Local advocacy group Bike Loud PDX is fundraising for a new electric tricycle to use at events around the city. Their funding goal is $6,000 and the money would be used to build, store and maintain the trike.
“It would be similar to the Batmobile except an electrically assisted tricycle which fights to make 25% of all trips in Portland to be made by bike instead of Mr. Freeze,” said Bike Loud Board Chair Kiel Johnson in an email to supporters Thursday.
Bike Loud has gone through significant change and growth in the past several months and they’ve made the goal of “25% by 2030” — as in, one-quarter of all trips made by bike — their central organizing principle.
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The trike will be made by Portland-based Icicle Tricycle, a company that has found a strong niche in cargo bikes for businesses and organizations that are used for everything from selling ice-cream to loaning out library books.
“The Bike Loud PDX Trike will get good use at our events, rides, and meetups around Portland to promote bicycle advocacy,” the webpage for the fundraiser says. “Expect to see the Bike Loud PDX Trike at all kinds of events all spring and summer. The Bike Loud PDX Trike will be a visible, approachable presence and a welcome addition to Portland streets!”
The campaign has raised over $1,300 so far and Johnson says the first 100 donors will get their names painted on the cargo box.
I don’t support Bike Loud any longer due to the irrational letter of protest they signed. Once they retract their signature I’ll consider supporting them again.
https://bikeportland.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/Response-to-Emergency-Declaration-on-sweeping-camps-FINAL.pdf
Agree. All the transportation groups that signed that letter (Oregon Walks, Street Trust and Bike Loud) are off my donation list until they act more reasonably.
I have certaintly heard from folks that closing the high crash corridors down to save lives was irrational. What I liked about that framing was that it made clear that we are currently prioritizing traffic over people’s lives. Over the last two years our society has done so much to save people’s lives, why don’t we take the same urgency with traffic deaths? I am so thankful to live in Portland were we have taken this outbreak seriously. We have already had a better chance of surviving because of it. By making such a bold ask I felt the letter did a good job showing our culture’s inconsistancies. Also, did you see the list of other groups which signed? I trust their judgement on these issues a lot more then my own. Happy to agree to disagree on this but you should definitely still donate to an advocacy trike. This trike is going to be so sweet!!!!
Or, equally, that we are prioritizing camping on the edge of dangerous streets over people’s lives.
It doesn’t bother me that BikeLoud signed the letter. Of course they did. They’re supposed to make bold and “loud” statements. It’s the more mainstream organizations (i.e. those with staffs and who provide actual services to people) that have lost some credibility, and I think for them the letter was a mistake.
Regardless, the message was lost amid the clamour.
As the message so often does.
Same. My donation spigot is closed for any of the folks that signed that letter.
This is super exciting. What better way to celebrate the joy of biking than with a locally-made cargo bike for the only bike advocacy organization in Portland!
Pitch in a few buck and let’s get rolling toward #25x30PDX (25% bike modeshare by 2030).
Thank you, Taylor and Bike Portland, for getting the message out.
Does anyone else see the irony in an electrically powered vehicle purporting to advocate for cycling?
I don’t. I mean, their offices aren’t powered by candles are they?
Bicycles and tricycles are human powered. Electric bikes and trikes are like the mopeds of old without the pesky two stroke exhaust.
No. An electric tricycle is not a gas powered vehicle.
Electric bikes and trikes are still motorized vehicles, not human powered ones. Their batteries are charged by whatever power sources, clean or dirty, generate electricity for PGE’s grid. Their batteries are made of lithium and other minerals obtained from mining which is one of the dirtiest industries on earth. Their batteries, like those in electric cars, don’t last forever and no one is doing much in the way of planning yet for what to do with the hazardous waste from those batteries when they reach the end of their service life.
What’s wrong with using human pedal power?
A few statistics, One E-car battery can make 130 bicycle batteries. On average it takes 10 cents worth of electricity to charge an ebike. Depending on your assist level, you can go 100 miles on a charge. It’s actually more efficeint than walking. I bought an e-bike last spring and did 5,000km this past summer. I don’t own a car, my ebike is my car. I’ve toured twice around the world, I know how to pedal. I just turned 66 and let me just say, the e-bike is going to allow me to bike tour for many more years to come. It’s the best thing I’ve bought in 20 years. FYI Lithium batteries are being recycled https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/recycled-lithium-ion-batteries-can-perform-better-than-new-ones/
Bryan, you won’t be young forever. It a perfect world, your right, in the current reality, an ebike is better than a lot of other choices. MAX runs on electricity too, the battery in an electric bus will probably power 300+ ebikes.
Young left the building a while back. I’m 62.
Nor is an electric F-150.
And an electric bicycle is not a Harley. Whatever your point was, it got lost amid the clamor.
Bryan, We are proud to make sure this can be used by all kinds of bike riders, new, old, young, big, small, etc… We have several members who otherwise would not be able to ride this trike without the e-assist capability (myself included!). These trikes are heavy! Especially when loaded with books, pamphlets, stickers, and so much more sweet, sweet bike propaganda that we want to deliver to PDX communities near and far:)
Added bonus: it also will help showcase the amazing potential of electric bikes to communities throughout the city!
““It would be similar to the Batmobile except an electrically assisted tricycle which fights to make 25% of all trips in Portland to be made by bike instead of Mr. Freeze,”
Maybe BikeLoud should fundraise to teach English to the person who writes press releases.