a lower traffic fine had Bailey’s bill moved forward.(Photo © J. Maus) Last week we reported on State Representative Jules Bailey‘s proposed bill to create a new vehicle weight class that would include bicycles and to base traffic fine amounts on the weight class of offenders’ vehicles. If passed, the law … Read more
Hollie Teal, who organizedthe rally that convinced Sam Adams to stay on as Mayor, sat down with him for a chat recently.(Photos © J. Maus) Without Hollie Teal, Sam Adams would no longer be Portland’s Mayor. At least, that’s what Adams told her during a lunch they recently had together. Teal is the woman who … Read more
State Rep. Jules Bailey Newly elected Oregon State Representative from Southeast Portland, Jules Bailey, has introduced a bill into the legislature that would create a new vehicle weight class for non-motorized vehicles weighing under 50 pounds — such as bicycles (we think that weight might be too low with some of today’s new cargo bikes, … Read more
Getting paid to ride to work isn’t that easy…yet.(Photo © J. Maus) I’ve gotten many emails over the past few weeks wondering why I haven’t covered the Bike Commute Tax Benefit that became law on January 1. One reason is that I’m just not all that enthused about it; and it turns out I’m not … Read more
AG John Kroger In the course of my reporting here at BikePortland.org, I don’t usually come in contact with the Oregon Attorney General. But I was surprised to find out this morning that Oregon top lawyer, John Kroger, is something of a bike lover. In an AP story I read via the Seattle PI, Kroger … Read more