• Increase convenient pedestrian opportunities to safetly cross N. Williams
• Mitigate conflicts between all modes
• Reduce motor vehicle speeds
• Improve visibility of pedestrians
• Reduce the risk of cyclists being struck by opening vehicle doors
• Create opportunities for people bicycling to pass other cyclists without entering the motor vehicle lane
• Manage conflicts between bus and bicycle operations
• Reduce all crashes in the N. Williams corridor
• Maintain or improve ease of transisitions of bicyclists making turns
• Maintain access and operability for TriMet LIFT vehicles

The BTA is confident that these outcomes set the right course for building a safe North Williams corridor. The design must emerge from the outcomes that the SAC has agreed upon. The BTA supports a design that makes N. Williams safe for all road users, with a focus on a safe, convient and accessible corridor for people who ride bicycles.

We are encouraged by the collaborative, community-based process that has defined the project outcomes after community members raised concerns that the City was moving forward too quickly with its design recommendations last spring. Together, the SAC and the City have done an admirable job ensuring that key community leaders are engaged in the process and opening up the stakeholder advisory committee to include a more diverse range of experiences and voices at the table. We encourage the City to evaluate their community engagement processes and revise policies to ensure that groups that have historically been underrerpresented are engaged decision making tables.

Next Steps

The SAC is meeting on February 7th from noon to 2:00 p.m. at the Oregon Red Cross (3131 N. Vancouver Ave, Training Room 11).  We’ll be discussing and adopting the draft list of top ten outcomes that will then help the city to decide how they should prioritize engineering tools on the street to focus on improving safety for all road users.

We expect that the City will be able to provide the Stakeholder Advisory Committee with the safety focused street designs by the end of February.

The battle is not over. Biking and walking advocates will work together during the next few weeks with our national partners at America Bikes charting a strategy. The strategy will likely include attempting an amendment on the House floor. If we can not protect Safe Routes to School on the floor, we will have to work to kill the entire bill. There will be key differences between the Senate and House versions of the transportation bill, and we will have opportunities to influence the final legislation through conference committee. Still, we are not overly optimistic that a good bill will come through during the current Congressional session.

This debate matters for Oregonians. Our legislators have been strong supporters of our work. Representative Peter DeFazio gave a brilliant defense of Safe Routes to School and the amendment at the committee meeting. (Watch the video at the end of this post.) If you live or do work in his district, please send him an email or call his office to say thank you. He deserves it, and likely could use the moral support right now. Please stay engaged as the bill moves forward. We will need a vote for safety from Representative Greg Walden to approve an amendment on the house floor.

Representative Peter DeFazio with former Rep. Oberstar and Portland Pedicab’s Ryan Hashagen. 

You can also help by taking this next federal and local election season seriously. Every vote matters. If the transportation bill ends up being as ugly as it is now, our work for Oregon will focus even more on state policy change in Salem. We will need to make sure that our funding priorities are protected by redistributing other funds. Even in Oregon, where we are light years ahead of most other states in terms of transportation policy, this battle will be hard. We will need all the help we can get.

I’m proud of The Bicycle Transportation Alliance staff and the work we did to lay the foundation for our current policies in Oregon. The consequences of a bill that does not preserve bicycle funding are easy to see:

1. We will no longer have a dedicated source of funding in Oregon for Safe Routes to School. Sure, we can apply for funds from other pots of money, but we will face competition for those funds from great sidewalk projects, important transit connections, and safety improvements on our roads.

2. We will no longer have a dedicated and funded Safe Routes to School Coordinator for the Oregon Department of Transportation. Without the position, it will be harder to sustain long-term success in the program.

3. Our work to put more bicycle lanes, build new trails, and encourage more people to get on bikes will slow down if we don’t find new sources of funding. New sources could include social business ventures, increased corporate sponsorship and building a greater base of individual donors. The BTA has been preparing to go in this direction, but this escalates the need.

Join the battle to preserve bicycling infrastructure right now. We need you now more than ever.

Video: Representative Peter DeFazio of Oregon’s 4th District expressed strong support for biking and walking in testimony this morning.

Respondents were asked about their usual transportation modes, perceptions of safety, and interest in bike and pedestrian education programs. 

The study, funded by the Northwest Foundation, investigated perceptions of walking and biking and the built environment with a focus on advocacy and policy change. It was based on data collected firsthand from three different surveys of immigrant and refugee families and their children at two East Portland middle schools, Floyd Light and Ron Russell.

IRCO’s report provides insight into some of the barriers to walking and biking that exist among communities of color, immigrants and refugees. The report also suggests how advocates, educators, and community organizations can work together more effectively to communicate the benefits of walking and biking through educational materials and programs that serve the needs of the community. The information is useful for non-profit organizations working in active transportation and public health, as well as municipal agencies and Safe Routes to School programs.

Above, a chart from IRCO’s presentation shows parents’ responses about the factors limiting their children’s ability to walk or bike.

The BTA thanks the ENRICH team for sharing their findings with our staff.

Download the full presentation (Powerpoint) here.

Walk+Bike Networking Night at the Community Cycling Center.

The group discussed our programs, mapped populations reached, and created new partnerships for 2012 that help meet the needs of our community.

We identified three important strategies to work together effectively in 2012:

1. Stay in contact throughout the year to share resources and project ideas so that we can better leverage funding.
2. Use the Oregon Safe Routes to School website as a place to collect partner information and resources.
3. Continue conversations about teen programming and secure funding.

How you can get involved in the Walk+Bike Network:

• Contact LeeAnne at leeanne@btaoregon.org to be added to the email list
• Join us at the next Walk+Bike Networking night (we plan to meet again this time next year)
• Attend Oregon’s 2nd Annual Walk+Bike to School Retreat!

Why you should apply for this fantastic job
Do you love kids, being outside, getting exercise, being a role model, and working in an encouraging team atmosphere?  We want you to work with us!

The Bicycle Transportation Alliance (BTA) is a non-profit membership organization with a mission to create healthy, sustainable communities by making bicycling safer, more convenient and more accessible in Oregon and SW Washington. We are hiring three temporary, part-time Walk+Bike Ambassadors who will support and the Bicycle Transportation Alliance’s Bike Safety Education program from March 28th through June 11th. The Bike Safety Education program is a ten-hour class including on-bike and on-street training taught to 4th and 5th grade students at 40 elementary schools throughout Portland. In the 2010-2011 school year, the BTA’s Walk+Bike Ambassador Team taught more than 4,000 students this ten-hour curriculum.

Some of the Portland students you may be working with are in North Portland at Humboldt, Beach, Cesar Chavez, and Rosa Parks Elementary schools, in Northeast at Prescott and Laurelhurst Elementary schools, in Southeast at Bridger, Llewellyn, Glencoe, and Sunnyside Elementary schools, on the west side at Forest Park, Rieke, and Maplewood Elementary schools, and in East Portland at Harrison Park, Sacramento, Shaver, Gilbert Heights, and Earl Boyles Elementary schools just to name a few.

This job is perfect for anyone who is thinking about becoming a teacher.  You will get plenty of training and experience in classroom management, in communicating with teachers, parents, students, and community members, in planning and teaching lessons, and in leading bike rides. Our team is excited to add your expertise and creativity to our program!  Please see below for instructions on how to apply.

What we believe
We believe that bicycling transforms communities by reinventing transportation and offering solutions that help solve the universal challenges to health, livability and the environment.

What you would be doing as a Walk+Bike Ambassador

• Teach bike safety to kids.
• Engage community members and volunteers.
• Report activity to the Education Programs Manager, Lead Walk + Bike Ambassador.
• Come to required meetings and trainings.
• Participate in maintenance and movement of fleet bicycles from school to school.

Requirements

• Able to lift 30 lbs above your shoulders.
• Able to walk or use a mobility device for one mile.
• Able to ride a bike or an adaptive bicycle at least ten miles in one day.
• Loves to work with kids, be physically active, and be outdoors.
• Applicants 18 years and older are encouraged to apply.
• Proficiency in Spanish, Russian, Somali, Vietnamese, or Mandarin.  This item is not required but applicants with these skills will be well positioned to teach in this program.

If you have experience in the following, please highlight it in your cover letter:

• Experience living or working in underserved communities.
• Experience working in a public or private school.
• Study or experience in child development, education, physical education, outdoor recreation, and/or public health.
• Basic bike mechanic skills.
• Strong organizational skills.

How to apply
Please send your cover letter, resume as well as a completed BTA application form in PDF format via email to leeanne@btaoregon.org. No calls, please. Applications will be accepted up to February 26th. Interviews will be scheduled after that time.

The BTA does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, age, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, marital or familial status, physical or mental disability or legal source of income.

Today, the House released its transportation bill, the American Energy and Infrastructure Act. Last week, we knew the bill would be bad news for biking and walking. But we didn’t think it would go so far as to completely cut every reference to bicycling and walking out of the federal transportation policy.

Representative Peter DeFazio is the only member of Oregon’s delegation on the House Transportation & Infrastructure Committee. If you live or do business in his district, please take action to urge him to preserve biking and walking. When this bill moves from the committee to the floor we will ask everyone to get involved to make the bill much better for bikes.

House leadership is pressing to eliminate bicycling and walking in the transportation bill, which would:

• Destroy Transportation Enhancements by making the program optional
• Repeal the Safe Routes to School program, reversing years of progress in creating safe ways for kids to walk and ride bicycles to school
• Allow states to build bridges without safe access for pedestrians and bicycles
• Eliminate bicycle and pedestrian coordinators in state DOTs
• Eliminate language that insures that rumble strips “do not adversely affect the safety or mobility of bicyclists, pedestrians or the disabled”

But we can still save biking and walking in this bill. This week in the Transportation Committee, Representative Petri (R-WI) will stand up for bicycling and walking by offering an amendment that restores dedicated funding for Transportation Enhancements and Safe Routes to School.

Mr. Petri can only be successful if everyone with a stake in safe sidewalks, crosswalks, and bikeways contacts their Representative on the Transportation Committee again today.

If you live in Oregon’s 4th Congressional District, please urge Representative Peter DeFazio to vote YES on the Petri amendment.

This is as urgent as it gets. Even if we do win this amendment, there will be a long road ahead. But if we lose here, we risk losing decades of progress.

We know we are asking a lot of you. Thank you for all you’re doing to preserve biking and walking.

Rob Sadowsky is executive director of the BTA. Interview by Sheilagh Griffin.

Where are you from?
I was born in New York, on Long Island. Since then I’ve lived in the Bay Area, in Michigan, and in Madison, Wisconsin, then 21 years in Chicago, then in 2010 moved to Portland.

What brought you to active transportation advocacy?
I would rollerblade to work when I had a job that was only 5 minutes away by car. Then I took a job in downtown Chicago, and it was not possible to rollerblade there. A friend and bike advocate told me I needed to get a bike. So I got a used mountain bike and became a bike commuter.

Later, a friend asked me to help with a fundraising event for the Chicagoland Bicycle Federation (now called the Active Transportation Alliance). After that I joined the CBF board.

Part of my regular job at the time was non-profit executive coaching. CBF had grown from a 1-person organization to a 20-person organization and the executive director was considering different management models. He asked me to apply for the ED position. (He actually asked a couple of times before I ended up applying). That’s how I became a full time active transportation advocate.

What is your favorite thing(s) about Portland?
The decision-making process — I like that a community group or individual can really be involved in making decisions for the city. I like the summers. Sunday Parkways is one of the things that most attracted me to Portland.

What do you see for the future of Sunday Parkways?
I envision Sunday Parkways happening on Portland’s iconic streets, like Foster, Sandy, or Division. It should grab the opportunity to bring attention to restaurants and business districts and to transform neighborhoods for the day. It should happen every Sunday for the entire summer, from May to October. The goal is to change physical activity behavior, and this is accomplished by having it every Sunday, not just one event for a neighborhood.

If you could choose one place to live in the world where would that be?
Portland is definitely where I want to be now. When we decided to move to Portland, we looked at a lot of options including Montreal and Quebec. If I were to have the opportunity to go to a place for 3-4 months, China and Mexico City would be on the short list. I want what the urban environment has to offer: art, events, biking, etc.

What is a little known fact about you?
I love clothes shopping and I like playing poker. I think many know that I also love to cook.

What do you miss most living in Portland?
I miss specific people in Chicago. I miss good Mexican food. Por Que No is pretty good, but it’s not the home-cooked larded Mexican food you get in Chicago. I do not miss the weather, politics, funding issues, or Illinois Department of Transportation.

Save the date for Portland’s sixth annual Transportation Safety Summit on March 13. The event is free and open to the public. It’s an important opportunity to learn about and provide input on Portland’s initiatives to improve safety for all road users.

WHEN: Tuesday, March 13, 2012, 5:30–9:00 PM
WHERE: Jefferson High School, 5210 N Kerby Portland, OR 97217
Register at http://www.eventbrite.com/edit?eid=1208826633

The Sixth Transportation Safety Summit kicks off with a Community Initiatives Poster Session from 5:30–6:15 PM. This is a great opportunity to showcase your work before local transportation and community leaders.

Please contact Sharon White at  sharon.white@portlandoregon.gov to reserve exhibit space.

Here is a recap from last year’s transportation summit.

BTA Executive Director Rob Sadowsky had the opportunity to speak on Monday, January 30 in support of the Laborers’ Local 483 members who walked out at the end of their shifts at the Bureau of Transportation and subsequently held a public forum at the Dishman Community Center. Here is his statement at the forum:

Hello, I’m Rob Sadowsky of the Bicycle Transportation Alliance and the recently formed Healthy Streets Initiative, a statewide coalition working to make our streets safe for all users and to increase funding to support healthy streets. I am here today to affirm the BTA’s support for living wage jobs. We are in desperate need of a balanced transportation system that rewards sustainability and flexibility. There are too many people that look at the situation we are in today, under a threat of significant budget cuts at the local, state and national levels, that say go after “their” money, not “ours.” Well, I want to state loud and clear that we must work together to preserve and protect the funding levels we have now and unite for investments in core infrastructure to keep up our momentum.

We have learned time and time again that ignoring core infrastructure investment by deferring maintenance is a no-win situation. We will pay for these types of shortsighted strategies through higher costs later. Deteriorating infrastructure will not serve the businesses that are already attracted to Portland’s balanced transportation system.

The Healthy Streets Initiative and the BTA call for a united campaign to develop a dedicated source of revenue for infrastructure maintenance in Portland and in Oregon. This source needs to be adaptable to today’s vehicles and fair to all users of the road. Portland’s over-reliance on state gas tax resources has resulted in a massive and growing backlog in maintenance and postponed street, sidewalk, pedestrian, and bikeway improvements. Yet, Portland has had no alternative but to continue to rely on the gas tax. Let’s us fight together for a clear and permanent resolution to funding.

We as bicyclists know how important it is to invest in maintenance. We are vulnerable to every bump, rut, or failing drain in the city. I can’t simply plow through that pothole, I need to swerve to avoid it and hope that I’ve got clearance to either side. The BTA shares others’ concerns that city funding through the gas tax can’t cover the backlog of deferred maintenance.

Additionally, we want to call out for continued investment in other services that are important to our members. Let us not suffer cuts to other essential outdoor recreational opportunities such as Parks’ maintenance services.

In conclusion, we must avoid pitting ourselves against one another and stand united in solidarity. United, we can build a coalition that will develop sustainable and realistic funding! United, we can build healthy streets that we feel good about as our children walk and bike to school! Let’s call upon our political leaders and our future political leaders to stand up for jobs, infrastructure, and healthy streets.

Thank you.

Please register by March 30^th for the low price of $10/day (plus a $2 processing fee). Registration is limited to 100 participants due to space, so please register early to ensure your participation. Click HERE to register.

Here is some information to get you started:

• Cost for the retreat is just $10/day plus a $2 processing fee and includes printed material, trainings, networking, and light snacks.
• Travel and meals are not included but we are working to secure $75 reimbursement scholarships provided to approximately 30 attendees on a first-come, first-serve basis.  We will have more information in March.
• Professional Development Unit Certificates are available. Check with your district to confirm requirements.
• If you are interested in carpooling or room sharing, please use the Walk+Bike Retreat Bulletin Board.

The basic agenda is:
Thursday, 6/21/12:

• 9:00-11:00am: Bike Safety Educators Statewide Debrief. This event is happening in conjuncture with the Retreat and is open to Retreat Participants.
• 12:30-4:00pm: Part 1 of the Bike Safety Education Curriculum and Traffic Safety Training.
• 4:30-6:30pm: Welcome, networking, identifying and prioritizing goals exercise.

Friday, 6/22/12:

• 8:00 am-5:00 pm: Trainings*
• 6:00-9:00pm: Networking Event

Saturday, 6/23/12:

• 9:30-11:30: Walk+Bike Network Annual Meeting and Statewide Partnership discussion. Topics include setting goals for the next year, reviewing last year’s goals and progress.
• 12:30-2:00pm: World Café networking and brainstorming activity.

*Friday Trainings: (more information about trainings can be found at http://eugenesrts.org/orwalkbikeretreat)

• Part 2: Bike Safety Education Curriculum and Traffic Safety
• Neighborhood Navigators Curriculum: Environmental Education
• Encouragement Event Panel Discussion
• Fundraising and Action Plans
• Advocating for your program
• Walk+Bike Encouragement Events

Bertha completing the Bike Safety Education Curriculum Training at the 2011 Retreat

We are working to get retreat participants discounts for restaurants and lodging.  We will send more information to registrants as we get it nailed down!  Thanks for your excitement and encouragement in getting this retreat off the ground.  We hope to see you there!

Above: Summer Streets in New York City

It’s hard to imagine a Portland summer without Sunday Parkways. Since 2008, the neighborhood open-streets events have drawn bigger and bigger crowds to experience the action on bike and on foot. But with massive funding cuts in store for the Portland Bureau of Transportation, no one knows for sure what the future holds for Sunday Parkways. I sat down with BTA executive director Rob Sadowsky to get some background on what Sunday Parkways looks like across the globe, how it caught on in Portland, and what he hopes the future has in store for the event. -TP

On Ciclovia in Latin America:

Look at some of the largest most populous cities in the world: Rio De Janerio, Santaigo, Buenes Aires, Bogota. They’re dealing with a lot of issues like congestion, smog, pollution. These cities are at the forefront of a lot of transportation issues.

In my experience going to Guadalajara twice and Quito once, I’ve seen how Ciclovia, as it’s called, transforms an entire city. Not just a neighborhood — it transforms an entire city. A quarter to a half million people come out every Sunday. They have big activity stages where, say, ballet or a dance studio sets up shop for an entire day and holds a series of classes that people can schedule. People will come just to go to those activity stations, not even necessarily to walk or bike, but they use the route to get there. It’s really about physical activity.

On open streets events in the U.S.:

Now, we try to bring it here — Portland, Chicago, New York, San Francisco. We see the realities of our own politics, and how hard it is to convince our own political leaders to spend money on non-infrastructure projects, particularly when it’s coming out of transportation budget. These events highlight the resources we already have built. Portland Sunday Parkways will highlight the neighborhood greenway system. Other cities, like Guadalajara, have used it to augment neighborhood businesses on Sunday and create bridges to neighboring communities.

On Sunday Parkways in Portland:

There are a lot of models. Portland’s got its own style, and what’s right for Portland might not be right for other cities — although it might be right for Eugene. There are a lot of ways to get creative. If it’s tough to get support and permitting and funding to close a street, let’s look for opportunities to add Sunday Parkways events to existing street closures. For example, we close Naito Parkway for the Rose Parade — if we extended that for even just 60-90 minutes, it would reduce the permitting costs because the street is already closed.

Most successful Sunday Parkways outside of Portland focus on famous, or iconic city streets, like Burnside. Portland’s style is to give everyone a chance. So there are five different neighborhood routes along a lot of different streets. There are three activity parks with 75 activities to do, but there’s not this big stage. It’s a great chance for a person to get a wide variety of experiences, but I’d love to see all this positive energy focused toward just one big stage or just one main feature.

We struggle with spending $50,000, but if we could spend $2 million on Sunday Parkways and do it every Sunday from May to October, I’d argue it would make a big enough difference in terms of physical activity it would save us money on combating physical health problems related to obesity.

Walk+Bike Educators Networking Night
January 26, 5:30 – 7:30 p.m.
Community Cycling Center, 1714 NE Alberta
Click here to see the invite and to RSVP

Please bring some ideas and food to share. RSVP is not required, but very much appreciated. We hope to see you there!