- Roughly 150 Portlanders rally for Council to adopt, fund and build the 2030 Bike Plan.
City Council chambers are standing-room only this afternoon as the five commissioners discuss whether to approve the 2030 Bike Plan, which spells out 700 miles of bike lanes for the city to build over the next two decades and aims to get 25 percent of Portlanders on bikes.
Roughly 150 Portlanders turned up for the pre-meeting rally outside City Hall, waving signs that read “BUILD IT”. “Some might say this plan is expensive,” Bicycle Transportation Alliance advocate Michelle Poyourow told the crowd, alluding to recent international coverage of the bike plan. “There is nothing expensive about this plan. Not only can we afford to build it, we can’t afford not to build it.” Poyourow pointed out that our entire existing bikeway network was completed for $60 million—the cost of constructing just one mile of urban freeway. Then she handed over the microphone to a man who led the crowd in a sing-along of Devo’s “Whip It” reworked as “Build It”. What’s a Portland protest without an audience sing-along? (Poyourow quibbles with my estimate of how many people were outside: by her count, there were about 230. So now you know.)
Mayor Adams kicked off the council hearing with an introduction about how his job as the city’s transportation chief is to make sure Portland makes the most efficient use possible of its current streets and infrastructure. “The most effective way to do that is to shift people from driving alone to walking and biking. Dollar for dollar, investing in bike infrastructure makes sense,” said Adams, adding that the plan would definitely not “sit on a shelf and gather dust.” Instead, the council will establish a finance task force “to look under every rock” for funding. Hooray! A task force! The hallmark of Portland public process. The team will be required to report back to council in nine months with a funding strategy.
Office of Transportation Director Sue Keil followed up with a short talk about how the plan will benefit all road users, including drivers who are “scared spitless” of hitting a cyclist. Classic.
2:53 pm — Poll! Take it.
How long will the bike plan sit on the shelf without funding?
Updated coverage and more photos below the cut.
More photos from the rally and hearing:
- Matt Davis
- Filling out a petition on the top of a pedicab.
- No room left in the council chambers!
2:40 pm
City bicycle coordinator Roger Geller just threw out some pretty serious statistics:
• Bicycling today in Portland four times safer than it was in 1996.
• Inactivity and diet are the second leading modifiable cause of death after tobacco.
• Cyclists save $1 in healthcare costs for every mile they travel by bike.
- Poyourow looms over City Council.
Update 3:29 pm
Jonathan Nicholas, Cycle Oregon founder and VP of healthcare company ODS, gave one of the more articulate of the citizen testimonies at the hearing. He started off saying that, honestly, he’s not very fond of cyclists. “I think of bicycles the same way I think about broccoli. It’s good for some people, but it’s never going to be popular,” Nicholas told council. But, he continued, “We live now in a profoundly sick city.” Biking brings down healthcare costs, so the council should support it, he finished.
The BTA’s Poyourow (who is rumored to be quitting the BTA soon) also received applause for her testimony, which reiterated the main points she told the crowd outside at the rally. “If you compare the cost of this entire bicycle plan over 20 long years, it will cost as much as one line of light rail,” said Poyourow. “We’d like you to adopt this plan, find new federal sources to fund this plan and build it.” On cue, audience members waved their BUILD IT signs.
3:40 pm
Audience members have offered some criticism of the plan. Katie Larsell and Susan Dean, citizens involved in the East Portland Action Plan committee said the plan underfunds bike projects in East Portland, ignoring the needs of people east of I-205.
George Crandall of planning group Crandall Arambula says his firm believes the plan will only allow the “strong and the fearless” to ride in Portland. By striping new bike lanes and encouraging cyclists to ride on the same streets as cars, “The plan does little to attract ridership from ‘the capable but cautious.’” Estimates that the plan will lead to 25 percent ridership are far off, the plan is at best a “ten percent solution.”
3:51 pm Mayor Adam’s just issued a little pep talk on funding, “One thing is certain: You don’t get more funding unless you have something to sell. Not just a piece of paper, but the results within it… Once we have something to inspire us and something to sell, we chip away at it.”
Saltzman jumped in with his own funding idea, which seems interesting but off-the-cuff. IN 2008, the City Council voted to direct a slice of the utility license fees on public utilities (like PGE, Pacificorps, NW Natural) into a fund for the Portland Department of Transportation. Saltzman suggested that if more money comes in from the license fee than the city projected would come in, it be put into a bond fund to pay for the plan. That would mean everything over $4.3 million in utility revenues would go into a bike funding pot.
Adams replied, “We’ll look into that.”
4:07 pm Special message just passed around the council chambers on a “BUILD IT” postcard: the Build It after party is at Lotus Room on SW 3rd and Salmon. I love it. Every city council hearing needs an after party.
4:12 pm Articulate testimony from a Portland State student and self-proclaimed Timbers Army member (even wearing a Timbers scarf, of course) named Joe Wilson. “Don’t listen to people who say this plan is for a special interest. It is no more a special interest than the fire department,” Wilson told the three remaining council members, Nick Fish and Randy Leonard having slipped out for other engagements. “Just because everyone in a city does not use a service, that doesn’t mean they don’t benefit from that service. My house may never catch fire, but I am happy to pay taxes to fund the fire department. In the words of all the signs in the room: build it.”
4:16 pm The hearing isn’t over yet, but Mayor Adams’ official remarks are already up on his website. Check it out: “Bicycle Plan Moves Portland Forward.”
Also, another critic just took to the testimony stand. Doug Youngman pointedly asked the council where the money for the plan will come from. “These people need an economics 101 course to realize that this course we’re going with our government is unsustainable,” said Youngman.
- Planning Commisioner Chris Smith also runs PortlandTransport.org
4:46 pm Whew! Two and a half hours of public testimony just wrapped up…
Planning Commissioner Chris Smith gave a moving little oration about cycling helping with his own health problem: “We have an epidemic of diabetes in this country. In 2003, I was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes and I want to share with you that cycling and other types of active transportation are important for managing my diabetes. For the sake of the health of our community, please build it.”
Smith was followed up by the charming William Barnes, who introduced himself saying, “I do a lot of things in the city, some of y’all know about ‘em.” He continued, “I haven’t been on a bike in 30 years. It’s going to cost someone a lot of money to put me on a bike again. But the biggest single increasing cost for the city, is healthcare. Anything a city can do to bring down a healthcare cost for the city, they should.”
4:50 pm The debate has gone on so long that Mayor Adams is delaying a vote on the bike plan. “I’ll take money for this plan wherever I can get it This is gonna pass folks, don’t worry,” he told the crowd. You couldn’t write a more upbeat ending.
i’m not sure how ‘live’ the liveblog is right now. i want to know what’s going on
Watch city council live:
http://www.portlandonline.com/index.cfm?c=…
Follow on Twitter #buildit. T.A. Barnhart is rockin’ it!
I thought Poyourow quit or something. What happened to tha story? And have I mentioned how how she is? Jus’ sayin’…. That would make a good story too.
It’s amazing the way that spell check won’t catch typos that are spelled correctly.
Poyourow is rumored to be quitting after today.
Wait, wait, wait – you had a problem with $11 Million Dollars in Bonds for PGE Park but $500 Million for Bikes is hunky dory? There are actually going to be less bikers than MLS attendees.
I actually support this plan and I am a biker but my head is spinning from the utter disconnect by Matt, Sarah and all the other haters on the MLS deal who were so “concerend about obligations on the general fund” who then spin around and suddenly support a obligation on the general fund 50 times the MLS deal. WTF?
“It’s amazing the way that spell check won’t catch typos that are spelled correctly.”
Graham that’s why it’s useful to be smart enough to glance over one’s own work and identify problems in the text, rather than having a machine do the work for you.
Katie Larsell or Susan Dean’s complaints, (I don’t remember who,) weren’t about the plan itself, but where the most recent round of funding had gone. Adams agreed with her, but said that that was federal funding that had been directed at shovel read projects, and there was another round of federal stimulus money coming up and they were trying to get more shovel ready projects in East Portland.
The other complaints I heard before I left were Terry Parker and his Socialism rant, and some lady that said that bicyclists weren’t very good about sharing the Springwater/esplanade with walkers. While I agree somewhat with that second point somewhat, Poyourow pointed out that actually we are doing quite a bit better than we used to, and compared to most US cities we are doing amazing in that regard. I remember at the towards car free cities conference a few years ago that everyone from out of town was amazed at how good bicyclist in Portland were about stopping at stop signs compared to their home towns…
As for funding, some of it is happening already, but the real question is: will the amount of money and the pace of the funding be sufficient for what the plan calls for? I personally doubt it. But regardless I think it is very likely that in 2030, 25% of people will be on bicycles because they can’t afford gas/cars/etc…
A bit of a correction – the Plan’s goal is for 25% of all *trips* to be made by bicycle. Figure for example you make 8 trips a day (to work and back, to the store & back, visit a friend, go to a meal, go to a movie, go home ) – do 2 of those by bike and you’re there.
Don’t dismiss those “little” trips, 10 blocks to the store and back. If you’re driving, those are the least efficient and most polluting, and they clog up the local roads. Go by bike and you get to wave to your neighbors, show off your new outfit, and feel rad about yourself and your town.
Hey Timolandia (or anyone else): is this one of those situations where “trips” really means “trip ends” — that is, going from home to the grocery store and back = 4 “trips”?
Not sure it matters for the math. Just curious.
Good conversation in Lotus Room after. Here’s what I learned:
1.We need to get more ugly non-hipsters on bikes, make biking drabber.
2.City’s general fund isn’t going to pay for this baby. It’s all about lining up a grant proposal to get our hands on some nice federal pork.
3.GIVE US SOME OF THAT BULLSH_T PORK! NOT GENERAL MOTORS!
4.Is Adams doing this to consolidate his base, or because he’s scared of that base, these days?!
5.Nice. Also found that bikers are generally among the most switched on and civic-minded Portlanders. Sort of already knew that but enjoyed having it confirmed.
To win a election or recall… you need 50% plus 1 vote. Cyclists only make up about 6% of the population. I think that Adams realizes this the most.
@Matt Davis part 5
There is an interesting theory behind that: Cyclists tend to be young, white, and middle class. As such, they are used to getting their way in life: Unlike minorities and the working class, they’ve never been trampled on in their past. So when something doesn’t go their way, they complain LOUDLY, because everything is supposed to go their way, as far as they know that is how life works. They become educated, become organized, and then fight with all tactics they can think of, until they win. And they do. Once they’ve become engaged on bicycling issues, it is easy for them to leapfrog into other ones: They know the system and how it works.
It is no wonder that so many political leaders in Portland are bicyclists, that how they got involved in politics at all in the first place.
@Matthew D: I think it is true that people who hvae had more “advantages” in life have more energy and resources to expend on activism. But it is not always true. and Um, there are plenty of cyclists who are neither young, white, nor middle class. Just go to an area that is predominantly not young, white, or middle class (e.g. leave inner east side portland for awhile). I live in St. Johns and I see plenty of people biking who do not match those descriptive adjectives. I am not attacking your ideas specifically, but whitewashing/pretending people don’t exist who don’t meet a stereotype or preconceived notion is all too common. PLENTY of poor people bike, on $20 thrift store 70s bikes and $50 Huffys. PLENTY of black and latino people bike, in north portland and outer east portland. PLENTY of old people bike (someone resonding to this thread, who shall remain nameless, just got an AARP membership card). Saying that bikers = switched on and civic minded = young white and middle class is..well..it’s kinda racist. They’re just switched on and civic minded in the way(s) YOU define it and see it.
Sorry for my rant, but I am tired of bloggers & journalists & white/middle class activists often seeing things like this.
theta44 is correct.
I’ve seen many a rant from both sides of the racial divide who seem to believe people who aren’t white do not ride bikes AND THAT IS BULLLSHIT. I see black people riding bikes every day and I live on the inner East side. When I lived in St. Johns I also saw plenty of people like a fuckin Benneton ad riding to get where they need to go. This “Things that white people like” mentality is utter tripe!
That’s as may be, but I counted just one African American in council chambers to testify yesterday afternoon. There’s certainly a skewed demographic in the advocacy community around bikes.
I live in Portsmouth, I don’t live in the inner East Side, I live further from downtown than 82nd. Yes, I’m well aware that there are people that aren’t young, white, and middle class who ride bicycles. However:
I know from doing bicycle counts in my own neighborhood that the people on bikes are more white and younger than the neighborhood as a whole. If you take out the children, (who are unlikely to lobby city hall on anything, regardless of race or income,) the people on bikes were around 80% white, in a neighborhood that is only 50% white.
And sure, maybe I was wrong and some of the whites are actually Hispanic, and maybe the count times, (4-6pm) are skewed towards 9-5 workers who are more likely to be middle class and therefor white, and maybe the count locations, (for instance Fresseden and Peninsular crossing trail,) favors non-whites, (well, no: The whites tend to be south of Willis,) but still…
@theta444 — I don’t think the issue is so much whether Portland cyclists are disproportionately middle-class whites (which is what my personal observations would lead me to think, but that’s neither here nor there), the issue is that the subset of cyclists that constitute the activist/engaged community are overwhelmingly middle-class whites. Those are the cyclists who are pushing hardest for more cycling infrastructure and more taxpayer spending on cycling. The rest of us are, perhaps, more concerned about homelessness and joblessness and poverty. If you know of any cycling events, whether activist-oriented or not, that attracts any percentage of minority participation that is even close to proportionate representation of minorities in Portland, please let me know! I would love to see it. As it is, I get pretty uneasy everytime I attend any kind of cycling thing in this city — whether a casual, easy-going ride or a more organized lecture, demonstration, etc. — and see a sea of white faces, and almost only white faces, staring back. Contrary to your feelings on the matter, I think to ignore that reality is racist.