Cycle Home

The CCC, known for their work
with kids, will seek to broaden
their impact into underserved
parts of the city.
(Photo © J. Maus)

The Community Cycling Center plans to launch a new project in 2009 that will seek to broaden the scope of their mission into ethnically diverse and low-income communities in North and Northeast Portland.

According to the CCC’s Director of Community and Programs Alison Hill Graves, the new project will start in early spring of next year and will seek to build “cultural competence” by partnering with other community organizations who view bicycles as “a viable option for their community.”

In an email about the program to BikePortland, Graves wrote :

“…the Community Cycling Center believes that as the economy sputters and gas prices fluctuate, the need for affordable, reliable transportation options will continue to grow… more viable options need to be available, particularly to serve the needs of a growing and more diverse community.

Engaging partners through a series of conversations about the priorities of their community will help determine how bicycling can fit as a viable option to address the health, safety, and transportation needs across social, cultural, and economic strata.”

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Hill also told me that the CCC expects to learn a lot about the the “bike community” is perceived in parts of the city where the idea of ‘bike culture’ is a foreign concept.

Alta Planning, PSU’s Initiative for Bicycle and Pedestrian Innovation, and Kristin Lensen Consulting are all involved with the project and the CCC is seeking support from Metro. Graves says Metro is set to decide whether or not to fund the project in mid-February.

[Editor's note: This project reminds me of the stories back in February of 2007 when a string of attacks on people riding bicycles in North and Northeast Portland came to light. That story brought up many issues including how bikes intersect with race and socio-economic status. Let's hope the CCC finds funding for this important work.]

A cross-section detail of proposed design of NE Cully Street shows 8 1/2-foot wide cycle-track.

Nearly two years ago, we wondered whether it was time to try physically separated bike lanes. Now, the City of Portland is poised to build its first-ever, Copenhagen-style traffic lane for bicycles — otherwise known as a cycle track.

The cycle track is part of the Cully Boulevard Improvement Project, a multi-agency, $5.4 million project that will completely rebuild NE Cully Blvd. from NE Prescott to NE Killingsworth Streets.

This Street View of Cully shows a largely
unimproved road with no sidewalks
or safety features.

Working from a clean slate, PDOT has recognized that this major road project is a rare opportunity to create a world-class bicycle facility from the ground up.

This morning I learned more about the project from Rob Burchfield, PDOT’s head traffic engineer.

He explained that there’s been a lot of interest in cycle tracks from within Portland’s planning and bike advocacy community, but that questions remained about how to implement them. The Cully project, he says, offers a unique opportunity because it’s, “a complete street reconstruction, something we rarely do.”

A delegation of Portlanders ride on a
cycle track in Copenhagen last month.
(Photo: Jay Graves)

With a clean slate to work with, and a very wide right of way, Burchfield has seized on this opportunity to build, what he calls, “a bike facility to a European standard.”

Burchfield said he and his team initially looked at bike lanes on Vassar Street on the campus of MIT in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Those facilities put bike traffic on a wide sidewalk and use texture and colors to try and separate bikes and pedestrians.

The Vassar example has been criticized for not doing enough to separate bike and pedestrian traffic and Burchfield said a citizen committee working on the Cully project also had reservations about mixing the two modes.

It was at this point in the project when Burchfield urged everyone to abandon the Vassar design and embrace a Copenhagen-style cycle track. On Copenhagen cycle tracks, bikes and pedestrians have both vertical (trees or other median) and horizontal separation (at a different height from other traffic).

The current design for Cully has the motor vehicle roadway, then a 3-inch curb up to the cycle-track, then another 3-inch curb up to a planter median and pedestrian sidewalk.

Complete cross-section. (Click to enlarge)

When Burchfield first pushed for the Copenhagen-style design, he hadn’t yet visited the city. That changed in October when he saw first hand how the best bike city in the world designs its roadways.

That trip, according to Burchfield, “strongly validated the direction we were going.”

So, how does it work? What will people on bikes experience on this new cycle track?

A separated bikeway in Montreal, similar
to what’s proposed on Cully.
Photo: joelmann/Flickr)

Burchfield says the cycle track would be constructed from concrete, and would smoother than a sidewalk and longer lasting than an asphalt roadway. Bike traffic will also enjoy a comfortable width. Current design calls for a cycle track that’s 8 1/2 feet wide (including a 2 1/2 foot buffer for opening car doors). For comparison, a standard city bike lane in the city is 4-5 feet wide.

At intersections, the cycle track will drop back to the street in order to cross, and then will start up again on the other side (Burchfield mentioned that on high-use cycle-tracks in Copenhagen, bikes have their own signal at intersections).

Burchfield said they’re still thinking about how bike traffic will leave the cycle track to make a left turn or access a driveway or business on the other side of the street mid-block. He said they’ll design the curbs to be “rollable” so that bike riders can easily leave the cycle track.

Another aspect of this new design is having parked cars between two lanes of traffic. “The parking will give more buffer to the cyclists,” says Burchfiled, “but also makes you less visible.” It’s important to note that on Cully, since it’s a largely residential street, there isn’t expected to be much demand for the on-street parking spaces.

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According to Burchfield, a new Cully Blvd. cycle track is likely to cost less than a standard bike lane facility. Because the cycle track is on a separated grade and will be made from concrete, the city has less width of (increasingly expensive) asphalt roadway to build. Burchfield pointed out other advantages as well; “We’ll have less street to maintain and in terms of life cycle, a concrete surface built well, will be much better in the long term than asphalt.”

“You need to take that first step somewhere and this is a great opportunity to do it.”
– Rob Burchfield

While they provide more space and comfort for bike traffic, cycle tracks are likely to draw the ire of vehicular cycling proponents who tend to oppose separate facilities. From sources close to this project, we’ve learned that some of the same critics of Portland’s bike boxes have already raised questions about PDOT’s move toward cycle tracks.

When I brought that up to Mr. Burchfield, he was aware of potential controversy, but said this project has one major difference from the bike boxes. Cycle tracks, he said, are more of a street design and “built environment” issue and don’t involve traffic control elements like the bike boxes did (meaning that, some of the controversy was around the fact that bike boxes were new traffic control devices that hadn’t been properly vetted before installation).

For Burchfield and the rest of PDOT, this is an exciting project and a potential example for Portland to live up to its green and bike-friendly reputation.

“You need to take that first step somewhere and this is a great opportunity to do it,” says Burchfield, “I don’t see any downside in this case.”

The Cully Boulevard Project isn’t slated for completion until 2010 and the final design will be put to a City Council vote before it’s built. As for the innovative cycle track component making it through to final construction, Burchfield is optimistic; “From a design feasibility standpoint, we’re comfortable with it. We’ve really got the design worked out.”

[Editor's note: The City of Portland, working with Portland Streetcar, is also planning to build a separated bike lane (similar to this one in New York City) on NE 7th Avenue through the Lloyd District as part of the streetcar plan. I'll have more on that next week.]

Tom Miller
(Photo © J. Maus)

Welcome to Part Two of our six-part, guest article series on bike-sharing in Portland.

The series is written by Tom Miller, chief of staff for Portland City Commissioner and Mayor-elect Sam Adams.

Yesterday, Tom gave us some background on Portland’s efforts to launch a bike share program.

Today’s article is short but sweet. Tom shares initial impressions of bike share programs in Copenhagen, Helsinki, and Stockholm from a trip last June. Tomorrow, Tom will share extensive details on what it’s like to use Clear Channel’s bike share system in Stockholm.

Part Two: Off to Scandinavia

A trip to Scandinavia in June confirmed our suspicion. Copenhagen, Denmark is one of the world’s great bike-friendly cities. Yet with vandalized bike-share bikes on its streets, we saw a second generation (coin-operated) bike share system that seemed to fall prey to neglect. Subsequently we learned Copenhagen is pursuing an entirely new approach.

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In Helsinki, a bike-share
bike sits in disrepair.
(Photo: Tom Miller)

In Helsinki, Finland we saw the same outcome: bike-share bikes missing parts and rusting on the city streets.

Stockholm, Sweden is rarely mentioned in bike circles as a world-class bike city, but it ranks among the best. We were quite impressed with their commitment to bike infrastructure. Bike boxes are regularly employed at most intersections, dedicated bike signals are common, and a substantial investment in cycle tracks is underway. Riding a bike in downtown Stockholm felt much safer than riding in downtown Portland.

In addition to a strong commitment to dedicated bicycle infrastructure, Stockholm has partnered with Clear Channel to provide a third generation (technology driven) bike share program. One station sat right outside our hotel entrance. Many in our group, mostly non-cyclists, were excited about the prospects of getting to explore Stockholm by bike.

Next, Part Three: Lessons from Stockholm

“I will work to provide states and local governments with the resources they need to address sprawl and create more livable communities.”
– President-elect Obama, in a letter to T4 America

President-elect Barack Obama has responded to an online petition circulated by national advocacy group Transportation For America (remember them?).

T4 America reported on their blog today that 3,300 people signed onto a petition that was delivered to Senators John McCain and Barack Obama before their final debate back in October. The petition urged them to tell T4 America their plans for, “keeping America moving and creating new jobs by investing in our critical transportation system and infrastructure.”

Here’s a snip from the petition letter:

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“We need our next president to lead an initiative to invest in public transit, high-speed trains, places to bike and walk, and green innovation. We need a president with a plan that can put millions to work in jobs that can’t be outsourced, bring down the costs of travel, and create a sustainable infrastructure that will keep America on the cutting edge.”

And here’s how President-elect Obama responded (emphasis mine):

Obama during the campaign.
(Photo: Ethan Jewett/Stickeen)

“…Everyone benefits if we can leave our cars, walk, bicycle and access other transportation alternatives. I agree that we can stop wasteful spending and save Americans money, and as president, I will re- evaluate the transportation funding process to ensure that smart growth considerations are taken into account.

I will build upon my efforts in the Senate to ensure that more Metropolitan Planning Organizations create policies to incentivize greater bicycle and pedestrian usage of roads and sidewalks. And as president, I will work to provide states and local governments with the resources they need to address sprawl and create more livable communities.”

Read Obama’s full, two-page response here.

Unfortunately, Obama wrote these words before he was elected. Let’s hope that he stays true to these words as he and Congress hammer out the 2009 Transportation bill…and if he doesn’t, we’ll respond with more than just an online petition.

Now Portlanders can roam (or ride)
without worry at the annual Peacock Lane
holiday lights show.
(Photo © J. Maus)

Each year, for the last two weeks of December, residents of the little-traveled Southeast Portland street, Peacock Lane, deck out their houses with elaborate holiday light displays and invite the public to come enjoy the show.

Thousands of Portlanders flock to the event. Some walk or bike, and others even ride horse-drawn carriages down the street; but the majority drive cars. Cars roll slowly down the street amid large crowds with their headlights switched off as they gawk at the displays. This creates a real safety hazard for people walking and biking.

Thankfully, for the first time ever, on December 14th, from 5 to 11:00 pm, Peacock Lane will be closed to cars.

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According to Becky Patterson of the Peacock Lane Neighborhood Association, “possibly hundreds of people” in the past five years have requested a carfree evening.

The street’s usual opening day is December 15th, and that is still the published grand opening this year. In an email to BikePortland, Patterson explained,

“We chose to add a night rather than incorporate the car-free night into our normal schedule. We know that a lot of seniors and disabled groups plan bus rides down the street, as well as families with small children and we didn’t want to change the plans without enough advance warning. If the night is a big success (which we anticipate!) we will discuss how and if we change our schedule.”

Patterson adds that the neighborhood association is still deciding how to handle bike traffic on the street. They are considering making one lane of the street bike-only, but another idea on the table is simply to ask people to walk their bicycles, to remove the danger of “distracted cyclists running over distracted children.”

Earlier this year, the popular Last Thursday event on NE Alberta Street became completely carfree (on its own at first, then with official approval from PDOT).

First Alberta, now Peacock. With carfree momentum building from neighborhoods and from City Hall, this is a trend we’re happy to see.

“We’re not going to put our blinders on and say ‘no, we refuse to talk about it’.”
–BTA lobbyist Karl Rohde

One of the many interesting conversations that we’ll follow in the upcoming legislative session is the concept of a bike tax.

We shared news of the tax last week and reported that the Bicycle Transportation Alliance (BTA) and a committee formed by Metro, are both supportive of the concept. The idea is to charge an excise tax (in the realm of $5-20) at the point-of-sale on new bicycles.

Initial conversations have been modeled after a previous effort to pass a bike tax that came up in 2005. During that session, the BTA’s then-lobbyist and now executive director Scott Bricker worked with legislator Bruce Starr (R-Hillsboro) on the idea. Their effort had momentum and support from other lawmakers, but was eventually killed (once word got out) by big box retailers like Wal-Mart and Target, who sell the vast majority of new bikes in Oregon.

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In 2005, Starr and Bricker estimated the tax would bring in $2 million a year and would cost $500,000 to administer.

So far, response to the bike tax idea from the community has been mixed; but a majority of commenters have not been supportive of it and many have expressed vehement opposition to the idea (even threatening to not renew their BTA membership if they continue to support it).

To learn more about why the BTA would support a bike tax, I talked with their head lobbyist who will be representing them in Salem this year — Karl Rohde.

Rohde emphasized that the idea is only in the “conversation stage” at this point and that, “there are a lot of unanswered questions” about it. But, in talking with Rohde and others, it’s clear to me that if the right kind of bike tax proposal is hammered out, the BTA would not hesitate to support it.

“We are willing to be constructive members of a committee that discusses a bike tax,” Rohde told me, “we’re not going to put our blinders on and say ‘no, we refuse to talk about it’. I think it’s naive that you just demand that we not even talk about it.”

Rohde feels that anyone who says they should reject the concept outright just “don’t understand the political reality” of Salem lobbying. “If you go in with a ‘no!’ attitude you get bulldozed…it’s just not constructive for all the other things we’re trying to accomplish.”

The point Rohde makes is that if the BTA doesn’t at least play ball with the bike tax discussion, other major players in Salem (the trucking lobby, the highway lobby, etc…) will make it much more difficult for them to pursue their other funding goals — like increasing the state’s mandatory bike spending fund (the Bicycle Bill) by .5% and going for $20 million for “non-motorized corridors”.

Besides the political points the BTA hopes to score, Rohde also reminded me that if $1.5 million could be raised for a designated pot that would fund Safe Routes to Schools (which is one of the ideas on the table), it would mean they could teach bike safety to an additional 50,000 children a year. (The BTA currently teaches 5,000 kids a year with a $150,000 budget).

I asked Rohde if supporting a bike tax is essentially giving up on the false argument that bikes don’t pay their way. “I don’t think it’s giving up,” he said, and then added, “it allows us to continue to have that conversation. He also said he’ll continue to make the argument that bikes do in fact pay their fair share.

Noted bike lawyer and member of the BTA’s Legislative Committee Ray Thomas also shared his support for a bike tax in a comment on a story last week about a bike excise tax in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

Thomas wrote that he feels the bike tax would give advocates respect (emphasis mine):

“What keeps us from sitting as full participants at the transportation table? Size? Numbers? Yes. But the two main criticisms I hear are that bicyclists don’t pay road taxes and fail to stop at stop signs. If we could remove these two gripes from the public mind it would push us closer to a real seat at the table.

We can argue all we want but until we pay tax dollars as bicyclists for roads we just can’t provide an argument that satisfies most complainers and a bike tax would shut the whole subject down.”

Thomas also wrote that he feels the League of American Bicyclists (a national bike advocacy group) should take on the bike tax as a priority. Until we pay a tax, Thomas wrote, “we are under served by the system and viewed as a sort of transportation novelty by many motorists.”

Early this morning, BTA leader Scott Bricker published a story on their blog about the issue.

Bricker wrote that the BTA will be, “at the forefront of the fight to ensure that any measure that raises transportation fees or directly taxes cycling are cost-effective, fair and efficient.”

In the end, Rohde says this is about having the community be “willing to accept a nominal charge” in order to “engender enough goodwill that it results in a whole host of other successes.” He likened their support of the bike tax idea as being “willing to put a little more skin in the game” in order to accomplish their goals.

Is taxing bikes a devil’s bargain? Or is this a move that will finally turn the tables and open up new possibilities for advocates? Either way, it will be interesting to see how this (and other legislative ideas) play out in the coming months.

Tom Miller riding in
the 2006 Bridge Pedal.
(Photo © J. Maus)

Welcome to the first in a six-part series; Bike-share in Portland: A status report. The author of this guest article series is Tom Miller. Miller is the current Chief of Staff for Portland City Commissioner Sam Adams and he’ll follow Adams into the Mayor’s office in January.

Besides being Adams’ right-hand man, Miller is a major bike believer. This series arose from my constant prodding to Miller about the future of Portland’s bike-share program (an effort that began in February of 2007 but was shelved before a contractor was found).

In six parts, Miller will share his insider perspective on the inspiration, current status, and future potential for bike share in Portland.

Part One: Bike share in Portland; a brief history

Bike share in Lyon, an inspiration for Portland.
(Photo © identity chris is/Flickr)

About two and a half years ago Commissioner (and now Mayor-Elect) Sam Adams attended a sustainable development conference at the request of Mayor Tom Potter in Lyon, France. For Sam the greatest inspiration came not from the conference but the host city. The City of Lyon in partnership with global advertiser JC Decaux had developed a bustling trade of community bicycles for low cost, short-term hire.

“It was amazing. Where residents previously were confined to transit schedules or the considerable expense of a private car, I saw folks blissfully whizzing about on shared bicycles. It was as if Portland’s [first generation honor code] yellow bike program had met its aspirations.”

“Bike share’s allure is intoxicatingly attractive to municipal leaders eager to join the sustainability party.”

Indeed, bike share’s allure is intoxicatingly attractive to municipal leaders eager to join the sustainability party. In almost every model, the host city pays nothing out of pocket. All costs are absorbed by a private provider who funds the program with proceeds earned from lucrative sales of advertising rights in the eyeball-heavy public right of way.

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In exchange, programs done right—like those in Lyon or Paris—can deliver a holy grail of good public policy: instantaneous widespread behavior change to a travel choice that is cheaper, more humane, more user-friendly, and more sustainable than any other urban travel mode. Amsterdam, the world is on to your secret.

Sam returned home with intent to establish a bike share program as soon as reasonably possible. The premise was straight-forward: Portland is the nation’s most bike-friendly culture and would eagerly embrace a bike share program. We distributed a Request for Proposals and got down to two finalists.

“Naturally, a bike share program funded with public dollars will get much more scrutiny than one funded by a private entity.”

We assumed the strongest proposal would compellingly answer the logistical questions of how many bikes, where they go, how much we charge, how it’s paid for, etc. These questions are particularly important for Portland because, unlike other cities, Portlanders consistently express distaste for private advertising in the public right-of-way. Without being able to use to the traditional funding model for our bike share program, we presume a need to use public dollars. Naturally, a bike share program funded with public dollars will get much more scrutiny than one funded by a private entity.

In light of this dynamic, we asked ourselves whether success seemed inevitable. Regrettably, it did not. We held off.

Next, Part Two: Off to Scandinavia

A Queen Bee wallet.

BikeCraft IV is right around the corner and we’ve got a fantastic line-up of new and returning vendors you will not want to miss.

Since we last profiled several of this year’s confirmed BikeCraft vendors, more creative, bike loving folks have stepped up wanting to share their wares.

Here’s a sampling…

New faces:

Fir table with wheel motif by
Bren and Kris Reis.

• Bren Reis and his girlfriend Kris are furniture makers with a passion for biking. They are just beginning to make furniture with bicycle motifs, and will be bringing a selection of their first items to preview at BikeCraft.

• Emily Horton has a new “urban sportswear” business, M Horton. She’ll be bringing her line of recycled wool sweaters, jerseys, trousers, and skirts for cycling, musette bags, and more.

• Jonathan Severdia has made some unique helmet covers that you’ll have to see to believe.

• Ken Nelson will be there with his DryHigh rain chaps — an alternative he has devised to the hassle of rainpants.

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• Julia Garretson makes jewelry out of bits of upcycled bike tires.

• Newcomer Mike Cobb crafts well-made, beautiful and functional wind chimes out of worn out drivetrains.

• A trio of Woodlawn neighborhood residents have ganged up under the name Wood-Craft-Lawn, and will be selling bike culture magnets and lightswitch covers, along with Best-Of DVDs from Filmed By Bike and t-shirts from the popular film fest.

Travel in style with a set of locally
made panniers by Black Star Bags.

Returning vendors:

• Black Star Bags is returning, with a new, exciting addition: panniers.

• Nickey Robo will be selling bike themed t-shirts, and copies of Small Movements, her film about the Sprockettes.

And one last thing — bring your quarters! With all this talk about a bike tax, impending economic doom, shortfalls at PDOT, etc…, we’ve called on some local kids who will be holding a Bake Sale for Bikeways. All proceeds will be kept securely in a coffee can to be delivered to City Hall after the event. Buy a brownie, build a bikeway!

–BikePortland.org/BikeCraft

A banner for the BTA’s campaign seen
at an event this summer.
(Photos © J. Maus)

Back in August, the Bicycle Transportation Alliance (BTA) announced that Going Street would be the focus of their first major effort to create a new bike boulevard in Portland.

Since then, BTA staffer Emily Gardner has been busy shoring up neighborhood support for the “Let’s Get Going!” project. A few days ago she updated us on her progress.

Gardner reports that in her visits to nine neighborhood associations and six business districts along the NE Going corridor over the last three months she has received “overwhelming support” for the project.

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Also boding well for the Going Street bike boulevard campaign is that PDOT has a big new plan of their own to focus on funding sources to develop low-traffic, family and bike-friendly streets (I’m working on that story right now).

Emily Gardner, seen here at the Carfree Conference
back in June, is leading the “Let’s Get Going!” effort.

With talk of major public works investments at both the national and statewide levels, there’s a lot of action around bike boulevards these days .

If you’d like to volunteer and help with the BTA’s efforts, Gardner says there’s a great opportunity this Saturday. Here are the details:

Bike Boulevard Volunteer Saturday
Saturday, November 22nd
10am-1pm (likely to finish earlier)
233 NW 5th
collating, stuffing, stamping
*snacks, coffee and scintillating conversation provided
**Please RSVP to emily@bta4bikes.org

To learn more and add your name to the list of supporters for this project, visit BikeBlvd.com.

The new CETMAcargo bike from Eugene.
(Photos courtesy Lane Kagay)

The latest news in the hot cargo bike market comes from Eugene. The photo above is of the new CETMAcargo bike designed by Lane Kagay of CETMA Racks.

All loaded up.
(Photo: Lane Kagay)

CETMA, well-known for their front cargo racks, moved to Eugene from San Francisco back in 2007. Kagay says his cargo bike — which is manufactured just outside Eugene — is still in prototype phase but will be will be available soon. He’ll be in Portland at Clever Cycles on Thursday afternoon to give a special sneak preview and offer test rides of the bike.

Here’s what Kagay revealed about the bike in an email to BikePortland:

View of the bin on the shop floor.

This bike is very innovative with a frame-integrated platform and bi-partable sections which makes front cargo area and rear cockpit interchangable for different rider’s preferences. Makes shipping easier, too.

Future features will include an internal hub (NuVinci?) and disc brakes.

Kagay also says on his blog that the bike weighs only 55 pounds. This bike looks like a very capable hauler and I can’t wait to see these on the market.

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Eugene is also the home of the Center for Appropriate Transport (CAT). Their Long Haul cargo bike is also made in Eugene.

This bike is yet another sign that the cargo/utility bike category is a hot trend in the bike industry. In the past few months we’ve heard about new bakfiets from China and Portland, a rear-load approach by Salt Lake City-based Madsen, the heavy-duty Yuba Mundo, and more.

For more on the development of the CETMAcargo bike, check out Kagay’s blog at CETMAracks.com (click on “News!” in the sidebar).

[Note: Several of you have emailed about my upcoming review of the Madsen (which I've been riding daily for over a week). I'm working on it and hope to publish the story soon.]

Sergeant Brian Schmautz, the Public Information Officer for the Portland Police Bureau has left a detailed comment in response to our story on the Ainsworth incident.

On Saturday, several members of the PSU Cycling Club were riding on Ainsworth when they were allegedly passed dangerously by a Portland Police Officer. According to witnesses that saw the incident, one of the riders gestured to the officer in frustration and the officer then pulled him over, a discussion ensued, and several tickets were issued (to two riders).

After reading through 143 a few of the comments on the original story, here is how Sgt. Schmautz replied:

I have read several of the postings in this current thread and would like to join this discussion with a few brief comments. The conclusions you are reaching about the incident described in the story are based on statements made by the individuals who encountered the officer. It is a one-sided version of the incident. I am personally aware of several prior stories on this website where it was eventually determined that the facts of an event differed dramatically from the original description of the event.

I am also surprised by the vitriol of some of the individuals posting in the comment section. How many of the individuals posting have ever had direct contact with the officer involved in this event or for that matter, any police officer? Would you be willing to make such blanket and far-reaching conclusions about any other group of human beings?

I personally believe that individuals learn about each other by a respectful dialogue. Opinions are changed and lessons are learned by finding points of mutual agreement and then working toward changing hearts and minds. It is difficult for officers to engage in a meaningful or productive dialogue when people are making such broadly sweeping, and in some cases, threatening statements.

The final word on this incident will be by a Traffic Court judge who hears both sides of the story and applies the law to the facts provided. I believe it would be better to have someone hear both sides and report on them. This would allow the reader to draw informed conclusions rather than just venting in a way that does nothing to improve communication.

Beginning with a premise that lacks factual complete information leads to uninformed decisions and does not improve the relationships required to create a safer society.

Sergeant Brian Schmautz
Public Information Officer
Portland Police Bureau

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I will respond by saying that I reported the story objectively and only as it was presented to me by three different witnesses, one of whom I know and trust personally.

I agree with Sgt. Schmautz that it is better to hear both sides, but in this case I decided to present the story with the information I had at the time. Because this is a traffic citation, it wouldn’t even have risen to the level that the PIO would have known about.

I would also point out that there are countless stories reported in the media that come directly and solely through statements and interviews with Sgt. Schmautz and include no other perspective whatsoever. That was the case with the big road rage story back in July that was sensationalized by the Oregonian and then sparked international interest.

It is also worth noting that covering the police is a tricky job. The PPB is often unable to share details of a case until well after the news cycle is complete, making it impossible for a reporter to share both sides of a story. That’s why I take the utmost care and deliberation in presenting stories like this and I try to present them in an objective light.

Jessica Roberts
(Photo © J. Maus)

This article was written by Jessica Roberts. Jessica is the former metro area advocate for the Bicycle Transportation Alliance and she is now a planner with Alta Planning and Design, one of the nation’s premier bike and pedestrian planning firms.

Jessica previously wrote about how to get letters published in newspapers.

In the article below, Jessica offers her perspective and gives us a bit of historical context for the infamous Broadway/Williams intersection, which PDOT is currently working to improve.

Looking west on Broadway at Williams.
(Photo © J. Maus)

I used to work as a bicycle advocate at the BTA. One day I got a call from my friend Erik, who described a horrific close call he had just witnessed. A bicyclist was proceeding straight in the westbound bike lane on NE Broadway at Williams and a truck had cut off the bicyclist, causing him to crash and slide across the intersection, narrowly missing being run over by the truck.

I assumed Erik wanted advice from me about legal options, and I launched into my regular spiel. But he interrupted – “no”, he said, the reason he was calling is that the cyclist turned out to be my brother.

“Facilities like the dual right turn lane on NE Broadway are one of the major ways we continue to prioritize cars over people.”

By now, just about every Portland cyclist knows and loathes this intersection. Many cyclists have seen or had close calls like the one Erik witnessed, and when I worked at the BTA I was told that this intersection was the site of a fatal crash. The current facility traps the bike lane between a right-turn lane and a “dual destination” (aka “though-right turn”) vehicle lane. Since drivers have every reason to expect that they can make a right turn from this lane, they regularly conflict with the bicyclist’s straight-through movement.

Aerial view of the intersection.

The current right/right-thru configuration is universally recognized as dangerous and unacceptable. The 1999 Portland Bicycle Master Plan states that this design is to be avoided, the League of American Bicyclists opposes the configuration, former Oregon Bicycle and Pedestrian Coordinator Michael Ronkin states that it is not possible to create a safe bike lane option with this configuration, and the FHWA states that, “this situation is particularly difficult for bicyclists.” (source: FHWA).

The good news is that everyone, including the BAC and PDOT, now agrees that this facility design must go. The bad news is that the true root of the problem, the dual-right turn lane configuration, is not being questioned. This facility, and many others like it in Portland and beyond, continue to tell drivers that the world is their onramp, and continue to provide cyclist safety only secondarily to driver convenience.

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Rex Burkholder, current Metro Councilor and former BTA founder, agrees. The Broadway/Williams design, he says, is stuck in a 1960s mentality that has no place in today’s city. “Those lanes exist to speed cars onto the freeway,” he says, “but right now, the onramp has ramp signals anyway, so all we’re doing is help cars speed up so they can stop. Why should we sacrifice bicyclist and pedestrian safety for a gain of two seconds?”

In 1997, the Swedish parliament adopted a policy called “Vision Zero” (PDF). Their goal was to eliminate traffic deaths. The fundamental principle is that “it can never be ethically acceptable that people are killed or seriously injured when moving within the road transport system.”

This incident happened a few weeks ago and
it forced PDOT to take a closer look at a solution.
(Photo: Carl Larson)

A first step to realizing this vision is to place primary responsibility for road safety on facility designers.

The success of Vision Zero is clear: in 2006, Sweden recorded 440 traffic deaths. Compare that to the US, where 42,000 people are killed every year in traffic deaths. (Even if you normalize for population size, if we had the same fatality rate, we would only see 14,500 deaths per year – in other words, if you know three people who died in traffic crashes, two of them would still be alive.)

Facilities like the dual right turn lane on NE Broadway are one of the major ways we continue to prioritize cars over people, and thus fail to learn from the stellar success of our Swedish colleagues.

PDOT is to be commended for taking on the Broadway/Williams intersection, and the signalized design they are working on may end up working well for cyclists (as long as bikes get a long enough green light). Nevertheless, it’s important to recognize that the reason we’re having to take major steps to fix this situation is that it was rotten to begin with.

Dual right turn lanes are a deliberate trade-off of pedestrian and bicycle safety for increased vehicle capacity. They demonstrate that even in Portland, we still let outdated, auto-centric thinking rule the day far too often. It’s time to do better.

Get your learn on with books
about bikes (and other stuff).

It’s time to get smart, and we don’t just mean using hand signals and fighting traffic tickets.

Making headway against 50 plus years of car-centric policies, planning, and culture is no easy task. We need to educate ourselves. The more we know the better we’ll be able to make the case for bikes, whether we’re talking about intersection design, the history of sprawl, or when to take the lane.

When you buy books through
this banner, we get a cut of the
sales (go ahead, try it!).

In the spirit of, “To inform and inspire”, we’ve created the BikePortland Bookstore. This is a new section of the site where you can learn about and purchase a carefully chosen selection of books on a variety of topics.

And the best part? When you buy anything from Powell’s (not just the stuff we’ve selected) using our super-secret partnership link a percentage of the purchase price goes directly to BikePortland.org so we can sustain and improve the stories and features we offer.

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Maybe you’re looking for a literate, all-encompassing book that gives you the tools you need to navigate the roadway, the culture, and the politics of bicycling — look no further, The The Art of Cycling is the definitive guide.

If you haven’t read Supergrandpa,
you’re missing out.

Or perhaps you want a bike-related kids’ book like SuperGrandpa for the young cyclist in your life.

Or you have been meaning to pick up a couple copies of Metro’s Bike There! map or the The Zinester’s Guide to Portland to keep handy for houseguests.

BikePortland earns a percentage of the price of any books or merchandise that you buy from Powell’s on a visit that originates from this site.

We’ve also opened up a Book Talk section in the Forums where you join a discussion about bike related books and make suggestions about more books to include.

Stay tuned for new books on our books page, and book reviews here on the Front Page (if you want to review a book for BikePortland, drop me a line at elly[at]bikeportland[dot]org).

Check out our special selection of books and remember to add BikePortland.org/books to your list of bookmarks.

Last night around midnight, two would-be thieves tried to break into Clever Cycles on SE Hawthorne Blvd. Here’s a photo of the scene taken a few hours ago:

Front window of Clever Cycles on SE Hawthorne.
The shop is offering a $500 reward for information
leading to the arrest of the culprits.
(Photo: Tyler Robertson)

Shop manager Tyler Robertson says the incident was caught on the shop’s security cameras. Apparently, the two thieves threw a fire extinguisher at the front window of the shop and attempted to grab a new Yuba Mundo cargo bike that was in the display. Luckily, the glass was double-plated and shatterproof and the thieves weren’t able to get inside.

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Robertson says the shop is offering $500 to anyone with information that leads to the arrest of the culprits. The security video didn’t get a good look at them and at this point all they know is that the would-be thieves were wearing dark hoodies.

“We didn’t get a good look at their faces,” says Robertson, “but the cops are checking the extinguisher for fingerprints, so we’re hopeful they’ll find a match.”

The window will cost about $2,000 to replace.

This map shows were close calls and collisions have been reported with the BikePortland B-SMaRT tool.
Click to enlarge
(Graphic: Joe Broach).

It’s been just about one month since we launched the Bike Safety and Monitoring Reporting Tool, a.k.a. B-SMaRT. The Google Maps-based tool is a new way to capture data from the community about close calls, collisions, and problem locations.

Screenshot of B-SMaRT.

I asked the brains behind the project, B-SMaRT’s developer Joe Broach, for an update and he shared some interesting information.

So far, 146 users have registered (registration is required in order to create an entry) and 79 of them have opted in to be notified (via email) if/when public input is needed on projects around their incident.

In the past month, there have been 109 reports filed in the Portland Metro area. Here’s the breakdown:

• 15 collisions: Of those collisions, 3 were non-injury and 12 involved an injury. Only 2 of the 15 collisions were reported to the DMV (which gives you an idea of how much bicycle data is lacking in official DMV stats).
• 47 close calls.
• 47 problem locations (4 were poor conditions, 15 had poor behavior, 28 had poor design)

The most common incident type for close calls/collisions is the “right hook” (32%), followed by the “left cross” (15%), and then both parties traveling same direction (14%; could be passing too closely, merged into, etc.).

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Joe also ran a report of all incidents and created a “Hotspots” map (shown above, download larger version here). Not too surprisingly, reports are most concentrated at the following locations:

• Along Broadway starting east of the bridge and continuing into downtown
• Along the west approach via Madison to the Hawthorne Bridge

There are also noticeable concentrations around:

• The east side of Ladd’s
• N Interstate and Greeley
• The Scholl’s Ferry/Skyline overpass at Hwy 26

In future updates, Joe plans to add the Google Street View feature for reporting problem locations.

Joe also told me that he’s been contacted by about a dozen advocates and officials in other cities that want to use the tool. Currently, it’s possible to add incidents from any location in the world, but in the interest of keeping the data clean and separated, we might restrict the BikePortland version of B-SMaRT to just this region.

Joe and I are very excited about how this tool is developing and it will only improve and reveal better information as more data is submitted. Be sure to tell your friends about it and stay tuned for more developments.

Also, Joe and I have put this tool together without any outside funding or grants. If you think this and other features of BikePortland.org are valuable, please consider leaving us a tip via PayPal. The button is below. Thanks.

Momentum publisher/editor Amy Walker as
Olivia Newton-John in “Let’s Get Visible”.
- Watch video below -

The folks at Vancouver, BC-based Momentum Magazine have combined their passion for safe biking with their fun and fashionable style to create a new PSA for their local Bike to Work Week.

The result is “Let’s Get Visible”, a bike safety video that spoofs the legendary Olivia Newton-John song from 1981.

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Playing Newton-John in the 4-and-a-half minute video is Momentum publisher Amy Walker.

Depending on your taste, this is either the greatest bike safety video ever made, or something you’ll have trouble sitting through.

I think it’s brilliant. Watch it below and let us know what you think.

Cover of new book based
on Portland cyclocross images.

One of the biggest stories about this year’s cyclocross season (besides the record crowds) has been the emergence of PDXCross.com.

The site launched back in September and offers a weekly photo slideshow of all the glorious, painful and muddy action. The work is a collaboration between a team of professional photographers who are self-described as an, “improbable group of un-hipsters” who “love photography and cyclocross.”

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Among the talented shooters are Torsten Kjellstrand, Rob Finch, Jamie Francis, Tim LaBarge, Pamela Royal and Mike Davis. Their work is inspiring. Each week the engaging, black-and-white images tell stories not just about the racing action, but about the people, the location, and the feelings that cyclocross brings out.

Photographer Torsten Kjellstrand
is one of the men behind
PDXCross.com.
(Photo © J. Maus)

In December, they plan to unveil Dirty Pictures, Volume One a book that “will celebrate the 2008 cyclocross season” with their best photos of the year.

The book will also feature an essay by talented writer/photographer/racer Heidi Swift and quotes and quips from local racers.

The book will be printed on high-quality paper and will be offered as both a softcover ($45) and a hardcover ($65) and it’s expected to be ready for order in time for Christmas. More details will be available at the Cross Crusade after party slated for December 7th.

Stay tuned for more about Dirty Pictures and an invite to the launch party shindig that’s being planned.

(Photos © J. Maus)

A new bike shop has opened its doors on the corner of N. Page and N. Williams Ave (map). Metropolis Cycle Repair is owned by Nathan Roll and he shares the space with his brother Todd, who operates Pedal Bike Tours.

I stopped by Metropolis on Friday and chatted with Nathan and Todd. Nathan said he lives in the neighborhood and has been looking for an opportunity to open his own shop for years. In the past two years, he’s moved Metropolis from his garage, to working out of BicyclingHub.com’s retail location in the Central Eastside, and finally to his own space.

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Offerings from Pake and Redline. The shop dog, Holly, befriends Elly.

The N. Williams location is a former printer parts store and is adjacent to one of the Portland’s busiest bikeways. “It’s an awesome spot,” says Nathan, “we can just look out the window and see bikes streaming by all day.”

Todd Roll (L) and Nathan Roll.

Nathan currently stocks commuting accessories and bikes from Pake and Redline. He is also a United Bicycle Institute certified mechanic.

Nathan’s brother Todd recently launched a bike business of his own — Pedal Bike Tours.

Pedal Bike Tours offers rental bikes and knowledgeable local guides that can lead groups around Portland’s neighborhoods and attractions. Todd says he has several standard rides on his menu including a “Historic Downtown” ride, a “Hip and Homespun” ride that tours “funky new shops and edgy art galleries”, and a “Coffee Crawl” that will take folks on tasting tours and a behind the scenes look at local roasters.

Todd says he hopes his services attract new riders, families and tourists who want to explore the city on carfree paths and quiet streets. Next month, he’ll lead a ride to see the holiday lights on Peacock Lane in Northeast Southeast Portland.

Next time you’re in the neighborhood, stop by and say hi (and give the shop dog Holly some lovin’!).

Metropolis Cycle Repair
2249 N Williams Ave
Portland OR 97217
503-287-7116
MetropolisCycles.com
info@metropoliscycles.com

Pedal Bike Tours
(503) 916-9704
PedalBikeTours.com

The Oregonian on July 15th, 2008.

KGW reports that James Millican, who ran down and then drove with Jason Rehnberg on his hood after Rehnberg (who was on his bike) told him to slow down, has been sentenced to 45 days in jail.

Along with jail, the 21-year-old Millican must do 160 hours of community service, pay Rehnberg $800 for lost wages, and be on probation for three years. Millican was charged with unlawful use of a weapon, DUI, and attempted assault (second degree).

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James Millican gets 45 days
in jail, probation and community
service.

According to KGW, Millican told the judge this morning that he had been drinking (he had a .11 blood-alcohol level) and that “he snapped” when Rehnberg called him a name.

“I was on a short fuse. Him calling me an [expletive] broke the camel’s back.”

KGW reports that Rehberg also admits he “could have acted differently”:

“When you’re out there on a bike, you’re vulnerable. It’s hard not to react.”

Read the full story at KGW.com.

Stencil spotted on N. Williams Ave. a few blocks north of Broadway.
(Photo © J. Maus)

Last week we shared how the world’s most bike-friendly city, Copenhagen, warns riders about potential right-hooks.

On my way home a few days ago, I noticed a different attempt at a warning sign and it struck me as being distinctly Portland. This one was an unofficial stencil that read “DOOR ZONE” and was placed to the far right of the bike lane. Ironically, when we rode by, there was a car door cracked open just a bit just after the stencil (see photo).

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Dooring is a serious issue, even when it doesn’t happen. As we’ve noted recently in the Ainsworth incident, riding far enough away from the door zone puts you directly in the middle of some narrow streets. That can be uncomfortable, it can enrage people in cars who think you shouldn’t be there, and it can lead to car trying to squeeze dangerously by.

And obviously, when dooring does happen, the results can be very serious. Ask Portland Mercury reporter Sarah Mirk. She was doored recently and shared her “awkward” experience on their blog.

Speaking of Portland-style stencils and transportation-themed graffiti, check out this story in the Oregonian. At a bus stop downtown, someone stenciled “Thank you for not driving”. From the Oregonian:

Stacks of black smoke billow for the letters of “driving” — emphasizing the vandal’s point. That’s soooo Portland, right?