VOICES FROM THE COMMUNITY:
The visionPDX Input Report

TRANSPORTATION:
Bicycling

  


back  |  next
     

Portlanders are proud of this city's "bike-friendly" attitude, people and policies.

Section Summary

Portlanders are proud of this city’s “bike-friendly” attitude, people and policies. They want to see Portland become the most bicycle-friendly city in the country and imagine a future in which bicycling is a highly attractive transportation and commuting option. The primary concern around cycling involves safety; both cyclists and automobile drivers feel that the current road-sharing arrangement is stressful and unnecessarily dangerous. Supporters of cycling also believe it deters a large number of bicycle-friendly people from choosing cycling as their primary mode of transportation. Separating cars from cyclists is seen as a safety imperative, along with better driver’s education and stiffer penalties for cyclists who ignore traffic rules. Numerous additional strategies emerge to increase the safety and attractiveness of cycling, which many hope will flourish over the coming years.

Summary of Main Ideas

  1. Cycling is good for Portland and should be promoted even more.
  2. More people will ride if bicycle safety is improved.
  3. Portland caters too much to the needs of cyclists.

MAIN IDEAS

  1. Cycling is good for Portland and should be promoted even more.
  • Most comments in this section were extremely supportive of bicycling, both as a pastime and as a viable means of daily transportation.
  • Many people cite cycling as a key aspect of Portland’s livability, believing that the high number of cyclists helps the environment, reduces traffic and builds community.
  • Portlanders would like to see more people biking to work, more children biking to school and more people biking around their neighborhoods.
  • Even more effort should be made to encourage Portlanders to take up cycling, as this is one of the primary transportation modes of the future.
“I love the encouragement the city gives cyclists. I’ve never lived anywhere that is so dedicated to alternatives to cars.”

“[In 2030] Portland is a place where a great many people commute and travel by bike, to the extent that there are bike-only streets to accommodate the amount of bike traffic.”

“Make Portland the national leaders in bike transportation and safety by making bike-only streets.”

Sample Strategies:

  1. Look to Amersterdam for a model of how to encourage many more people to ride their bikes.
  2. Create more dedicated bike lanes and bike routes that are separate from traffic.
  3. Expand the bike support provided by public transportation, both busses and the MAX.
  4. “If everybody had a bike when they needed one, then why would anyone steal one? Community Bikes! Make them bright fuscia, if you have to, but make them free to borrow!”
  1. More people will ride if bicycle safety is improved.
  • Many people would like to ride their bikes to work or around town, but have safety concerns that prevent them from doing so.
  • Many feel that the only way to increase the number of bike commuters is to make cycling significantly safer.
  • Aspects of cycling that are felt to be unsafe include:
    • Having to ride between moving and parked cars;
    • Having to ride in streets without bicycle lanes or bicycle lanes that abruptly end; and
    • Having to share the road with drivers that can be unaware of cyclists or bicycle safety issues.
"[In 2030] there is more freeway space and roadways, and bicyclists aren’t SHARING the roads, they have dedicated bikeways.”

“…Make cycling, walking, and riding transit easier and more pleasant. You can’t expect many people to ride in NW Portland without more bike lanes; it’s dangerous, so bikes end up on the sidewalks.”

“Where the Westside esplanade ends at the steel bridge (northern end) everyone I see and know, including me, has to walk across the busy street (Naito Pkwy I believe), and jump the bike over a concrete divider, and another curb area, to get back to downtown. It is a dangerous and disappointing dead end to a lovely pathway.”

Sample Strategies:

  1. “Community education around bicycling and the proper interaction of bikes and autos.”
  2. Make intersections safer for cyclists.
  3. “Better demarcation of bike routes (1 ft. in diameter circles on the road don’t cut it, cars don’t know what that is.)”
  1. Portland caters too much to the needs of cyclists..
  • A small number of people in this section feel that Portland caters too much to cyclists. Complaints include:
    • Too much money spent on bike lanes and bike infrastructure when many roads are in disrepair;
    • Many cyclists ignore traffic rules with seeming immunity;
    • Some cyclists are rude and engage in dangerous behavior; and
    • Cyclists slow and at times block traffic flow.

Sample Strategies:

  1. Require that cyclists go through driver education and obtain a license like drivers.
  2. Create dedicated bike lanes so cyclists aren’t sharing the road with drivers (cyclists also suggest this for their own safety).