🚨 Please note: BikePortland is currently on hiatus and only publishing guest articles. Learn more here. Thank you. - Jonathan 🙏

Traffic safety and Portland’s bottom line

Buffered Bike Lane with a bike symbol and arrow pointing forward

How much is a human life worth?

Unfortunately on this site, we sometimes deal with fatal and very serious crashes. Have you ever stopped to consider the financial and economic impact of those tragedies? The Portland Bureau of Transportation has. In fact, it’s common for government agencies to ascribe a value to human life to justify investments and policies.

Last week, a reader passed along an interesting article in the New York Times about how the monetary value of human life is used by federal agencies. The EPA puts it at $9.1 million, the FDA says its $7.9 million, and it’s $6 million at the DOT.

Read more

Salem Watch: PBOT speed limit bill set for Senate hearing

Buffered Bike Lane with a bike symbol and arrow pointing forward

Senate Bill 334, a bill pushed as priority legislation by the City of Portland that would give local jurisdications more control over setting speed limits, has been scheduled for a hearing. The bill will be heard by the Senate Committee on Business, Transportation, and Economic Development on February 28th at 3:00 pm in Hearing Room B of the State Capitol (900 Court Street NE, Salem).

For more on SB 344, see our previous coverage here. Also take note of the new companion bill in the House, HB 3150. Both bills seek to give more authority to local jurisdictions to lower speed limits on small, residential streets. Currently, ODOT controls speed limits on all roads in the state. HB 3150 also seeks to define “neighborhood greenways.”

See all of our 2011 legislative session coverage here.

Salem Watch: Bike trailer bill gains a sponsor, but lacks support from bike advocates

“I won’t be signing on to the bill… It’s not clear to me that there is an urgent need for legislation right now…”
— Jules Bailey, Oregon House Representative

The bicycle trailer bill we told you about last week is now officially known as SB 846 (text). The language hasn’t changed much and the intent is still to have ODOT create a set of standards that all bicycle trailers sold in Oregon (intended for human occupancy) must adhere to, or else the seller could face civil action.

State Senator Floyd Prozanski says he proposed the bill to “improve safety for our kids.” He has called it “a much better approach” than House Bill 2228, the ill-advised idea to ban kids six and under from being carried on bicycles or being pulled in trailers proposed by fellow legislator Mitch Greenlick (D-Portland).

Read more

A look back at career of Portland bike advocacy pioneer Karen Frost

Alice Awards party

Karen Frost at the 2005 Alice Awards.
(Photo © J. Maus)

It is truly the end of an era: Local transportation activist and bicycling superhero Karen Frost, who has provided graceful leadership in the Portland/Metro area for over 20 years, has announced she will retire by the end of March.

Frost, who turned 66 earlier this month, was the first-ever executive director of the Bicycle Transportation Alliance (from 1995-98) and currently serves as executive director of the Beaverton-based Westside Transportation Alliance (WTA).

Read more

Beyond Beaverton by bike

Beaverton to Tualatin ride-1

Join us for a ride beyond Beaverton.
(Photos © J. Maus)

Last week I met up with Jim Parsons for a ride on the West Side. We wove our way through the bowels of Beaverton, (confronting mega-arterials at every turn) and eventually made our way into beautiful unincorporated Washington County. I always learn a lot when I let Jim lead me on a ride, and this time was no different. Check out the photos and notes below to see what I mean…

One of the best parts of riding in Beaverton are the hidden routes that weave between housing developments. I have no idea how novice riders would know where these bikeways are; but if you can find them, you can find sweet little spots like this bridge and pond…

Read more

Volunteers needed for first-ever Portland bike light count

Buffered Bike Lane with a bike symbol and arrow pointing forward
The faces of Get Lit

All lit up.
(Photo: Jeff Bernards)

In case you haven’t heard, the Bicycle Transportation Alliance (BTA) is working on a campaign to increase awareness of the need to use lights while biking. They debuted a hilarious video PSA a few weeks ago (and more are in the works) and now they’re teaming up with the City of Portland to do the first-ever bike light count.

The purpose of the count is to better understand what the current levels of bike light usage are, find out whether usage is going up or down, and so on. Here’s more from the BTA:

Read more

Former D.C. DOT Director coming to Portland for bike share presentation

Buffered Bike Lane with a bike symbol and arrow pointing forward

Just got this tip via email… Mark you calendars and stay tuned for more details…

Gabe Klein, former Director of the Washington DC Dept. of Transportation, will be in town Friday April 8th, along with Alison Cohen, President of Alta Bicycle Share, Inc., which operates Capital Bike Share in DC.

Alison and Gabe will share lessons learned from Capital Bike Share.

When:
Friday April 8th
3-4 pm
Location TBD (likely at PSU)

After being put on the shelf by PBOT, momentum for a Portland bike sharing system seems to be building once again.

Tonight! Join us for a Get Together in North Portland

SW Portland Get Together-21

Let’s talk about bikes!

Just a quick reminder that if you live, ride, or work in and around the Overlook neighborhood in North Portland, we’d love to see you at the Get Together tonight.

Starting at 5:30, we’ll gather with readers at the Lucky Lab Taproom on the corner of N. Killingsworth and Concord. We’ll have the whole back room to ourselves, so come and grab some food and drink and spend a bit of time with your fellow BikePortlanders.

Read more

Event: Bike Friday Neighborhood Sale (2/25/11)

Buffered Bike Lane with a bike symbol and arrow pointing forward

Event Name: Bike Friday Neighborhood Sale
Event Start Date: 25 February 2011
Start Time: 9:00:00 AM – 6:30 PM
Web Site: http://bikefriday.com
Event Description: Bike Friday Neighborhood Sale!! Friday-Saturday, Feb. 25-26. 9-6:30 pm. Great cash and carry deals on Sports, Expeditions, 8s, Companions, Rockets and Tandems in stock. Pre-Loved prices slashed. Overstock merchandise available. Discounts on accessories.
Founder’s ride with Alan Scholz Saturday a noon.
3364 W. 11th Ave., Eugene, OR 97401.
1-800-777-0258


View Larger Map

Mica presses for specifics at House Transportation Committee field hearing

U.S. House T & I hearing-16

Rep. John Mica is Chairman of the Committee.
(Photos © J. Maus)

At the outset of the “listening session” in Vancouver yesterday, Congressman John Mica tried to make it clear that he wanted specifics. Unfortunately not everyone got the message. Mica, a Republican from Florida, is Chairman of the powerful House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure that is tasked with re-writing our nation’s transportation law. He’s currently on a national tour of field hearings to solicit feedback from local transportation officials and citizens.

Read more

Latest Headlines

‘Better Sheridan’ project brings safer street to South Waterfront 

Your guide to finding the ‘Wildwood’ crows by bike

My journey to that ‘Hard Rock glow’

Off-Road Cycling Master Plan: A decade later, what has changed?

From the Archives

The 10 busiest bicycling spots in Portland