Images courtesy of Spinlister and Pronto Cycle Share Which would YOU rather rent? For years, Portlanders have bemoaned the city’s inability to get bike share going. Now it looks like we may have two systems piling on top of each other within a year, and officials are wondering how it’ll play out. Back in March, […]
Bikes
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A Cyclist Lost His Leg to A Driver’s Inattention Yesterday. Activists Say SE Powell is to Blame
Google SE 26th and Powell, seen looking southbound on 26th. Street safety is often debated in this town, but it’s relatively rare for an incident to shock Portland’s consciousness like yesterday’s mayhem in Southeast. An avid cyclist and bike racer named Alistair Corkett—just 22—was biking south on SE 26th when an oncoming pickup driver didn’t […]
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Split Opinions on Motorcycle Lane-Splitting
Oregon Department of Transportation Motorcycles riding between lanes on a highway during heavy traffic For six months last year, daily motorcycle commuter and downtown Portland resident Patrick Leyshock worked in Hillsboro. As a dedicated all-weather rider, Leyshock rode Highway 26 in morning and evening rush hour traffic five days a week, putting along in the […]
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Rejoinder! The Debate Over Portland’s Bike Reputation Continues, But Will It Ultimately Matter?
Oh, you thought the debate about whether Portland deserves national laurels as a “platinum” bike city was done? That was foolish. We’ve now got a rejoinder to the retort to the initial argument, which was that Portland’s bike reputation is overblown, and that the city hasn’t done nearly enough to welcome a mode of transportation […]
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Retort! PBOT Responds to Critics Who Say Portland’s Not A “Platinum” Bike City
Dirk VanderHart The protected bike lane on SW Moody. The Portland Bureau of Transportation says it’s not asleep at the handlebars. Following news Monday that a group of Portland cyclists want the League of American Bicyclists to downgrade Portland’s “bike friendliness” rating from a stellar platinum, PBOT’s fighting back. Its response to the online petition […]
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Cyclists Want A National Organization to Downgrade Portland’s Bike Friendliness
Michael Andersen Portland used to be America’s self-styled “Bicycle Capital.” Then city code enforcers killed the enormous downtown mural proclaiming as much. We used to be a reliable pick for “Bike City USA,” as ordained by the lycra-clad editors of Bicycling magazine. Then we plummeted, losing out to New York. And Chicago. And Minneapolis. Now, […]
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A Wilsonville Republican Has Realized Mandatory Safety Vests Are a Bad Idea
Wikimedia Don’t buy those incandescent trousers just yet. Facing pressure from cycling advocates and riders around the state, a Wilsonville Republican has announced he’s backing off legislation that would have made it illegal to ride at night without special clothing “including but not limited to a reflective coat or reflective vest.” Under House Bill 3255, […]
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That Traffic Light Is Probably Not Ignoring You: A Public Service Announcement
See that subtle circle on the pavement there? Its technical name is “inductive loop detector,” and it senses whether cars or bikes or motorcycles are waiting for a traffic light to turn green. These things have been the subject of much keening lately, after the Oregonian reported last week on a “bill allowing bicycles, motorcycles […]
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Bike Share’s Delayed Again, But PBOT’s Director Guarantees a 2016 Launch
PBOT Director Leah Treat You saw this coming, but now it’s official: Portland’s not getting a bike share system this year. Again. Those tidings come straight from Portland Bureau of Transportation Director Leah Treat, who sat down with the Mercury earlier this afternoon. After two years of delay—Portlanders were initially told they’d be zooming around […]
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Can a New Name “Motivate” Bike Share in Portland? (Probably Not)
puget sound bike share Last year, Portland said goodbye to the popular, troubled Alta Bicycle Share, after the company was sold to a New York City outfit. Now, Alta’s gone altogether—at least nominally. The company’s new owners are swapping out the old name, which may have associations with the software bugs and accusations of poor […]
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Report: Alta Bicycle Share is No Longer a Portland Company
For months now, there’s been speculation Portland’s Alta Bicycle Share—the company to which we’ve pinned our oft-dashed bike share hopes—would be moving on. Reports sprang up this summer about the company’s impending acquisition by a New York real estate firm, and local officials acknowledged they’d been briefed by Alta about the change. Now it’s apparently […]
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Old Town’s Got A Protected Bike Lane!… Through Sunday
If you’re at all interested in the discussion around more-livable streets—or just like riding and walking in urban areas where cars aren’t given complete priority—check the stretch of NW/SW 3rd from Davis to Ash this weekend. Since very early this morning, volunteers have been lining the block with small “planters,” traffic cones, and fresh markings, […]