The Bike Based Business League and the BTA are asking 100 local business owners to sign on to a letter of support for adoption and implementation of the Portland Bicycle Plan for 2030, which will be delivered to Mayor Adams and the rest of the City Council prior to the January 20th February 4 hearing on the Plan.
Business owners: sign on to the letter below.
Not a business owner? You can still take action as a customer.
Results from Portland Plan Workshops show that business owners and Portland residents are overwhelmingly in agreement about the connections between biking and walking and a thriving local economy. Compare some of the responses from a neighborhood workshop in SE Portland and one geared toward business owners:
Southeast Portland neighborhood workshop:
And there’s more:
In deciding where to live during the next 25 years, which factor is important to you?
- Neighborhood workshop: Walking distance to stores and restaurants (47%)
- Business workshop: Walking distance to stores and restaurants (45%)
Today, what is the most important issue facing Portland?
- Neighborhood workshop: Prosperity, Business Success and Equity (24%)
- Business workshop: Prosperity, Business Success and Equity (53%)
Help the BBL secure the support of one of Portland’s strongest constituencies: Pass this letter onto business owners who want to support action on the Plan, and ask them to do one of three things:
1. Sign onto this letter with other businesses, by emailing michelle@bta4bikes.org.
or
2. Write a letter of support on your own business letterhead (you are welcome to copy and paste as much or as little of this letter as you like).
3. Attend the hearing before City Council on the Bicycle Plan for 2030 and testify in support in person. The hearing is currently scheduled for January 20th, time TBD (date is subject to change; email michelle@bta4bikes.org for hearing time updates).
Letter of support for Portland Bicycle Plan for 2030 (download PDF)
Dear Mayor Adams,
We, the undersigned Portland businesses, are writing you to support the adoption and implementation
of the Portland Bicycle Plan for 2030.
We care about the reliable delivery of goods and services, affordable mobility for products and people,
and healthy and productive employees.
Portland has achieved a nationally- and internationally-recognized “brand” as a livable, bike-friendly
city. But in order to keep and hone that competitive edge (while cities like New York, San Francisco,
Seattle and Denver aggressively expand their bicycling networks) we need to innovate and invest in our
active transportation assets.
Fortunately, shifting our spending to areas in which we get great returns on investment – like moving
people cheaply by bicycle – is a smart strategy in tough economic times. Even the small investments
the City of Portland has made in biking facilities in the last decade have already paid off enormously.
Biking and walking are healthy and affordable transportation options for our employees and our
customers, and will be integral to reducing our greenhouse gas emissions and fighting global climate
change.
The Portland Bicycle Plan for 2030 offers a path to achieving these goals. We support the Plan, and we
support its expedient implementation.
Sincerely,
[Business Owner]
As a self-employed business owner (three-time over) and a tad of influence with the City Council (by not being an extremist, but a thoughtful moderate) – I will be urging them to realize that the BTA has changed over the last 10+ years into a radicalized group whose membership is hardly worth worrying about in any way whatsoever, compared to the current Portland population.
When the BTA returns to accepting all forms of transportation, and works on (1) “Share the Road” and (2) educating bicyclists to wear helmet, use lights, be seen, obey the rules of the road, then you’ll get my support again. But until then, I’ll do my best to show what the BTA has become: elitist, anti-motorized vehicle (despite all that food, drink, etc. that’s driven into town), and all around “make car drivers hate all bicyclists” Us-Vs-Them organization.
Yrs, Wink
In response to Wink Junior:
Regardless of the BTA’a politics, whether they really have shifted in the last 10 years, (I wouldn’t know, I’ve only been here for 6 years and not really paying much attention to them until recently), I hope that we’ll all spend our time working to make this a better city for everyone. Making that happen will include a variety of activities including showing support for the Bicycle Master Plan. Diluting our time by working against an individual or organization seems less efficient.
I have my own business, two cars, a bike, and do a lot of walking. I’m headed over to sign the letter right now.