Oregonlive ran a story today that 70% of residents of the new Tupelo Alley infill apartment complex are not choosing to add car parking to their lease.

Given that Mississippi Avenue has frequent transit service with the #4, lots of local services, MAX service within a half mile, three Zipcars, and some of the city's busiest bikeways on N. Vancouver and N. Williams, it makes sense that some of the residents choose to live carlessly.

Of course, since the area surrounding Tupelo Alley has free street parking, we imagine that some residents are choosing to park their cars on the streets.

Still, in a city where 61% of us live in single-family homes, those living in high-density apartments or condos are really helping move Portland toward our goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions 25% below 1990 levels by 2030. Living spaces are usually smaller, insulation is often better and buildings are often nestled on walkable commercial streets like Mississippi.

Photo courtesy of Neighborhood Notes.

The Jubitz Winter Wonderland - where Portland International Raceway is transformed with holiday lights, has added a bicycle event on December 7th. On that night, only bicycles will circle the PIR track and take in the spectacle.

If you want to bike there with a group, Portland Pedal Tours is holding a bike ride to PIR for $5. According to their media release "set on the two-mile racetrack, it features more than 250 colorful displays and 40 fully animated scenes, including the 200 foot Tunnel of Lights. This family-friendly event will start and end at the Northeast Portland bike shop shared by Pedal Bike Tours and Metropolis Cycles (2249 N Williams).

For more information on the Pedal Bike Tours ride, contact Todd Roll at info <at> pedalbiketours <dot> com.

Wow!  Judging from the number of responses we got, Portlanders love their commute options.  Or perhaps, you just love to win stuff.  Either way, we received TONS of emails with the transportation option you are most thankful for.

I wanted to share a few that surprised us, a couple that tickled us, and one or two that made us laugh out loud.

I am supremely grateful that I live in a city and region that is so bicycle-friendly.

The bus system!! It's fantastic!!

The bus drivers are always courteous, on time, safe and very friendly!!! When the bus driver’s route changes it is always hard to see them go as they become part of your daily routine.

I'm most thankful for the bus.  No, wait, the green line, yeah that's it.  Or is it the streetcar?  No, it's definitely my bike and the City's bike lanes.  Okay, let's face it, they're all great and I use them all the time.

TriMet – I love it!!

I am most thankful that in Portland I have so many options available to me! Is it a beautiful fall day? I pump up the bike tires and ride to work! Is it pouring rain and windy when I get off work that night? I throw my bike on a bus or Max, and get a ride home!

I'm thankful for my bus driver.  He always has a big smile for me and makes my morning.

I am most thankful that I am able to walk.  I am 61, ride the bus from Vancouver, get off at the first stop and walk.  I reverse the procedure at the end of the day and am now walking 5 – 6 miles a day.  Portland is such a beautiful city!

I am very thankful for the great new bike lanes on Broadway near PSU. I feel so safe while riding along that strip.

The bus is mashed potatoes and mac and cheese - the comfort food of transportation.   The bus gives me 20 minutes of uninterrupted me time.

That I can walk to work…beside and even on the river.

And of course our favorite, pandering comment…

Wow, I'm so THANKFUL for Commuter Central!  Always keeps me in the know…

And the winners are….

Cellie B., who is most thankful for her bus driver on the 12 every morning is the “happiest man” around, wins our “Keep Active” Winter Kit.

Scott R., who is most thankful for his naps on the bus wins a $50 gift card to Pastini Pastaria.

Theo B. who is most thankful for the good advice he gets from his carpool  partners wins a big box of organic produce delivered right to his house.

Thanks all for participating and look out for our next blog promo, coming soon!

On Thursday 11/19, Gordon Price will give a free presentation on the effective integration of transportation in high-density environments with an emphasis on land use. If you’ve seen Price speak before, fear not! He always has a new presentation and a trick or two up his sleeve…

Price is a former City of Vancouver, B.C. Councilor and current Simon Fraser University and University of British Columbia Professor who teaches, researches, and writes extensively on urban development and planning.

To learn more about Price check out his electronic magazine, Price

Tags or his daily blog on Vancouver and worldwide urban affairs.

What: Gordon Price Presentation

When: Thursday 11/19, 6:30 – 8:30 p.m.

Where: Portland Building, 1120 SW 5th Ave, 2nd Floor Auditorium

Cost: Free and Open to the Public

Questions?

Contact: Scott Cohen

City of Portland Bureau of Transportation

scott.cohen@pdxtrans.org

(503) 823-5345

Thanksgiving is the holiday of giving thanks and gorging oneself. It provides us a time to reflect on our good fortune, assemble with friends and family, and enjoy a shortened work week.

We hope that you’re thankful for the wide range of transportation options in the Portland-Vancouver area. Whether it’s the bus, carpooling, bicycling, walking, Streetcar or MAX, we have a lot of healthy and sustainable choices for getting around.

So, in the spirit of Thanksgiving, simply email us (SmartTripsBusiness@pdxtrans [dot] org) the transportation option for which you’re most thankful. We’ll enter you to win a delivered basket of local, organic produce, a $50 gift certificate from Pastini’s restaurant, or a bag of goodies to keep you active during the winter.

Elly Blue at BikePortland has a great article on cheap options for staying dry in the rain. Readers have also left lots of suggestions in the comments section.

If you are low on cash and need a pair of gloves to stay warm, I would suggest going to a hardware store and picking up a pair of winter gardening gloves for around $15. You'll look a tad goofy, but they were the warmest things that I wore during the winter of 2007.

Now that its dark at three in the afternoon, make sure your friendly TriMet bus operator can see you at the bus stop.  While a little flashlight or bike light works great, a lot of us don't always carry that stuff around.

So if you're worried about being seen, just turn on your cell phone and wave it around!  The light of the phone will get the driver's attention in case he or she is having trouble seeing you.

Don't let our antiquated system of time manipulation (also know as "Daylight-saving Time") keep you from riding the bus during the winter.  TriMet operators will stop anywhere along the route after dark to help you feel safe deboarding.   

"If you are traveling alone between 8 p.m. and 5 a.m., you can ask your bus operator to stop anywhere along the route—not just at designated stops.

Just let the operator know where you want to stop a block or two in advance. He or she will pull over at a safe place to let you off.

This service is available anywhere outside Portland City Center and the Lloyd District. For details, ask your operator."

To read more about this service and other TriMet winter transit tips, click here.

The Drive Less Save More Family Challenge proves that families can make enormous changes in their driving habits with proper resources and a commitment to make things work.

Four families competed from all parts of the Portland-Vancouver region.

The winning family, Julia Markley and Lance Johnson, went from driving 500 to 31 miles per week! The Markley-Johnsons have two kids but found that with bicycling, transit and the occasional car-sharing trip, going near-carless was possible.

The Markley-Johnsons also found that shopping locally allowed them to do more shopping by foot and bike.

It was a neck and neck finish for the gold. Dan and Jane Hays came in 2nd place with an impressive 93% reduction. With four kids, that's an amazing feat!

How did they get kids to soccer practice and different schools? The family used transit, including the new MAX Green Line, plus biking and organizing car trips into one long chain of trips - known as 'trip chaining."

"We're amazed at how many miles we saved just by planning our day ahead of time," said Dan.

Are you a parent that is looking to reducing your driving? Contact us and we'll provide you free assistance.

Transportation Alternatives, a New York biking, walking, and public transit advocacy organization, recently started a campaign called "Biking Rules."  The heart of the campaign is the "Street Code" for cyclists - 8 guidelines to make your bike ride safe and comfortable for you and those around you.

Let's be frank: Everyone who walks, bikes, drives, rolls, skips, hops, or shimmies his way to work breaks a traffic rule now and again.  Roll through a stop sign?  Cross the street without the walk sign?  Couple miles per hour over the speed limit?  We've all done it.  We'll all do it again.

So why is it that the debate over following traffic laws (especially when it comes to cyclists) get so heated?  Boston Biker has a theory and I think its a pretty good one:

If you think about it, almost all of our traffic control systems are either lights, or paint, or other similar “symbolic” control devices. You trust others and they trust you. On an average trip you are placing your very life in the hands of hundreds, if not thousands, of total strangers.…The reason why you are alive to read this is because no one has crossed the center line, or run a red light, or any of the many other things they could have done easily and killed you.…

This is why I think people who drive cars get so upset when cyclists run red lights. It is not because cyclists are breaking the rules (everyone does that, and often), it is because they are breaking the shared trust. It is offensive to the group because that trust is what keeps them alive. If you are a cyclist and you run red lights this is not something you should brush off lightly.…

I found Boster Biker's post via Sarah Goodyear on Streetsblog.  Her commentary and links to other articles are definitely worth reading, too. 

The message, for me, is simple:  Get out there, follow the rules, and let's build some trust on the roads!

A couple of weeks ago I waxed unpoetically about the beauty of bicycling in autumn.

The beauty has only increased in the interim, but the challenges of riding and walking in the often slick, wet and dark conditions compels to remind of taking precaution:

• Please wear a bike helmet and secure it well.
• Slow down.
• Be especially careful when turning.
• Leaves on the pavement = ice rink.
• Always have your bike lights with you.
• Wear bright clothing.

And most importantly, keep on walking and biking!

Even if your employer doesn't offer a free or subsidized transit pass there are still ways to save big money on monthly or yearly passes.  By allowing you to deduct wages from your paycheck to pay for transit passes, employers save you and the business from paying taxes.  You'll save over 30% on a yearly transit pass!

The federal government allows you to dedcut up to $230 each month for transit costs.  The chart below shows how much you and your employer save by paying for transit pre-tax.  It's a win-win.  All it takes is for your payroll department to set it up. 

If you'd like more information on getting pre-tax deductions available at your employer, contact me.  Email scott [dot] cohen [at] pdxtrans.org or call me (503) 823-5345.  I'd be happy to talk to your payroll staff or other administrators to help save you money getting around!

If you have kids and want to bike more as a family or are a new parent and wanting to learn more about your biking options with young kids, mark your calendar for this Sunday's:

Family Bicycle Transportation Day

Sunday, October 25th

539 NW Hoyt

Oregon Manifest Conference Bike Union

Product demonstration: 11am-4pm

Family Solutions Workshop (RSVP required): 4-7pm

The Oregon Manifest Conference's six-week schedule continues with this amazing range of family biking products, including cargo and bakfiet bikes, trail-a-bikes, front-loading child seat options, bike trailers, tandems, electric-assist bikes, and lots of helpful accessories.

There will also be information and resources covering safe routes to school and work, tips on riding with children, and bicycle maintenance.

Exhibitors:
Bike Gallery
Blue Moon Bakery
Clever Cycles
Co-Motion Cycles
Community Cycling Center 
Company Tonight Catering
Joe Bike
Metro - Drive Less Save More
Metrofiets Custom Cargo Bikes
Northwest Federal Credit Union 
OHSU Think First - Nutcase Helmet Fittings
Pedal Bike Tours
Portland Bureau of Transportation
RAD Innovations, LLC - Kid’s tandem
Taco Del Mar
Wells Fargo

Surfing the blogosphere the other day I came across interesting research via Zimride's blog.  Washington D.C. recently participated in a carpool incentive demonstration program to see how offering cold hard cash effects commuting behaviors.  But what I found really interesting was a chart from a Los Angeles carpool incentive program.

LA implemented a "Rideshare Rewards" program and offered $2/day for three months for carpooling.  The chart below shows how well that small incentive worked.

Carpooling increased from 35% of program participants to 75%.  But more importantly the retention rate was pretty high - 53%.  Another important factor is the drive alone rate change.  Only 1.7% of commute trips during the program were by single occupancy vehicle.  While a good chunk went back to driving alone to work, all of those commuters learned first hand that they have options when getting to work.  And the first step in changing behavior is realizing that change is actually possible.  Kudos to Rideshare Rewards!

If you'd like to check out the Washington D.C. study that cited LA's program, click here.

Now, how much would it take you to leave the car at home for a couple of months?