History: School parents formed human chain to highlight Powell Blvd dangers in 1958
Parents have been fighting for safer conditions on Powell for 65 years.
Portland Transportation History
Portland Transportation History
Newspaper archives, research from historians, generational trends — we love looking back as much as looking forward. Scroll down for stories that help put our current transportation policies and projects into perspective.
Now on sale: That amazing 1896 Portland bike map
The map includes several amazing details that give you a window into Portland bike culture at the turn of the 19th century.
Transportation Time Machine: TriMet bike permits
Everyone who takes long multimodal trips knows the routine: before leaving the house, double-check to make sure you have your keys, wallet, and TriMet bike permit. Right? Well, that last one isn’t necessary anymore. But some commenters on our recent throwback article about what bike advocacy looked like at the beginning of the millennium reminded … Read more
In 1934, The Oregonian’s ‘Let’s Quit Killing’ campaign declared a war on traffic deaths
The nationally-known campaign was strikingly similar to today’s Vision Zero.
As Clinton Street’s bikeway turns 30, locals plan a celebration
The Clinton Street bikeway is one thing for sure: beloved.
130 years of Portland’s transportation history in one chart
When you step back far enough, the history of transportation starts to look less like a river and more like a set of waves.
From the Portland city archives: A tall bike on Union Avenue in 1980
Tall bikes look great in sepia, too.
Sam Oakland, leader of the ‘Shift of the 1970s,’ dies at 80
Sam Oakland, an English professor, poet and author who rode his bicycle to work at what was then Portland State College, started rallying bicycle riders to attend City Hall hearings in the late 1960s.
From The Oregonian, Jan. 1, 1895: ‘Reign of the wheel’
119 years later, this short case for the merits of biking still feels like the perfect way to kick off a year of progress.
What caused Portland’s biking boom?
Before 2002, this was just another outdoorsy city on the West Coast; after 2008, it’s been just one more mid-size metro area with an increasingly lively central city. But something strange and wonderful happened in between.
1967 National Road Championships were ‘Portland’s Finest Hour’
Cover of October 1967 American Cycling magazineshows the nation’s top racers at Alpenrose Velodrome.(Photos by Peter Hoffman) While many people think of only bike commuters and naked rides when the topic of cycling in Portland comes up, our city also has a proud tradition when it comes to racing. We shared a glimpse of that … Read more
Bicycle license tax, separated bikeways in Oregon’s 1901 ‘Bicycle Path Bill’
“… it being the object and intent of this act to provide for pedestrians and bicycles a highway separate from that used by teams and horsemen.”— Excerpt from House Bill 63 The more I read about Oregon’s tenth governor, T.T. Geer, the more intriguing this man becomes. As we shared back in 2009, Governor Geer … Read more