The City of Portland has just released the results from their 15th annual “Citizen Survey”. This survey was sent to residents in all 95 neighborhoods with over 22,000 responses being tallied. The goal of the survey was to find out what residents think of a variety of city services; from trash collection to water quality. … Read more
Last week I posted about bike lawyer Ray Thomas’ new campaign to take the law into our own hands when in a serious injury crash with a motorist. The advice was great, but it wasn’t very clear to non-lawyers. What follows below is a more straightforward checklist of what do to after you’ve been hit. … Read more
Back in October, transportation advocates and concerned citizens attended a Transportation Safety Summit hosted by Commissioner Sam Adams. The goal was to identify specific strategies that would make our streets safer. Based on the summit, PDOT created an action plan and released it for public input. Only problem is that no knows it exists. Turns … Read more
Local bike lawyer Ray Thomas is working on a new campaign to empower injured cyclists to literally take the law in their own hands. His is distributing a new pamphlet titled, “Action Pamphlet #1; Do-it Yourself Guide to Citizen Initiation of Violation Proceedings.” You can find it at local bike shops, download the PDF here … Read more
A team comprised of BTA, PDOT, and the Bureau of Technology Services (BTS) reps is developing a web tool to report bicycle crashes and near misses. This close calls map should be ready for beta testing this March and the initial database will be populated with data from your comments to my “Wanted: your close … Read more
The Community Cycling Center has funding through the Oregon Dept. of Transportation for grants up to $5,000 for “innovative and creative” bike safety programs that “incorporate a strong educational element.” Applications are due Feb 23. For more information or to receive your application packet, contact Jen Robinson with your name, name of your agency/ organization, … Read more
The Get Lit program organized by Jeff Bernards and Shift to Bikes has been a great success. This year they’ve given away over 500 pairs of high-quality Planet Bike lights…for free! Jeff’s innovative program has inspired a similar program by the Portland Police and the City of Portland.
One of the goals of the Bike Safety Workshops the City put on over the summer was to inspire neighborhoods to form their own bike safety groups. They even gave out some grant money to make it happen. Well, leave it to the folks at Southeast Uplift (SEUL) to be the first to run with … Read more
[Update: more photos of the markings] In the past 24 hours I have heard from several reliable sources that the new Hawthorne Bridge markings were done with little to no input from cyclists. One bike advocacy insider went so far as to say: “I am incredibly disappointed in the County (again, I might add) for … Read more
[Update: more photos of the markings] Multnomah County work crews restriped the bike/ped path on the popular Hawthorne Bridge this morning. The new markings were done in an effort to “reduce conflicts between pedestrians and bicyclists” according to the official press release (PDF). Here’s more from the release:
In response to complaints of cyclists running stop signs, the Portland Police Bureau (PPB) ran a traffic enforcement action at SE 26th and Clinton streets this morning. An enforcement action is sort of like a sting, except the cops put out cones and flags announcing it in all directions. They also publicized the location way … Read more
I know I’ve been harsh on ODOT in the past, but now I applaud them. A few weeks ago I posted something about a couple riding a tandem that had slipped on wet paint laid down by ODOT road crews. The paint had just been applied and no signs or cones were placed to warn … Read more
Comment of the Week: Winning over a palm tree skeptic