Twin Cities Streets for People

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Accent 5″ /> UnhideWhenUsed=”false” Name=”Medium Grid 2 Accent 5″ /> UnhideWhenUsed=”false” Name=”Medium Grid 3 Accent 5″ /> UnhideWhenUsed=”false” Name=”Dark List Accent 5″ /> UnhideWhenUsed=”false” Name=”Colorful Shading Accent 5″ /> UnhideWhenUsed=”false” Name=”Colorful List Accent 5″ /> UnhideWhenUsed=”false” Name=”Colorful Grid Accent 5″ /> UnhideWhenUsed=”false” Name=”Light Shading Accent 6″ /> UnhideWhenUsed=”false” Name=”Light List Accent 6″ /> UnhideWhenUsed=”false” Name=”Light Grid Accent 6″ /> UnhideWhenUsed=”false” Name=”Medium Shading 1 Accent 6″ /> UnhideWhenUsed=”false” Name=”Medium Shading 2 Accent 6″ /> UnhideWhenUsed=”false” Name=”Medium List 1 Accent 6″ /> UnhideWhenUsed=”false” Name=”Medium List 2 Accent 6″ /> UnhideWhenUsed=”false” Name=”Medium Grid 1 Accent 6″ /> UnhideWhenUsed=”false” Name=”Medium Grid 2 Accent 6″ /> UnhideWhenUsed=”false” Name=”Medium Grid 3 Accent 6″ /> UnhideWhenUsed=”false” Name=”Dark List Accent 6″ /> UnhideWhenUsed=”false” Name=”Colorful Shading Accent 6″ /> UnhideWhenUsed=”false” Name=”Colorful List Accent 6″ /> UnhideWhenUsed=”false” Name=”Colorful Grid Accent 6″ /> UnhideWhenUsed=”false” QFormat=”true” Name=”Subtle Emphasis” /> UnhideWhenUsed=”false” QFormat=”true” Name=”Intense Emphasis” /> UnhideWhenUsed=”false” QFormat=”true” Name=”Subtle Reference” /> UnhideWhenUsed=”false” QFormat=”true” Name=”Intense Reference” /> UnhideWhenUsed=”false” QFormat=”true” Name=”Book Title” /> <! /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:”Table Normal”; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-parent:”"; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:”Calibri”,”sans-serif”; mso-bidi-font-family:”Times New Roman”;} –>Long appreciated by transportation planners for its construction of trails, sidewalks and bike lanes, public health professionals for allowing Americans to choose biking and walking for commuting and recreation, and local municipalities for reenergizing downtown shopping areas, the federal Transportation Enhancements (TE) program this week added yet another title its long list of accomplishments: cost effective job creator.

A study released this week by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) and the Transportation Research Board (TRB) found that, dollar for dollar, TE projects generate more jobs than any other form of transportation construction.

The study of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) spending, conducted by state and federal planning officials and a broad technical working group, not a bike/ped or trails advocacy group, found that TE projects, the great majority of which are nonmotorized transportation infrastructure such as trails, bike paths and sidewalks, generated 17.03 full-time equivalent planning and construction jobs per $1 million invested, the most in any category of transportation investment.

 

The first bicycle bus for schoolchildren, built by Dutch company Tolkamp Metaalspecials, of course.

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An independent analysis insists that Fishermen's Energy's 30-megawatt wind farm project could cause a statewide economic disaster, writes Tom Johnson.

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Andrew H. Whittemore contends that planners dismiss the far-fetched theories of a grand United Nations sustainability conspiracy at their own peril.

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Mapping and travel search sites and applications increasingly seek to compete for users by offering walking and transit information. Earlier, I posted about Hipmunk, a travel search site that, among other cool things, shows heatmaps for Walk Scores and nightlife in cities to help people choose a conveniently-located hotel. Now, Google’s Hotel Finder helps travelers find hotels that are conveniently located for their travel mode of choice and a particular location, such as an office, conference center, friend’s house, or area of town. Hotel finder can show hotels by transit time and walking time. Add Hotel Finder to the growing list of tools like Walk Score, Apartment Search, Mapnificent, and Hipmunk that enable people to value transit and arrange their life so transit serves them optimally. Screenshot of Hotel Finder’s travel time proximity feature below. Read more at Google’s Inside Search blog, “Find hotels by travel time”.

Riders gather in the Tiger Woods Centerbefore the route announcement.(Photo: Will Vanlue/BikePortland)

This evening a group of roughly 700 people joined Cycle Oregon staff and volunteers at the Tiger Woods Center on the Nike campus in Beaverton to hear where the two Cycle Oregon rides are headed in 2012.

Everyone was excited to hear this year's routes (for both the weekend and week rides) but the real surprise was an announcement by Cycle Oregon co-founder Jonathan Nicholas about a really big idea the organization has been working on.

Let's start with the routes for the two rides.

The route for the Cycle Oregonweekend ride.

Each year in July, Cycle Oregon hosts a family-friendly two day ride and this year they're heading to Corvallis.

Riders will set up camp on the Oregon State University campus and enjoy between 11 and 68 miles of riding each day. Options are set up for everyone from families with kids looking for a leisurely afternoon to experienced riders looking for a challenge.

The announcement for the week-long ride started with a promise from co-founder Jonathan Nicholas. He said that this year's ride would be "longer, higher, and harder" than years past.

He wasn't kidding.

The route for the Cycle Oregonweek ride.

The week ride starts in Bly, Oregon (about 45 miles northeast of Klamath Falls) and passes through the towns of Silver Lake, Fort Klamath, Prospect, Ashland, and Klamath Falls.

All seven days of riding add up to nearly 500 miles but you only need to look at the third day of the ride to see what Nicholas was talking about.

On day three riders will travel 88 miles from Prospect to Fort Klamath, between 2500 and 7000 feet above sea level, and around Crater Lake.

Now back to Nicholas' announcement.

The news, which drew as much applause as the route announcements, goes back to the forward-looking sentiment Nicholas shared at Cycle Oregon's volunteer appreciation dinner.

Nicholas started off by asking the audience at the Tiger Woods Center, "If we could imagine 25 years from now, what would the people sitting here...like to look back on and say 'Look at what we did'?"

Cycle Oregon's Directors have been pondering that same question and according to Nicholas they decided they'd like to see a paved, off-highway bicycle route connecting the Willamette Valley to the Oregon Coast.

To further that vision he announced that Cycle Oregon is funding a $100,000 grant to study how a trail like that could be built.

The reality of a paved coastal route is a long way off but Nicholas says Cycle Oregon's organizers have already had discussions with state and local agencies about the idea and there are some seemingly feasible options he's aware of. We'll track this plan as it develops.

Registration (for both of the rides) is now open on the Cycle Oregon website. The weekend ride is limited to 2,000 riders and the week ride is limited to 2,200 riders. Both are expected to sell out quickly.

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You’ve heard of the Idaho Stop Sign Law? Well, get ready for the Paris Red Light law: Parisian cyclists have won the right to go through red lights following a fierce debate over their claim that the move would reduce the risk of road accidents. A three-year campaign by cyclists’ associations — which say it is idiotic for them to stop at traffic lights — bore fruit when the Government published a decree authorising councils to change the rules. Paris will be among the first major cities to try out the new system after councillors approved a plan to allow bicycles to turn right or to go straight at a T-junction even when the lights are red. Thousands of cyclists are fined in the city every year for failing to stop at “un feu rouge”.

Hi folks. I want to interrupt our regularly scheduled programming to address an important issue.

As the publisher of this site (and president of Pedaltown Media Inc., the company that owns it), everything that is written on these pages — and everyone who writes them — is a reflection on my business, and in some ways, me. Over the past several months it has come to my attention that one of our writers conducted himself in a way that made me and others feel uncomfortable. Specifically, this was a freelance reporter named Marcus Griffith that I had hired to write an in-depth story about the N. Williams Avenue project. Griffith had written 20 articles for BikePortland going back to June 2010. He was doing a great job building up our Vancouver and Clark County coverage and I was happy to have his help. When he expressed interest in writing about the Williams project, to dig deeper into some of the sensitive issues around it, I felt like he could handle it so I gave him the green light.

With my support, Griffith embarked on the story.

During questioning of a source for the story via email, Griffith treated a member of our community in a way that I do not condone or approve of whatsoever.

In part due to my gut feeling about that email exchange, I cancelled the assignment and never ran the story.

Since then, I have decided to make a clean break with Griffith. I want to make it clear to everyone that Marcus Griffith is no longer affiliated with BikePortland. (I have reviewed the 20 articles he has written and they all stand on their own, so I have decided to leave them up.)

The trust people have in my decisions and in BikePortland, is extremely important to me. I have spent nearly seven years building this trust and I will do everything I can to maintain it.

I am not allowing comments on this post. You are free to contact me directly if you'd like.

Thank you.

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By Heath Urie Camera Staff Writer ... By far, the most common danger to cyclists in Boulder is drivers making turns within intersections. Turning vehicles were the cause of 40 percent of all bike-vehicle crashes during the study period. In about 10 percent of the cases, a driver was making a right turn on a red light. "That is a big deal," Estes said. "There's definitely times when people are looking to the left and start pulling out and I have the right-of-way." ... The Safe Streets report shows that drivers were far more likely to be found at fault in accidents involving pedestrians or cyclists. Among accidents involving bikes, the driver of the vehicle was cited 41 percent of the time, while the cyclist was only cited about 24 percent of the time. Neither party was ticketed in 31 percent of the cases, and both the driver and the rider were at fault only 4 percent of the time. ... The study also found that pedestrians darted out into traffic far more often than cyclists. People who dashed out in front of vehicles accounted for about 14 percent of collisions involving a pedestrian, but cyclists who illegally rode through a traffic signal accounted for only 2.3 percent of bike-related accidents. ... He said the most frequent cause of traffic accidents in Boulder "by a long shot" is drivers who follow too close and rear-end other vehicles. ... City baffled by summer drop The study also poses something of a mystery for city officials. The report revealed -- not surprisingly -- that as the weather warms up, more people in Boulder take to riding their bike. But the study also found that the number of accidents involving bikes goes down in May, June and July. Cowern, the traffic engineer, wasn't certain why that is, but the smaller population of students over the summer could be part of the reason. He also speculated that as the number of people on bikes reaches a certain point, drivers become so aware of them that behaviors change and accidents decrease. That's a tantalizing theory for a city that prides itself on getting people out of their cars. ...

Aerial view of Williams and Failing.

During the monthly stakeholder advisory committee meeting for the North Williams Traffic Operations Safety Project today, PBOT announced that it's "unlikely" they would be willing to redesign the street in the section between N Cook and Skidmore (known as Segment 4) into a one-lane configuration for auto traffic. Segment 4 — which currently has two standard vehicle lanes, one bicycle lane and two auto parking lanes — is the highest traffic section of the project area with between 950 to 1,100 autos and 400 bicycles during peak hours.

PBOT's announcement, made by project manager Ellen Vanderslice, is a shift from their previous position.

Back in May 2011, city traffic engineers concluded that reconfiguring this section of Williams to one lane for auto traffic could be done with no increase in congestion. PBOT also made that determination based on community feedback in favor of making Williams one lane for auto traffic in order to improve bike access. PBOT had hoped that signal timing changes could yield more "green time" on Williams and thus make up for the lane reduction.

A woman on a bike attempts to make a left turn onto Failing from Williams during the evening rush hour.(Photo © J. Maus/BikePortland)

Today, Vanderslice went through a segment by segment tour of the project. On the slide for Segment 4, under the heading of "Constraints," PBOT explained that "auto traffic is high enough that two travel lanes are likely needed during peak hour." In the other four segments, PBOT says a one-lane configuration is still possible.

"Early on, we thought signal changes could get us more capacity; but with development occurring it's unlikely we could ever go to one lane in this area."— Ellen Vanderslice, PBOT

In addition to auto traffic volumes, auto parking availability is also a major concern for PBOT and some stakeholders. This issue has been exacerbated with several new developments happening on the street (one apartment complex is nearing completion, another is on the way, and New Seasons will be built just to the south).

Addressing the committee today, Vanderslice said, "Early on, we thought signal changes could get us more capacity; but with development occurring it's unlikely we could ever go to one lane in this area."

Committee member Michelle DePass repeatedly brought up parking demand concerns. She said with two new apartment buildings and New Seasons on the horizon, more parking will be needed. "Keep in mind that many of the people moving into these places will probably have cars."

It's important to remember that PBOT initially approached this project with a reluctance to change Williams to one auto lane in Segment 4; but after they heard loud and clear from the public that a wider bikeway and a one auto lane configuration was preferred, they seemed poised to move forward with the one-lane solution. The Bicycle Transportation Alliance (BTA) was also ready to launch an advocacy campaign in favor of one lane on Williams.

That was mid-May of last year. Then, less than one month later, the project was put on hold due to concerns by some in the community that not everyone's opinion was being heard.

At the SAC meeting today, Vanderslice didn't completely rule out the possibility of one auto lane. "It doesn't mean we couldn't do one lane," she said, "but it means if you did you'd likely be pushing people to other facilities or they'd be waiting in traffic."

It was my sense from being on the sidelines of the SAC meeting today, that there remains a wide difference of opinion among committee members about this lane issue. It will be interesting to see how this discussion evolves (or if it does at all).

The SAC is still debating various design solutions for the project and their goal is to issue a resolution to City Council by March 6th.

— For more on this project, view our past coverage.

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We're working with other organizations on a variety of fronts to reverse the Connector bike ban.  By far the most promising avenue is a possible amendment to state law that would allow for for a waiver to the law that bans bikes (as well as pedestrians and other forms of transportation) from limited access roads. Work is proceeding on that amendment.  We'll keep you posted on progress.

(Courtesy 303Cycling, Denver, February 2) — State Representatives Kathleen Conti (R) and Rhonda Fields (D) and State Senators Cheri Jahn (D) and Steve King (R) collectively announced the introduction of the Stop Hit and Run Act (HB 12-1084) in the Colorado Legislature. This act will increase the penalty for a hit-and-run crash causing serious bodily injury from a Class 5 felony to a more serious Class 4. The bill will remove a dangerous loophole in Colorado law by giving a hit and run offense the same penalty as drunk driving. Bill co-sponsor Representative Conti stated, “The goal of this bill is to remove the incentive for drunk drivers to leave the scene of a crash in order to sober up before getting caught or turning themselves in to authorities.” “This is fantastic news for Colorado cyclists. All too often we see riders hit by a car and the car flees the scene. I hope these stiffer penalties make that driver think twice about driving away, with the end result being more care given to injured cyclists and pedestrians at the scene of an accident.” –Megan Hottman, TheCyclist-Lawyer.com Drivers over the legal alcohol limit were involved in 32% of all Colorado traffic fatalities in 2008. “This law will give authorities a better tool to help reduce drunk driving deaths,” says bill co-sponsor Representative Fields. Dan Grunig, Executive Director of Bicycle Colorado, the statewide group promoting safety, has been working on the development of this critical legislation and declared the organization’s statewide support for the bill. “Hit-and-run crashes disproportionally affect people who walk and ride bicycles. Bicycle and pedestrian fatalities are four times more likely to be the result of a hit and run than other roadway crashes. The difference between life and death may be the immediate help that is offered at the time of the crash.” “The message this act sends is that anyone involved in a crash must stop and get help for anyone who is injured,” says Grunig. Learn more: Read the Bicycle Colorado Announcement Here.

Sarah Laskow reports on a new study by the Center for Neighborhood Technology (CNT) that seeks to rethink how affordable housing is defined to incorporate transportation costs.

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Long appreciated by transportation planners for its construction of trails, sidewalks and bike lanes, public health professionals for allowing Americans to choose biking and walking for commuting and recreation, and local municipalities for reenergizing downtown shopping areas, the federal Transportation Enhancements (TE) program this week added yet another title its long list of accomplishments: cost effective job creator. A study released this week by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) and the Transportation Research Board (TRB) found that, dollar for dollar, TE projects generate more jobs than any other form of transportation construction. The study of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) spending, conducted by state and federal planning officials and a broad technical working group, not a bike/ped or trails advocacy group, found that TE projects, the great majority of which are nonmotorized transportation infrastructure such as trails, bike paths and sidewalks, generated 17.03 full-time equivalent planning and construction jobs per $1 million invested, the most in any category of transportation investment. At the other end of the scale, road resurfacing represented the least efficient investment in terms of job creation, creating just more than half that rate of jobs per $1 million: 9.01. It was really a case of ‘daylight second.’ The TE job creation ratio of 17.03 compares to an average of 10.55; the next most efficient job creator, pavement widening, came in at 12.69 jobs per $1 million. These figures are found on page 43 of the report. “This study confirms what we have learned through our work in communities all over the country –trails create jobs and spark economic revitalization,” says RTC President Keith Laughlin. “As we see here, this is in part due to the proportionately greater labor requirement in their construction, but also because of their positive impact on the health and appeal of communities of all size. These findings demonstrate the importance of RTC’s commitment to protect the Transportation Enhancements program.” Unfortunately for all Americans during this time of high unemployment, the transportation investment delivering the least bang for its buck, road resurfacing, received by far the lion’s share of those bucks – 55 percent. On the other hand, TE projects received just four percent of the ARRA spending on transportation, while delivering an employment benefit of nearly double that of road resurfacing. The findings cast further doubt on the already tenuous position of those elected officials in Congress and the Senate who are exploring the elimination of TE program. Not only would they be ignoring the demands of citizens, businesspeople, planners and health officials seeking more flexible transportation options, but they would also be working against the interests of the millions of Americans out of work and looking for federal investment that creates job opportunities and robust economic growth. Photo of construction on the Mountain Division Rail Trail in Maine courtesy of Jamie Gemmiti Photo

A rapid flash beacon at work.(Photo from beacon manufacturer)

The Oregon Department of Transportation flipped the switch on a new crossing treatment on SW Barbur this morning. The location, south of SW Hamilton Street near Rasmussen Village, is just up the road from where Angela Burke was struck and then killed on December 15th, 2010 by Caleb Pruitt as he sped south on Barbur.

Burke was walking her bike, attempting to cross the street, when she was struck. Pruitt received a 60 month prison sentence in the case.

Google street view of location where beacon has been installed.

The location where the beacon was installed is a particularly high-speed section of Barbur. It has five auto lanes and bike lanes in both directions. A median island and pedestrian warning signs already exist due to a TriMet bus stop nearby (see photo). Activists have been pushing ODOT to install a crossing treatment in this location; but because Barbur is a state highway, ODOT was hesitant to do anything that could potentially impede auto traffic flow and/or cause rear-end collisions.

"ODOT has taken the unusual step of installing this flashing beacon above the highway to make it easier for drivers to see."— ODOT statement

However, perhaps due in part to the high-profile tragedy, ODOT made it happen.

In a statement yesterday, the agency referred to the installation of the beacon as, "an unusal step." In addition to the flashing beacon, they've also installed additional warning beacons prior to the crossing to "warn drivers to slow down ahead of time so they can stop safely."

The beacon itself is activated via a push button. When the LEDs are flashing, people using the road (in cars or on bikes) are legally obligated to wait until a person has crossed safely before they continue. In their press release, ODOT warns people who will use the beacon to, "always be alert for the driver not paying attention—and not stopping."

Rapid flash beacons are a relatively new tool for traffic engineers. Portland has installed them in several other places, including an intersection on SE Foster that was the site of two fatalities in November 2010.

The beacons cost about $35,000 a piece.

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Three years after its adoption, Sean McCaughan assesses the impact of Miami 21, first New Urbanist zoning code adopted by a major American city.

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Stephanie Clifford documents the extraordinary lengths malls across the country are going to in hopes of attracting customers in the face of e-commerce and a battered economy.

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Eileen Brady, Charlie Hales, and Jefferson Smith on stage at Lincoln Hall.

The three leading candidates for Portland mayor took to the stage at Lincoln Hall on the campus of Portland State University last night. Organized by the PSU Planning Club and sponsored by a host of local transportation, land-use, and environmental advocacy groups, well over 400 people attended the event and organizers say they had to turn people away as the auditorium hit capacity.

It was packed.

The candidates — Eileen Brady, Jefferson Smith, and Charlie Hales — all represented themselves well and it's clear that no matter who Portland picks as it's next mayor, active transportation will not be ignored. All of the candidates spoke highly of maintaining and increasing our investments in transit service and making streets safer for walking and biking. That being said, key themes and differences emerged among them.

And, while one of the moderators reminded everyone that, since this is Portland, everyone needs to be "Really, really polite," there was a minor sparring match between Brady and Smith.

The questions ran the gamut of transportation issues; from how to engage under-represented communities, to the 2030 Bike Plan, to the Columbia River Crossing project.

The night's first question asked how the City should engage with low-income communities, people of color, and disabilities to make sure their transportation needs are prioritized. The answers each candidate gave reinforced their profile and set the tone for the rest of the evening.

Charlie Hales Eileen Brady Jefferson Smith

Hales' answer drew on his experience as a former Portland City Commissioner in charge of the transportation bureau. He advocated a "sensitive" (modeled after the N. Williams Ave project) and "straightforward" approach that takes citizen input seriously, but that isn't afraid to make a decision. Speaking of his experience taking MAX light rail to the airport, he said they held two meetings and then, "We closed the books and built the thing."

As an east Portland resident, Smith seized the opportunity to address this question and spoke energetically and passionately about the need for "our budgets to be linked to our hearts and values." Smith spoke about building a "broad-based coalition" and he repeated a common mantra in his campaign: "We're all in this together." His answer got a rousing applause from the crowd. Below is a recording of it so you can hear the spirit in his delivery...

Download audio file (jeff_equity.mp3)

Brady's answer to the first question also played to her strengths. The candidate who has been endorsed by the Portland Business Alliance took a question about how to engage under-represented communities and turned it into an opportunity to talk about creating jobs.

"East of 82nd, they want bus service to be able to get to their jobs... We need to create a virtuous cycle of more jobs, which means more revenue for TriMet [because bus service is funded through a payroll tax]."

"My nightmare is that we'll be left with green building with no one inside of them and streetcars without any passengers."— Eileen Brady

It's clear that Brady wanted to make jobs and the economy her #1 theme — even at a debate about active transportation. She said she wants to "bust the myth" that, "you can't have a progressive city and a vibrant city at the same time." Her "nightmare," she explained, is that without creating more jobs, "We'll be left with green building with no one inside of them and streetcars without any passengers."

When the debate shifted to new funding strategies to get PBOT out of their budget pinch, Smith and Brady had the most pointed exchange of the evening.

Saying "the gas tax is decreasing," Smith proposed a slew of new revenue including a street maintenance fees (SMFs in wonk terms), a variable parking fee, and congestion pricing. He said the winning idea(s) should be based on our values and done in an equitable way.

Brady started off her answer by saying, "Jefferson, you have to do your homework." Brady contested the assertion that the gas tax was decreasing. "Our gas tax revenues are up year over year," she said. To Brady, the problem at PBOT isn't a lack of revenue, it's that the agency has "over committed to new projects." She'd like to find money by squeezing more efficiencies out of PBOT and consolidating their various planning and policy groups "under single leadership." Brady also advocated for further privatizing of PBOT's Sunday Parkways event*.

(*NOTE: Sunday Parkways is currently 2/3 paid for by private funding. As for the gas tax question, the truth is that the amount of gas tax collected has bumped up because it was raised in 2009 (in HB 2001). However, as a source of funding overall, it is in steep decline and shows no sign of rebounding. Also, it was a drastically lower projection of gas tax revenue by the State of Oregon that put PBOT in a pinch. They had committed to projects based on rosy gas tax revenue projections that — because it is inadequate and not what it used to be — failed to materialize.)

"We can't have '20 minute neighborhoods' if we have 50 minute bus service."— Charlie Hales

When pressed by a moderator for a specific revenue source, Brady said, "I think there's more dollars there [at PBOT] than you know."

Hales called the gas tax a "dinosaur" in the long run and advocated that we "move to some new system" and advocated a higher gas tax as a regional decision, not just in Portland.

Not surprisingly, all the candidates put a high priority on safety. When a question was asked about walking safety and sidewalk investments, I was surprised to hear both Brady and Smith mention that, due to funding realities, sidewalks won't be built everywhere they're needed. Instead, they both mentioned that in some cases, PBOT could just widen shoulders. Brady called that a "less expensive option," and I heard jeers from several people sitting next to me (including a member of the City's Pedestrian Advisory Committee.

Smith also used the walking safety question to address Brady's "homework" barb. "I appreciate the admonition to do my homework," he countered, and then pointed out that Brady is, "the one person to talk about no new revenue is the one doing the most drum-thumping for the CRC and PSU Sustainability Center projects."

When it comes to how our transportation priorities support our Climate Action Plan, each candidate offered a different idea.

Brady said we should build up our electric vehicle infrastructure, saying, "It will be one of my top priorities."

Hales said the key to stemming climate change is, "EBC," or "Everything But Cars." He spoke of building out our transit system and having frequent bus service "across the entire city." Hales also got in one of his several memorable lines with, "We can't have '20 minute neighborhoods' if we have 50 minute bus service."

Smith used the question to focus on "pedestrians," a voting block he said is "sometimes forgotten because most people don't identify with it so it's much harder to build political power." A lack of good walking access, according to Smith, is "a common denominator in a lot of problems we face." We need to build and plan our city so that, "An 8-year old can walk to school and an 80-year old can walk to the store," he said.

When the controversial CRC freeway expansion project was brought up, each candidate stuck to their positions.

Hales said he senses a "convergence around common sense" taking place with the project, that it "has to be sized to the funds available," and that it "must have light rail to Clark County and first-class bike and pedestrian facilities."

Smith wanted to talk about options to the current design. "What does plan b look like?" he asked. (Smith's answer echoed the thoughts he shared with me in our interview published yesterday.)

Brady said we've come too far in planning the project to give up on it now. She called the $140 million we've already spent an example of "government run amok," and added that, while it'd be "really easy to say, 'let's start over,'" she warned, "It may take us another 10 years to get back to the point we're at right now." After that line, a man in the crowd yelled, "Good!" and several people clapped.

"We should move on this project," said Brady, "I want to push this through and get it done... We have the opportunity. I say, grab it!"

After the main questions, a moderator posed a question from a 5th grader in the audience who wanted to know what the City's role could be in making cycling safer for families and school-aged children. Hales spoke about stepping up enforcement against people riding without lights and helmets, Smith brought up the need to tackle traffic speeds, and Brady said we should have the Safe Routes to Schools program at every school.

After the debate, I asked a few people during the reception what they thought. The reviews of the candidates' performances were mixed.

The post-debate reception. Metro Council member Rex Burkholder (L) and activist Jim Howell. BTA staffers Susan Peithman, Gerik Kransky (plaid shirt) and bike industry veteran Chris Distefano.

BTA Director Rob Sadowsky said, "We win with all of them," but he noted a collective "gasp" from the many PBOT employees in the room when Brady brought up finding "efficiencies" in the agency. When I asked a friend who works at PBOT about Brady's comments, he said, "That's already on par with what we're doing." (As per a directive from Director Tom Miller, PBOT is consolidating some of its planning and safety groups.)

David Hampsten, a noted east Portland neighborhood activist said he felt all three candidates were "positive." He really liked Hales' points about increasing community policing (specifically, getting cops out of cars and onto their feet and on bikes), especially around transit stops.

Matt Picio, founder and president of the non-profit Cycle Wild, said the event made him realize he's "absolutely not voting for Eileen Brady." Picio cited her focus on jobs as a revenue generator and her pro-CRC stance.

Brady's CRC stance also resonated with veteran transportation activist Jim Howell (he was around during defeat of the Mt. Hood Freeway). "I'm scared of her and her 'get in and get that project built!' comments."

Overall, I think all three candidates should feel good about their performance.

Hales was clearly the most comfortable with these topics — which isn't surprising given his experience as a streetcar consultant and former City Commissioner. He connected with the audience several times; around his ideas for bold projects like a bikeway to Astoria along the river and his memorable one-liners. While Brady was clearly the furthest from her comfort zone, she held her own and gave voters a lot to think about. Smith had more concrete ideas and passion around his principles than the others; but his delivery and his penchant for cracking jokes sometimes distracted from them.

What did you think? Did this even help you decide who will get your vote? In case you haven't read them yet, don't miss my interviews with Hales and Smith. I hope to sit down with Brady soon.

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Julie Cart writes about the solar power compromises being forged in the deserts of the American Southwest, where the landscape is being sacrificed on the altar of alternative energy.

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When a book says it's "all about the bike" and proudly displays images of disassembled bike components on its cover I assume it will eventually be sitting on a shelf in my garage, close to a pedal wrench and a bottle of chain lube.

William Fotheringham's Cyclopedia from Chicago Review Press is far from the repair manual its cover makes it look like. The book also is not a dry compendium as the word "cyclopedia" might imply.

Instead, it's a deep dive into the rich knowledge of Fotheringham, built on his over 30 years of experience reporting on professional cycling. While the book includes plenty of technical information, the entries are grounded in historical context.

Detail from "aerodynamics" entry.

Cyclopedia's entry for "gears" is longer than most other sections of the book and goes into detail about the evolution of gearing on bicycles, from the first fixed-gear high-wheeler to the modern derailleur. Basic mechanics of each type of gearing is described and Fotheringham frames each development in technology by the events of the day.

Fotheringham weaves together information about racing's politics and bicycle mechanics to paint a picture of what it was like to ride on the bikes he describes.

"In 1936, Henri Desgrange stepped down as Tour de France organizer, and the way was open for the use of geared bikes in the race from 1937; until then, the riders had used wheels with two sprockets on either side; to change gear they would stop, take their rear wheel out, and turn it around."

At the same time, the section on gearing also shows Cyclopedia's limitations.

Although racing bikes are described in detail, Fotheringham stops short of talking about how changes in race technology permeated out to the everyday rider. Technology not used in racing is left out completely (there's no mention of internal hub gears or twist-shifters, for instance).

Fotheringham himself acknowledges the book's limitation in the preface, explaining that he "cannot help but reflect [his] personal views on a world in which [he has] been immersed for two-thirds of [his] life."

"... before discussing the World Naked Bike Ride, Fotheringham explains that nude cycling was 'first depicted, perhaps, in an 18th-century English church window.'"

It's understandable that an author will project their personal experience through their writing and Fotheringham's personal experience makes Cyclopedia an enjoyable book to read (as long as you're not looking for something unrelated to professional cycling).

Drawing on his own knowledge allows Fotheringham to keep Cyclopedia free from the clutter of citations and references that can make some reference books seem dry. He included a bibliography at the end of the book but lists only nine publications as sources.

In place of citations, Fotheringham make sure communicates how certain he is about the facts he's conveying. As an example, before discussing the World Naked Bike Ride, Fotheringham explains that nude cycling was "first depicted, perhaps, in an 18th-century English church window."

Casual language, narrative historical accounts, and easily digestible technical descriptions all make Cyclopedia a reference book that you can read from front to back like a novel.

In fact, reading Cyclopedia reminds me of what it might be like to sit down with Fotheringham over a pint while I throw out different topics and listen to him discuss all that he knows. Who wouldn't want to spend an evening doing that?

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