4/25: Hello readers and friends. I'm still recovering from a surgery I had on 4/11, so I'm unable to attend events and do typical coverage. See this post for the latest update. I'll work as I can and I'm improving every day! Thanks for all your support 🙏. - Jonathan Maus, BikePortland Publisher and Editor

‘ARTCRANK’ poster show illustrates depth of cycling’s inspiration

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One more night to experience Artcrank.
(Photos © J. Maus/BikePortland)
    “Bikes are the world’s most fun, accessible way to get around. Posters are the world’s most fun, accessible art form. ARTCRANK brings them together.”

That’s the simple yet powerful idea behind Artcrank, an event that opened last night in downtown Portland and continues tonight at 5:00 pm. 34 artists have hung their bike-inspired posters at the Cleaners gallery on SW 10th and Stark and they’re all for sale at $40 a piece.

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Timbers mascot to join city staff at ‘Walk and Bike to School Day’

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Check out the PBOT press release below… Looks like a great day planned next week to celebrate Walk and Bike to School Day:

‘Walk + Bike to School Day’ on Wed., Oct. 9 citywide;
Procession with Commissioner Novick, Director Leah Treat, Timber Joey and
150 students to Maplewood Elementary School

(Oct. 4, 2013) – International “Walk + Bike to School Day” will be celebrated with a news event at Maplewood Elementary School in Southwest Portland at 7:40 a.m. Wednesday, October 9. More than 150 children are expected to meet up and walk or bike to school with City Commissioner Steve Novick, Transportation Director Leah Treat, Portland Timbers’ Timber Joey and community leaders. At the school, teachers, parents and community leaders will talk about the health and safety benefits of being active.

Thousands of other children from about 60 Portland schools will also walk and bike to their schools, showing that it’s easy and fun to walk and bike to school.

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Silver Diamondback Mountain 2005

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Year: 2005
Brand: Diamondback
Model: Mountain
Color:Silver
Stolen in Portland, OR 97266
Stolen:2013-10-3
Stolen From: 84th Place and Woodstock, residence.
Neighborhood: Lents
Owner: Timothy Hulbert
OwnerEmail: tshulbert(at sign)comcast.net
Description: Silver Diamondback Mountain bike, bent back rim, bottle holder on steering wheel and frame. Zip ties on seat from old tool kit
Police record with: Portland PD
This registrant has documented proof of ownership of this bike

New map reveals important key to the future of Portland transportation

Screen grab of the Bureau of Planning and Sustainability’s Comp Plan Map App.

Forget the free bike map taped to your fridge. Forget the city’s terrific but frequently ignored 20-year bike plan. Forget the Bicycle Transportation Alliance’s map of its top 16 regional priorities, and even Metro’s long-term vision of a region with multiple urban centers and a huge grid of mass transit lines.

To understand the potential for where good urban transportation is currently within reach in Portland, you’ve got to look at the map above. Its green area shows “where the street grid meets connectivity standards and where the majority of the streets have sidewalks.”

Without a massive surge of political will, this is likely to be, for decades, the only area of Portland where most people will actually find it appealing to frequently get around without a car.

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New shop on Williams Ave, ‘Gladys Bikes’, caters to women

Gladys Bikes bike shop-11

Leah Benson, owner of Gladys Bikes.
(Photos © J. Maus/BikePortland)

Portland has a new bike shop. But before you react with, “Really? Another one!?”, keep in mind that unlike any other shop in Portland, Gladys Bikes (Facebook) at 3808 N Williams caters specifically to women.

The shop is the work of 30-year old north Portland resident Leah Benson. I stopped by yesterday to check out the space and learn more about her.

A native of Wisconsin, Benson moved to Portland five years ago. She previously worked for Oregon Tradeswomen, Inc., a non-profit that provides education and advocacy for women going into non-traditional employment (mostly building and construction trades). Benson has also been an active volunteer with the Community Cycling Center.

While she’s ridden her bike her entire life (“I grew up in the middle of nowhere, so I had to ride my bike if I wanted to do anything,” she said) and started biking to work in her early 20s, it wasn’t until she moved to Portland that biking became a larger part of her life. “This is such an easy city to become immersed in bicycles,” she said, “it became not just something I did to get from point A to point B, but so much an integral part of my life.”

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Red&black Bajaj Pulser 220F 2013

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Year: 2013
Brand: Bajaj
Model: Pulser 220F
Color:Red&black
Serial: HR76A7006
Stolen in GURGAON, OR 122001
Stolen:2013-09-28
Stolen From: hyde park in ansal,
badshapur,
gurgaon haryana
India
Owner: Rajender Kumar
OwnerEmail: Upendersingh.chauhan(at sign)gmail.com
Description: Lord Little Hanuman sticker(Red) in frunt of the mask.
Police record with: FIR no 376 date 29-09-2013
Police reference#: Badsahpur
This registrant has documented proof of ownership of this bike

Metro seeks applicants for influential transportation committee

The Portland area’s regional government is recruiting three volunteers to join one of the most powerful transportation committees in town.

Metro’s Transportation Policy Alternatives Committee has three openings starting in January. The committee, which is divided between transportation professionals and community members, advises the elected Metro council and other bodies on many transportation investment priorities and policies.

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Maroon Takara 2013

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Year: 2013
Brand: Takara
Color:Maroon
Size:small/medium
Stolen in Portland, OR 97218
Stolen:2013-10-2
Stolen From: Home on NE 47th/Killingsworth.
Neighborhood: Cully
Owner: Emily Padua
OwnerEmail: emily.padua( atsign )gmail.com
Description: Maroon Takara step through with dropped handle bars (black handle bar tape). Some paint chipping off of top bar near handlebars from keeping bike lock there while riding. Has a rack, and mismatched black fenders. Yellow circle “Bike Recycle Vermont” sticker on seat post.
This registrant does not have proof of ownership of this bike

Finally! An easy web tool to track city transpo projects

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A screen grab of transportation projects in the Portland planning bureau’s new map app.

Isn’t it great when a local government agency uses the Internet to make political participation much easier?

Portland’s Bureau of Planning and Sustainability released a new tool Tuesday that does exactly that. It’s the Google Maps of Portland planning and demographics, and definitely a resource worth knowing about.

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Black

Buffered Bike Lane with a bike symbol and arrow pointing forward

Color:Black
Stolen in P, OR 97202
Stolen:2013-10-2
Stolen From: From in front of Lovejoy Bakers just south of division on 9th.
Neighborhood: Industrial area
Owner: Ian Cranley
OwnerEmail: ian.cranley87(AT)gmail.com
Reward: yes
Description: It’s a black, single speed road bike with green paint showing through some chips. Has a removable rear fender and clips for a cable lock, front and rear lights. Also just replaced the left side crank arm, when replacing I put the cotter pin in backwards.
This registrant does not have proof of ownership of this bike

Advisory committee to Novick: “Bring to bear all possible pressure on ODOT” to study Barbur Blvd

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“Unfortunately, ODOT has decided to prevent improvement of bicycle lanes on its segments of SW Barbur. More significantly, ODOT is basing its decision on a questionable analysis of conditions.”

SW Barbur Blvd should have the same amount of bicycle traffic — more than 5,000 bicycle trips a day — as N. Vancouver Ave. But it doesn’t, because of a “failure of design”. That’s the surprising analogy made by the City’s Bicycle Advisory Committee in a letter (PDF) sent to Transportation Commissioner Novick yesterday.

The PBAC is urging Novick to, “bring to bear all possible pressure on ODOT” to get them to the table and conduct a transparent analysis of how traffic on Barbur would be impacted by a road diet.

This is the latest in a string of letters from stakeholders an action alerts from advocacy groups urging the Oregon Department of Transportation to participate in a traffic study so that the project can move forward with agreed-upon data.

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Latest Headlines

Cyclepath expanding into historic Fat Tire Farm bike shop location

Guest Article: We must unite and organize to solve our transportation problems

Port wants 82nd Avenue expansion for airport traffic increase

PBOT eyes elimination of key programs and services as they await budget fate

From the Archives

More biking = better driving. So why isn’t this said more often?