Spring 2009
This Issue:
Bike to Work Counts Calories and Wins!
Planning for a World-Class Bike City
Free PSU Traffic & Transportation Offered for Fall
A Brief History of Bike Sharing
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Bike to Work Counts Calories and Wins!
Transportation Options hosted our annual Bike to Work Breakfast for bicyclists on Tuesday, May 12, 2009. While it's no surprise that most bicyclists love to eat, and some even ride so they can eat more, we were nonetheless concerned about what all the bagels and donuts might do to cyclists waistlines - we are pro-health after all!
So, we added up all the calories consumed; from bagels and donuts, to the cream cheese "schmears", egg-in-toasts, oranges, bananas and even the half-n-half in the coffee, and estimated the calories burned for a 180lb bicyclist with a 30 minute commute. Our findings?
114,380 calories were consumed at the Bike to Work Breakfast
124,500 calories were burned by cyclists riding to the Bike to Work Breakfast
Should have had that extra donut!
Planning for a World-Class Bicycling City
Portland’s first Bicycle Master Plan was adopted in 1996. It did a good job of planning and providing for access on main streets for people riding bicycles, using the best designs that existed at the time. With leadership from a distinguished Steering Committee and the assistance of a broad Technical Advisory Committee, the Bicycle Master Plan is now being updated to position Portland for the growth in bicycling we expect over the next twenty years, and to make Portland a world-class bicycling city.
In our outreach to the community, we’ve learned that narrow bicycle lanes on busy arterial streets are not enough to attract average Portlanders to ride a bicycle for transportation. We’re looking to international best practices from cities where all ages bicycle for all purposes. We’re proposing to expand Portland’s bicycle network, implement new designs, and revise the City’s bicycle policies, with the aim of creating conditions that allow people to feel as safe and comfortable riding bicycles for their daily needs as they do today when they hop in their cars.
During the first half of May, the project team held six open houses around the city in conjunction with the Streetcar System Plan to collect public input on the draft Bicycle Master Plan. We’ve also presented to several neighborhood coalitions, advisory committees and other stakeholder groups. Response to the overall approach has been generally positive, and we are working to process all the specific comments and suggestions received regarding the network. The project team will be accepting comments through Monday, June 15. To view to open house boards, to comment on the proposed facility maps, or for more information, please visit www.portlandonline.com/transportation/BicycleMasterPlan, or e-mail bicyclemasterplan@pdxtrans.org.
One key element of the updated plan will be implementation. Project staff is working together with the Mayor’s Office and stakeholders to identify new funding strategies for bicycle infrastructure. A hearing on the plan is scheduled for the Planning Commission on August 25th. The plan is tentatively scheduled to go before City Council on October 21, 2009.
Free PSU Traffic & Transportation Course Offered for Fall
In the last newsletter, we highlighted Margaux Mennesson’s dedication in bringing a pedestrian crosswalk to the intersection of NE 28th Avenue and Wasco. Margaux worked on the project as part of a free class offered by PBOT and Portland State University to Portland residents. As part of the class, participants learn to navigate the maze of transportation agencies and issues to get their neighborhood projects moving! Class participants have developed ideas for bike lanes, innovative traffic calming facilities, crosswalks, speed bumps, and much more – and then worked to get them built. Just like Margaux!
We are happy to announce that the class will be offered again this fall. The class is free for Portland residents that apply for a scholarship. Scholarships are limited however, and the class fills quickly. So we’re giving Options Newsletter readers a head start. Go to www.portlandonline.com/transportation/PSUclass to learn more and apply for the class.
The class will be held on PSU’s campus during the fall term, every Thursday evening from 6:40 – 8:40 pm. The first class is October 1st, 2009. Go to www.portlandonline.com/transportation/PSUclass to learn more and apply for scholarship.
A Brief History of Bike Sharing
Bike sharing is defined as an automated, self-service system that allows short-term rental of bicycles. The system first originated in Amsterdam in the late 1960s where bikes where painted white and placed around the city for free use. The program captured the public’s imagination, but the bikes were stolen, vandalized or dumped in the canal. Portland experimented with the similar “Yellow Bike” program in the 1990s and faced similar challenges. These are referred to as “First Generation” Systems.
In the 1990s, Copenhagen and other Danish cities developed a standardized bike sharing fleet with singular components to discourage theft. The bikes are coin operated. The user inserts the coin, which unlocks the bike. When the rider is finished, the coin is returned. These are referred to as “Second Generation” systems.
There are a number of U.S. cities that are researching or planning bike sharing systems. Denver and Minneapolis both plan to have systems operating by summer 2010 of 500 and 1000 bicycles, respectively. Arlington County, VA; Boston, New York City and other cities have posted Request for Proposals for bike sharing systems. Learn more about Minneapolis’ program at: www.twincitiesbikeshare.com/
Recently, the “Third Generation” of bike sharing systems have sprouted in cities throughout Europe. Paris, Barcelona and Lyon have all had very successful systems which significantly increased the level of cycling. These systems are defined by technologically sophisticated systems and allow for better monitor of the fleet and a greater ease of use by consumers. Users either check out a bicycle with a smart card or credit card. Third Generation systems are also very expensive. Planners usually estimate systems to run between $3400 - $4000 per bike.
There is also a less expensive version of 3rd Generation systems known as “Call a Bike” which relies on the users owning cell phones. As opposed to swiping a credit card or smart card at a kiosk to release the bike, the user calls the phone number embedded on the public bike. After entering their credit card number, the system provides the lock code for the bike. Arlington County, VA is considering such a system.
Montreal is the first North American city to implement a large scale bike sharing system (brand name Bixi). Montreal plans to have 3000 bikes on the street by June 7th. Two weeks after the christening ceremony, there are about 740 bikes operating.
Some quick facts on Bixi from the Bike Sharing Blog:
- 2250 subscribers to date (unclear if this is annual subscribers only or includes daily and weekly subscribers. Montreal’s annual subscription fee is $78 U.S., which is higher than the European systems).
- Just under 27,000 trips have been taken on Bixi as of May 28; 41% of which are “casual users” which we take to mean non-subscribers.
- The system is generating about 2.2 trips per public bike/day.
- DC’s rate is about 1 trip per day per bike. Although higher than DC’s rate, this is much lower than is needed to see an appreciable growth in bike mode share. (For example, if a bike sharing fleet in Portland of 660 bikes generated 6 trips/per bike, that would result in a relative increase in bike mode share of 2% or an actual increase of .11% (less than 1%). Of course, there would probably be larger increases over time as people re-introduced to cycling through bike sharing begin making trips on their privately owned bikes.
- Bixi has been having some technical glitches (as one might expect from a new system). There is some sort of “call operator” switch on the bike racks that malcontents seem to be pushing that locks the bikes and prevents them from being used. Secondly, if a user buys a day pass and then makes a second trip on a Bixi bike, you need to swipe the same credit card that was used to purchase the day pass. Otherwise, the system doesn’t recognize you. (If understood correctly, the credit card that you buy your membership with acts as your membership card).
Steve Hoyt-McBeth, of the Transportation Options Division, continues to monitor bike sharing systems around the World and North America, in the effort to discover whether a bike sharing system is right for Portland. Find out more about bike sharing at the July Bicycle Brown Bag, Thursday, 7/16, noon-1pm.
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