Bike City USA No Longer

No way! Way. Portland dethroned as America's top cycling city
By Joseph Rose, The Oregonian
April 06, 2010, 10:53AM
hawthorne1jpg-c17f459f64827f4b_medium.jpgView full sizeThe OregonianDespite crowded bridges, Portland has be dethroned as America's best cycling city.
Bicycling magazine just released its bi-annual list of "America's Top 50 Bike-Friendly Cities" and Portland is ... that's a typo, right?

No. 2?

Yep, after a long ride at the top, Portland has slipped a notch, losing the Bicycling crown to Minneapolis.

"Despite the cold wintertime climate," the magazine says, "Minneapolis has a thriving bike community. It has 120 miles of on- and off-street bicycle facilities, plus indoor bike parking and other cycling-friendly facilities."

But. But. What about Portland's booming bike economy and its second-to-none percentage of daily bicycle commuters and its $600 million 2030 Bicycle Plan, envisioning a day when 25 percent of all trips in the city will be made on two wheels?

Well, Bicycling loves all that, noting stumptown's "innovative programs, from designated bike-only areas at traffic signals to free bike lights." But, according to the May issue, Portland can no longer call itself "Bike City U.S.A." without sideways looks from a Midwest city known for its long, frozen winters.

Boulder, Colo., Seattle and Eugene round out the top five. Salem was ranked 19th and Corvallis landed at no. 2 on the list of best small bicycling cities.

Bicycling said the cities are ranked based on the number of bike lanes and routes, bike commuters, cycling events and renowned bike shops.

This is sort of a big deal, since many consider the magazine the monthly bible of bicycling. Portland has been quick to hold up the mag's No. 1 ranking for political and tourism pushes.

Still, Portland Mayor Sam Adams wasn't impressed. It's got to be a fluke, he said. Maybe the editors just wanted to freshen up the list with an underdog.

"I believe the author gave them 'extra-credit' for biking during Minnesota's snowy winters," Adams said. "Here 'snow' is a fancy word for 'stay home' -- even for cars."

The magazine story isn't online just yet, but Hard Drive's issue has arrived and it features dirty-mouthed Minneapolis bike builder Erik Noren making a rather disparaging remark about how Portland ain't so bad.

“(Bleep) Portland!” he opines upon learning I am trying to discover why Minneapolis deserves top status over what would seem the logical choice. “All I ever hear is about how cool Portland is. Who rides through the (bleep) we do? We ride more by accident than they do on purpose.”


Them's pedalin' words!

We're waiting to hear back from Bicycling editor-in-chief Loren Mooney to get a more detail on the thinking behind the rankings.

For now, there's just this official quote from a news release:

“Bicycling’s Best Cities list this year proves that great things can happen in short periods of time, even in the largest metropolitan areas. New York City is literally re-engineering its streets to accommodate bikes. And watching a city like Miami pull a 180 to become bike friendly has been incredibly gratifying for us. This year’s list is evidence that a much needed, far reaching pro-bike movement is in full swing, all across the country.”


In other words, it's not you, Portland, it's the rest of the country. Apparently, other cities have caught the bicycling bug. Some are accelerating faster than Portland.

According to Bicycling, Minneapolis has 127 miles of bikeways, with 83 of those being off-street trails. Oh, there's more bike parking per capita in Minneapolis than any other city in the country. What's more, in June, Minneapolis will start the largest bike-share program in the country.

Minneapolis media (we're looking at you Star-Tribune) are already getting cocky.

Portland is going to have to live with No.2 for the next year. But at least PDX is a long way from the worst cycling cities: Birmingham, Ala., Jacksonville, Fla., and Memphis, Tenn.


-- Joseph Rose, Twitter: pdxcommute

http://blog.oregonlive.com/commuting/2010/04/portland_dethroned_as_americas.html

The walkability of portland

These are the findings of Portland neighborhoods and their reliance on cars vs ability the walk to all resources. This is a fine determiner of 20 min. neighborhoods.
http://www.walkscore.com/OR/Portland

To CRC or not to CRC

CRC: Will a summer of non-stop gridlock give controversial project a push?
By Joseph Rose, The Oregonian
May 10, 2010, 8:43AM

Once again, nearly nonstop gridlock plagued northbound Interstate 5 approaching the Columbia River on Saturday and Sunday.

As we reported last week, heavy weekend traffic over the Oregon-Washington border is going to be the norm into the fall, thanks to a joint replacement project forcing lane closures on the I-205 Glenn Jackson Bridge and forcing more vehicles to spill onto I-5.

At least one reader thinks weekend traffic jams just might result in a big boost in support for the controversial Columbia River Crossing.

Robert Sims, who lives in Vancouver but works in downtown Portland, writes:

I was stuck in the I-205 gridlock last Saturday and attempted to end-run the problem by driving down to the I-5 bridge on Columbia. Guess what, the I-5 bridge was also in gridlock as were adjacent arterials. It took me 1 hour and 20 minutes to get over the I-5 bridge. The importance of two fully functional bridges over the Columbia River in the metro region will be painfully obvious to all by the end of the summer.


Hmm. A summer of gridlock is a summer of good PR for the CRC folks. Oddly, we can see some logic to that theory. What do you think?

-- Joseph Rose, Twitter: pdxcommute

http://blog.oregonlive.com/commuting/2010/05/crc_will_a_summer_of_non-stop.html

20 min. neighborhood: a crackdown on traffic

Planners ponder an overhaul of Barbur Boulevard
By Joe Fitzgibbon, Special to The Oregonian
March 20, 2010, 6:58AM

Picture streetcars or light rail zipping down Barbur Boulevard. Add in bicycle- and pedestrian-friendly businesses stretching from downtown Portland to Tigard.

Smarten up the image with several busy town centers and adjoining stormwater projects to protect streams and trails.

That's the vision that residents, city and regional planners shared with transportation officials during a recent community forum on the fate of the state highway over the next 10 years.

Marianne Fitzgerald, transportation chairwoman representing 17 Southwest neighborhood associations, wants to kick-start the proposals at a pretzellike configuration of streets and highways called West Portland Crossroads.

The busy hub includes Southwest Barbur Boulevard, Capitol Highway, ramps to and from Interstate 5, along with a mishmash of feeder streets from Portland Community College, densely packed apartment buildings and hillside neighborhoods.

At the top of Fitzgerald's list is the development of a 20–minute neighborhood on the site, a project to make all businesses and services accessible to residents in a 20-minute walk.

"This intersection has been a nightmare for the past 30 years," Fitzgerald says. "We've got lots of services and stores right there, but the challenge is giving families -- including about 3,000 Somalis in the area -- better access to them."

Patrick Sweeney, senior project manager with the Portland Office of Transportation, says his office would seek funding for a planning process that could start this summer, but that any redevelopment needs to be part of a comprehensive study of the entire roadway.

-- Joe Fitzgibbon
Special to The Oregonian

http://www.oregonlive.com/portland/index.ssf/2010/03/planners_ponder_an_overhaul_of.html

2030: Portland's golden year.

Portland Bicycle Plan for 2030

On Thursday, February 11, 2010, Portland's City Council voted unanimously to adopt the Portland Bicycle Plan for 2030.



Bicycling creates safer streets, reduces the causes of global climate change, promotes a healthy environment, and limits the effects and health care costs related to inactivity. It provides equity and access to viable, affordable transportation options and creates fun, vibrant, and livable neighborhoods. It supports Portland’s economy and is a sound investment.



To download or view a copy of the adopted Portland Bicycle Plan for 2030, click here.



The key principles laid out in the Portland Bicycle Plan for 2030 are:



Attract new riders

Plan and design for people who are not yet riding by developing safe and comfortable low-stress bikeways (such as bicycle boulevards and trails) that reduce conflicts between people riding bicycles and people driving.



Strengthen bicycle policies

Adopt policy changes outlined in the Plan, including a new bicycle transportation policy of making bicycling more attractive than driving for short trips.



Form a denser bikeway network

Expand the network of bikeways in Portland to achieve a fine-grained system that offers riders an array of route choices.



Increase bicycle parking

Implement measures to satisfy the growing demand for bike parking.



Expand programs to support bicycling

Expand established programs, and develop new programs, to encourage and support bicycling.



Increase funding for bicycle facilities

Pursue multiple strategies to increase funding for bicycle facilities and other green transportation modes.

http://www.portlandonline.com/transportation/index.cfm?c=44597

Green Boxes to promote bike safety/ridership: Are they safe?

Are Portland's bike boxes working? PSU study finds mixed results so far
By Joseph Rose, The Oregonian
January 26, 2010, 6:55PM

Portland State University researcher Chris Monsere clicked on his PowerPoint presentation to play a video of traffic at a green bike box.

On the screen, a sport utility vehicle turned right from Northwest Everett Street onto Northwest 16th Avenue, cutting across the box and nearly hitting a bicyclist with the right of way. The bicyclist hit his brakes, avoiding a nasty collision by inches.

Transportation officials, bike advocates and two-wheeled commuters in the Portland Building's second-floor auditorium last week gasped. A man shouted, "Ouch!"

The video is part of the first study of whether Portland's 14 experimental bike boxes, which began popping up at tricky intersections in 2008, help save cyclists' lives.

So far, it appears the benefits of the 14-foot-long boxes might just be in commuters' heads. A preliminary analysis of 918 hours of video shot at 12 boxes failed to show a significant reduction in conflicts between cars and bicycles, according to the study by PSU's Center for Transportation Studies.

At the same time, 90 percent of 717 city motorists polled for the study said they know how the boxes work. More than half said they think the boxes make intersections safer.

Go to the Hard Drive commuting blog to read the entire story and watch video from the study.

http://www.oregonlive.com/news/index.ssf/2010/01/psu_study_of_bike_boxes_finds.html

Vehicle Miles Traveled (VMTs) prediction for 2020

Sorry About the absence of the article, there is a lot of graphs and I couldn't get the format. Here's the link.

http://www.portlandonline.com/transportation/index.cfm?a=90249&c=39561