Buffered Bike Lane with a bike symbol and arrow pointing forward

New FHWA rules give engineers more tools for bike traffic

Shared-lane markings, like this one in San Francisco, are now officially recognized by the FHWA.(Photo © J. Maus) This morning the Federal Highway Administration released a 135-page comprehensive update to their Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD), a standards guide that has driven (pun intended) the design of traffic controls in America for over … Read more


Cities for Cycling officially rolling with debut event, website

The new logo Cities for Cycling, a new initiative to push bike planning innovation in America with roots in Portland, was officially launched at an event in Washington D.C. last night. Streetsblog was at the event and reported this from New York City DOT Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan: “Some of the most celebrated and popular [bike] … Read more


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Blumenauer bill would extend ‘Safe Routes’ into high schools

Bike parking at Franklin High School in Southeast Portland.(Photos © J. Maus) U.S. Representative Earl Blumenauer announced a new bill yesterday that would expand the existing Safe Routes to Schools program to high schools. The Safe Routes to High Schools Act would enable high schools to vie for federal grants that would help them build … Read more


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Chicago police training video promotes bicycle safety, respect

Streetsblog alerted us to this just-released training video for traffic enforcement officers in Chicago’s police department. It’s worth watching — in about ten minutes, it even-handedly explains the laws that govern both driving and bicycling in Chicago, with the frame of increasing bicycling safety as much as possible, and promoting a culture of respect on … Read more


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Noted PSU professor picked for federal transportation research post

Robert Bertini Portland State University professor Robert Bertini has been selected by the Obama administration to be the deputy administrator of the federal Research and Innovative Technology Administration. According to The Oregonian, Bertini starts his new job on August 17th. At PSU he was a professor of civil and environmental engineering and the director of … Read more


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US DOT Secretary Ray LaHood will hold ‘Distracted Driving Summit’

US Dept. of Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood.(Photo © J. Maus) Obama’s Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood announced today that he’ll hold a summit in September to “address the dangers of text-messaging and other distractions behind the wheel.” The summit is slated for late September in Washington D.C. and, according to a US DOT press release it … Read more


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First outline of new federal transportation bill expected Thursday

Let’s hope Rep. Oberstar’s love of biking seeps into his thinking on federal transportation policy.(Photos © J. Maus) On Thursday (6/18), U.S. Congressman Jim Oberstar (D-MN) is expected to release a white paper outlining his plans for the forthcoming re-write of the federal surface transportation bill (Oberstar is Chair of the House Infrastructure and Transportation … Read more


Blumenauer shares his national bike priorities

Blumenauer in Portland on May 11th.(Photos © J. Maus) A few weeks ago, in the Rose Room in Portland’s City Hall, U.S. Congressman Earl Blumenauer hosted an invite-only, roundtable discussion about biking. Around the large conference table sat electeds (like Metro President David Bragdon) and representatives from a variety of local, regional, and statewide agencies, … Read more


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US Secretary of Transportation: “Bicycling is only healthy when you ride safely”

“While we are working to improve conditions for bicyclists on the roadways, let’s, please, remember the culture we’ve created over the last 100 years will not welcome bikes overnight.”— From the US DOT blog Came across an article on bike safety published to the official blog of the U.S. Department of Transportation this morning (which … Read more