TOM RALLEY spent a harrowing rush hour on the Hawthorne Bridge last June. Clipboard in hand, Ralley volunteered to record every cyclist who sped past, as well as their gender, and whether they wore a helmet. “I couldn’t keep up. I think I counted 600 in the first hour,” recalls Ralley.
Ralley’s station was just one of 134 that Portland Bureau of Transportation (PBOT) staffed across the city during rush hour last summer. This year’s annual bike count, released on Friday, January 8, raised some eyebrows: For the first time in 14 years, citywide bike trips have decreased.
But the report also shows that trips by car and transit have decreased (blame the economy), and that since 2000 the percentage of bikes in relation to cars on the road in Portland has tripled.
“When people first started hearing that the number of bike trips were down last year, a lot of people said, ‘Oh, that means there are less people riding their bikes.’ That’s not true,” says PBOT spokesman Dan Anderson. “It’s not that people are riding less, it’s maybe that people have fewer places to go. When the unemployment rate goes up, the number of trips goes down.”
Last year’s bike count reveals that citywide bike ridership has increased 180 percent since 2000—good news for a new city bike plan that aims to nearly double Portland’s ridership by 2030. In the past year, trips by bike declined five percent citywide while trips on transit declined seven percent and car trips declined seven percent compared to 2006-2008.
City council will vote on the new 2030 Bike Plan on February 4, and though the plan proposes 600 new miles of bike lanes, it is up in the air how much money council will put behind the ambitious goals.
“To see the numbers go up, the city’s got to prioritize building safe routes for bikes,” says Bicycle Transportation Alliance advocate Michelle Poyourow.
Only six to eight percent of Portlanders commute primarily by bike, but according to PBOT surveys, 70 percent of Portlanders have a bike in their garage. “You can’t lecture people onto bikes, they have to feel safe on the street,” says Poyourow.
And have jobs to ride to, presumably.
So… why should all of Portland have to pay for 6-8% of Portland’s commuter choices (assuming the percentages are even that high)? Furthermore, if the issue is safety, start having the police actively issue tickets to bicyclists that break the law. Perhaps that will help cut down on ignored traffic lights…
WOW! Where to start with that last comment!! This individual does not want his tax dollars going to things he or she does not personally take part in. Even if that thing encourages a healthier community, reduces congestion, and helps the air that even that commenter breathes? Are you, referring to the commenter who titled himself “Seriously?,” aware that most cities ran out of space to improve transportation infrastructure years ago? If Portland can show a 10+% reduction in congestion due to anything by 2030, well, I cant see how that would not be advantageous for many other cities across the nation. Last point: If there were only bike and pedestrian paths the amount of tax dollars you would be paying in taxes for upkeep would be next to zero compared to the upkeep of massive bridges and roads which are constantly subjected to loads which are measured in tons. So…bikers and peds save you money…Seriously!!!
Not everybody wants to ride a bike. I don’t know why that is hard to understand. I am a life long Portlander, and I don’t give a shit about bike riders. I walk and drive to places I need to go. Why can’t you just get over the fact that maybe bike riding has reached a plateau. Ride a bike? Good for you. I just don’t feel the need to strap 3 kids to a bike to ride to school in the middle of January.
Please get over yourselves.