Bicycle Friendly Community Feedback

As part of the League of American Bicyclists "Bicycle Friendly Community" program, the LAB gives cities feedback, constructive criticism oriented around the five E's of Engineering, Education, Encouragement, Enforcement, Evaluation & Planning. In addition to pointing out current weaknesses or areas for improvement, the criticism is also a road map for the next round of certification. Salem was rated "bronze" and the feedback points the way to silver or gold.

In the next few months, we hope the city will share with us what its plans are for improvement!

LAB Bicycle Friendly Community Feedback 2008

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Summer 2008 Bike Counts

A big thanks to everyone who helped out! Here’s the report:

The counts
Volunteers helped the City of Salem complete its first ever bicycle count this summer. During the summer months 21 volunteers performed 40 manual counts at 32 sites around the city. Counters tallied direction, gender, and helmet use during two-hour peak traffic times, either 7am to 9am, or 4pm to 6pm. The two-hour counts were normalized to 24-hour volumes. City staff then mapped the count data.

By comparison, the Portland Office of Transportation has been conducting counts annually since 1992. At the same time this year, volunteers and city Transportation staff in Portland performed 115 counts. Their counts show clear year-over-year trends of increasing bicycle use. Here's the Portland report. (It's big!)

Drawing conclusions from Salem’s count data is more difficult without the trend lines to smooth out random variation. For example, the sunny day traffic was approximately double cloudy day traffic (moreover, a couple of March counts were half the corresponding summer counts). Even so, since Salem participation in the Bicycle Transportation Alliance Bike Commute Challenge indexes closely to Portland’s over the last five years, it is reasonable to hope that Salem trends will follow Portland trends. On this assumption, helmet usage and the gender ratios suggest Salem may be ten to fifteen years behind Portland in bicycle usage.

Not surprisingly, bicycle usage is greatest in the older parts of the city – the core downtown area where large employers are located, where there are fewer hills, and where the older street grid makes it possible for bicyclists to avoid arterial roads.

Highlights
High and Low Individual Counts

• 585 at 12th & Chemeketa (ave at this location - 415)
• Zero at Fairview & Summer

Counts by Segment

• over 300 bicyclists – 3 sites – all on Chemeketa
• between 200 and 300 – 5 sites
• between 100 and 200 – 13 sites
• under 100 – 11 sites

Highest use on Residential Local or Collector Streets
Most arterial streets did not show the highest bicycle usage. Where counts were high on arterials, bicyclists crossing the arterial rather than traveling along the arterial seemed to account for most of the traffic. This should be investigated more closely next year.

• Chemeketa – between 14th & 17th, bicycle traffic is 30% or more of total vehicular traffic
• Winter
• D street

Helmet Use
Helmet use increases as bicyclists increase. In both Portland and Salem women use helmets at significantly higher rates than men.
2008 Helmet use rates:

• In Salem 55% of riders used helmets.
• In Portland 80% of riders used helmets.

Gender
When bicycling is safe and convenient, women and families bicycle in large numbers. While bicycle usage is being established more men bicycle. Over time as bicycling becomes more prevalent, gender ratios move towards a 50/50 split.

• In Portland in 1992 the split was about 80/20 males-to-females.
• In Portland 1999 it was 75/25.
• In Salem in 2008 it was also 75/25.
• In Portland in 2008 it was 68/32.
• In Denmark, Germany, and the Netherlands, the Gender split is about 50/50.

For Next Year
The first count was a terrific success and created a good baseline for further comparisons. We hope to evaluate year-over-year growth at many of the same sites. The data also raises addition questions and opportunities for evaluation next year:

• Focus counts on arterials and parallel residential streets (such as high vs. commercial) to determine bicyclist preference.
• Evaluate the bridges – the new Union RR bridge and the existing Center St. multi-use path.
• Assess bicycle traffic to Schools, especially Chemeketa, Willamette, and area high schools.
• Perform more counts outside of the central city – North Salem & Keizer; East Salem, especially around Lancaster; South Salem in the hills and on the arterial/collector network; and in West Salem.

How the Rivercrossing Project fails Transit

Transit is sick in Salem. We all know the Cherriots levy failed. But over the last year the Rivercrossing project has also gone down a path that denies the value of transit.

A recent memo from this past summer makes clear what many of us have supposed:

the Salem River Crossing project Build alternatives are designed to improve single occupant vehicle travel time…

There is no serious attempt to improve the movement of people and goods across the river in a way that is efficient, cost-effective, and anticipates both climate change and peak oil. The project is wholly business-as-usual.

Bicycle advocates have argued that the Governor’s climate change initiative, House Bill 3543, requires looking at ways to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Building a bridge for single-occupant vehicles will only increase greenhouse gas emissions. The plan to build this bridge is patently inconsistent with the need to reduce emissions.

Bridge boosters claim that they have investigated the alternatives, and that the alternatives are woefully inadequate, offering small incremental improvements at best.

When we look at the analysis, however, it appears that boosters have stacked the deck against other modes and created something of a straw man argument.

First let’s look at congestion pricing and tolling. From the August 15, 2007 TSM/TDM (Transit and Roadway Efficiency) Concept - Analysis and Results memo (tsm/tdm = transportation system management and transportation demand management):

For modeling purposes, parking fees in downtown Salem were used as a one possible example of user fees that could be adjusted to influence travel demand. (2)

Even if we suppose that the model is perfect, the analysis didn’t try tolling or congestion pricing. It adjusted parking pricing only, and limited that adjustment to the downtown area only, penalizing those who wished to patronize downtown merchants, whose patrons currently enjoy free parking, and didn’t impose any additional costs on those who might be shopping on Lancaster or taking trips elsewhere in the city. Although the modelers don’t discuss this explicitly in the memo, it’s likely that the parking fees didn’t reduce trip demand so much as shift discretionary trips from downtown to elsewhere. The minimal reduction is probably also an admission that many of the trips don't end or begin in downtown.

They conclude saying,

The results show that increasing the area where parking charges are applied in the downtown area and tripling the average amount charged could reduce auto trips by 10% (from 86.6% of trips to 76.2% of trips). (3)

Now let’s look at transit. Here the assumptions are even more narrow.

The transit element consists of the operation of two new routes, one on Highway 22 and one on Wallace Road, each serving downtown (and possibly other employment destinations in the city)…. Stops were also minimized or limited to the park and ride lots provided. (4)

The model added only two new stops, at the park and ride lots! The model did not add a robust level of enhanced transit service with a network of stops near the front doors of residents. The transit service is minimal and inconvenient, and makes people get in their cars – why would they get out of their cars to stop at a park and ride lot for a short trip into downtown? This is a fatal simplification.

Moreover, the analysis only looks at getting people from the park and ride lots to downtown. It supposes they don’t have to transfer to get elsewhere in the city. Eliminating transfers is second fatal simplification in the model.

If you want people to use transit, it should be direct, frequent, and easy to use. The level of transit service used in the model fails two of the three.

Nevertheless, the analysts believe otherwise:

The level of new transit service assumed in the model is a high level of service for the routes and geographies served. However, as shown above, this level of service does not produce a significant shift in total trips across the bridge. The bridge users in the peak hour have trip origins and destinations that extend well beyond the area served by the two new transit lines. (6)

Note that they understand the problem of transfers, and yet insist on ignoring it.

Not surprisingly the analysis concludes:

This level of additional transit service would result in only very small daily changes in transit ridership compared to increasing the parking charges....the model shows that adding the increased transit service does not result in additional reductions in vehicle trips across the existing bridges.(5-6)

In order to knock down the extent to which virtually any TSM/TDM option, like congestion pricing, tolling, or transit might relieve congestion in a no-build or low-build option, analysts used two poor straw men, that of parking pricing and inconvenient transit, to argue that the whole suite of TSM/TDM strategies cannot succeed.

This is confirmed in the July 21, 2008 memo on the TSM/TDM/Transit Expanded Subcommittee:

Analysis to date has shown that providing transit system and operations improvements in the absence of user fees (tolls or parking charges) to discourage auto trips results in small reductions in demand. (1-2)

and

As was demonstrated in the study of a stand-alone TSM/TDM alternative (see “TSM/TDM (Transit and Roadway Efficiency) Concept – Analysis and Results” memo, dated 8/15/07), improvements to the transit system such as more buses and improved headways still leave the transit system at a significant disadvantage compared to single occupant vehicles with respect to trip time across the river and individuals’ understood time value of money. Consequently, such improvements to the transit system will have relatively little effect on peak hour demand on the existing bridges until or unless there is a significant increase in travel time (e.g., significant congestion for single occupant vehicles but not for transit) or the cost of driving (e.g., tolls, congestion pricing, parking pricing, fuel prices) for single occupant vehicles. Because the Salem River Crossing project Build alternatives are designed to improve single occupant vehicle travel time over the future No Build condition and do not propose differential user fees (e.g., congestion pricing), a significant time vs. money disadvantage for transit trips would be maintained, even with significantly improved bus headways. (2-3)

Unfortunately, it appears the analysis was not designed really to challenge or even seriously to investigate the assumption that TSM/TDM options are powerless to reduce congestion and improve the movement of people, goods, and services across the river. It was inadequate and served only to confirm the prevailing assumptions about the values of single-occupant vehicles and their easy movement.

Other project documents are available on the Rivercrossing library page.

Important ones include:
The 1999 Oregon Highway Plan Policy Element, which includes the "mobility standard"
Traffic Modeling information from SKAT/MWVCOG
River Crossing Purpose and Need statement
Threshold Memo
Evaluation Framework Memo
Alternative Methodology Report
Alternative Evaluation Results Memo

Cherriots Survey on Service Cuts

As you know, Salem-area voters defeated a transit levy. Cherriots has posted an online survey to gather community opinion and thought about how to cut services with the least harm. If you use transit or know someone who does, please take a few moments to complete the survey. Click through here to take the survey.

Holiday Schedule - Friday, Dec 12

After much discussion we decided not to hold B on B the days after Thanksgiving and Christmas or to try to move them up a week. Instead, we will hold Breakfast on Bikes on Friday, December 12, between 7am and 9am.

As we were in June, on the 12th we'll be on Water Street across from the A.C. Gilbert House, right where the bike path off-ramp from the Center Street Bridge merges with Water Street and Riverfront Park.

For your holiday needs, please remember our generous donors, Cascade Baking Company, the Coffee House Cafe, and LifeSource Natural Foods.


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Governor K's Two Cents

On Monday Governor Kulongoski released the first public draft of his Jobs and Transportation Act 2009.* The document is 23 pages - though the last third is appendices. The word bicycle (including bike, biking, and bicycling) appears only once, on page 6.

This is very disappointing. This alone suggests the plan is not very serious about its stated goals to: "Meet Oregon’s Greenhouse Gas Reduction Goals" and "Account for Carbon in Transportation Planning."

The headlines of course are about the 2 cent increase in the gasoline tax and some associated motor vehicle fees. These too do nothing to reduce greenhouse gases.

It's possible to write a more detailed critique (and here) of the plan, but for the moment all bicyclists need to know is that the Governor's two cents on bikes is one tiny mention.


*The document's been circulating online, but it's not posted to the Governor's website yet. When it is posted, we'll link to it![update] It's now linked!

State Committees Focus on Bicycling

Two State committees have issued reports that show an increased interest bicycling as a priority for the State.

The less interesting one is the ostensibly obvious one. The Transportation Vision Committee Related to the Environment and Transportation Choices recently released to the Governor a set of recommendations, the Transportation Vison Committee Report to Governor Ted Kulongoski. On Monday, the Governor will reveal which of these recommendations he has chosen to incorporate in his own transportation agenda for the 2009 legislature.

You’d think that the Transportation Committee would have lots of thoughts on bicycles! Update: I was reading a precis of the recommendations; in the full report I note both Scott Bricker & Karl Rohde of the BTA were on the Committee. Drilling into the report, I noticed some BTA language!

They do in fact recommend that the 1971 Bicycle Bill be amended to “increase the required minimum spending level for bicycle and pedestrian improvements within highway rights of way from 1.0 percent to 1.5 percent.” They also have a cluster of recommendations around land use planning, rail, public transit, parking, congestion pricing, and a more sophisticated analysis of car and truck traffic that includes “social and economic costs.”

Alas, bicycling lurks implicitly on the penumbral edges of these. Though bicycling will certainly be involved in these conversations, the report does not name bicycling as central to them. I fear they regard bicycling still as not quite a “serious” transportation option.

Closer to being central is bicycling in the “Strategic Plan to Slow the rate of Diabetes in Oregon,” a Report to the 2009 Oregon Legislature from the HB 3486 Advisory Committee, and published by DHS: Public Health Division.

The report says, “the 2007 Oregon Legislature approved and Governor Kulongoski signed House Bill 3486, which declared an emergency related to diabetes and obesity. The bill directed the Oregon Department of Human Services (DHS) to develop by 2009 a strategic plan to start to slow the rate of diabetes caused by obesity and other environmental factors by 2010.”

For the 2009 Legislature, the report recommends this statutory change (among others):

Participate in legislative discussions regarding transportation priorities and funding, and advocate that health issues including bike and pedestrian facilities be considered.

Looking towards the 2011 Legislature, the report urges that governmental partners,

Establish health as a priority in land-use planning and transportation decisions and possible legislation in 2011, including but not limited to, policies and funding for bike/pedestrian facilities on all appropriate streets statewide, adding health as a consideration in land-use planning policies and decisions; and

Introduce a “Healthy Schools Act” in 2011, including but not limited to, requiring that school siting decisions facilitate biking and walking, allowing inclusion of school costs in system development charges paid by developers, banning advertising, offering physical education, and conducting health screenings.

Together, these point to bicycling as an integral part of a healthy lifestyle, for individuals and for communities, not merely for recreation or for commuting, but as a key part of the way we think of community creation, community maintenance, and mobility.

I am encouraged by the diabetes recommendations, and I hope that there will be multiple conversations in the 2009 Legislature about the different ways bicycling is a good thing.

Two Saturday Bike Events

Wow. What an historic night. Of all the things I've read, a piece by Henry Louis Gates, Jr., the Alphonse Fletcher University Professor at Harvard University and Director of the W.E.B. Du Bois Institute for African and African American Research, struck me as the finest set of reflections on this moment.

Certainly less historic, but of great consequence for us moving forward, will be a more rational transportation policy that accounts for peak oil and climate change. Locally, it's terribly disappointing the Cherriots levy seems to be failing. Good cities need transportation alternatives, and Salem is failing the test. Hopefully the road bond will yield strong pedestrian & bicycle improvements. Nationally, perhaps a bicycle advocate like Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-OR) or Rep. Jim Oberstar (D-MN) will be named Secretary of Transportation.

There are a couple of bicycle events on Saturday. If you don't need a break from politics, Greenpeace has a bicycle rally scheduled for Saturday. If you do need a break, there's a day of racing at Battlecreek. Either way, in addition to whatever riding you do, get out and show your support for bicycling!

Greenpeace Organizer Sofia Gidlund sends this item:

We're organizing a bike rally together with Willamette students on Saturday, November 8th, at 2pm.

We will meet outside of the student dorm Terra, just off 12th St. in the student parking area (in between State St and Mission St), to depart on a bike ride through Salem downtown and pose for a photo in front of the capitol building. You don’t have to have a bike to participate, we will have other activities going on too and you can still pose for the photo.

The purpose is to send a message to our new Congress representative [Kurt Schrader] that we are fully expecting him to be a leader in the fight against global warming. Hope you can come!

Cyclecross in Salem:

The site of the former Battlecreek Golf Course in southeast Salem will host a cyclocross event Saturday.

There will be seven races, beginning at 10 a.m. Registration opens at 8 a.m. and runs until 15 minutes before each race. There is no pre-registration. Race costs vary from $5 for juniors to $20 for all other events and $10 for a second event.

The event is sanctioned by the Oregon Bicycle Racing Association and an OBRA license is required. A one-day license costs $5. An annual license is $10. Helmets are required.

For information, call Jeff McNamee at (503) 857-5733.

BTA 2009 Legislative Agenda

With the Election coming up, thoughts turn to the 75th Legislature, what it will look like, and what it will accomplish. Here’s a sketch of the 2009 plan, courtesy of Doug Parrow. Two proposals are definite, and several others are still being mooted. For a longer discussion, see Jonathan Maus’ article on bikeportland.

Legislative proposals:

Vehicular Homicide – Make it a Class C Felony to kill someone while driving with a Drivers’ License Suspended in Oregon or any other state, impaired as a result of the use of alcohol, drugs or other factors, or driving without current Automobile Liability Insurance.

Drivers Education – Require behind the wheel training by a certified trainer and an increase in the number of questions on the drivers licensing test with a corresponding increase in the number of questions pertaining to interaction with bicyclists. At renewal, drivers would be required to complete a take home test in order to refresh their understanding of existing laws and inform them of changes to the law.

Other proposals under consideration:

Safe Routes to Schools – Require increased consideration of transportation in school siting or allow/require schools to use transportation funds or energy conservation funds to improve safety for students walking or bicycling.

Clarification of Crash Reporting Requirements - Collecting adequate crash data is a major component of implementing effective countermeasures in locations with real safety problems. Currently, the law and administrative procedures are unclear regarding when crashes involving bicyclists and pedestrians must be reported. We may be able to address these issues administratively.

Funding for Non-motorized Transportation Corridors - Separate non-motorized transportation corridors make [part] of the backbone of a complete system. Funding for the development of these corridors would increase cycling and reduce congestion and air pollution. Maus explains:

[Karl] Rohde says the BTA will seek to pass a resolution that recognizes funding for non-motorized projects as an essential part of a complete transportation system. According to Rohde, he wants bikes and peds to be thought of as “non-motorized transportation” and bike and ped facilities not be considered “trails” (a common wording that makes them seem like a frivolous expenditure in hard times) but rather as “non-motorized transportation corridors”.

Rohde says the idea is not to simply have lawmakers use different language, but to drive home the idea that, when drafting any transportation funding, lawmakers look for ways to fund bike and ped projects “every step of the way”.

As the session gets closer, we'll have more details and more on what you can do to advance the agenda. The January Breakfast will be on the Capitol steps, and we hope to have a good turn-out with bikey legislators.

Halloween Breakfast Report

After a week of sunny weather, Friday morning turned ghoulish on us! Rain and more rain. We saw fewer riders and the rain also dissuaded some from trying to ride in a costume. Props to those who did costume up! Thanks to the Coffee House Cafe for the warming Joe and to Cascade Baking for the pastries. (Be sure to think of them for your Holiday breads, cakes, and pastries!)

But the rain didn't scare everyone! The Wicked Witch of the West here wins an honorable mention for a costume that withstands the elements. If you look carefully, you can see the voodoo-sized Dorothy doll on trapped on the handlebars. Next to her is the skull on the Rolling Recumbent of Perpetual Repose. The skull's eye sockets blazed with infernal fire. Harley better watch out!

Another honorable mention goes to the Hunter, a cruiser adorned with a moose trophy. The squirrels out on the road should be very, very wary...




Our flasher here, showing off her Beta Carotene Bliss, wins the tune-up from Santiam Bicycle!


We talked about the November and December schedule some. The last Fridays fall on the days after Thanksgiving and Christmas. Some suggested we take the months off, others suggested we move to the third Friday. If you have a strong opinion, leave it here or email it please!

Friday, October 31st - Breakfast

The October breakfast is just one week away! Even with the cool weather, we've been seeing lots of commuters on the road, so come on by. Next Friday, Halloween morning, we'll be at the North Office Mall Building on Winter street NE from 7am to 9am with coffee, pastries, and fruit for you. If you can't go to the office in costume, costume your bike. Better, do both! See you then!




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18 Meet to talk about Bicycle Recycling Program

A week ago Wednesday, October 15th, 18 community advocates gathered at St. Vincent De Paul Society thrift store in northeast Salem to talk about a bicycle recycling program here. Representatives and volunteers from the Bicycle Transportation Alliance, Black Rock Mountain Bike Association, City of Salem, Keizer Bikeways Committee, League of American Bicyclists, Marion County, Salem Bicycle Club, Santiam Bicycle, and Willamette University expressed support for the program.

Kimberly Allain and Andrew Lane of St. Vincent de Paul Society were pleasantly surprised at the turn out and the enthusiasm. Meeting participants cited both Portland’s Community Cycling Center and Eugene’s Center for Appropriate Transport as models. Lane noted that the Society already has the building, logistics, and administrative support for metals sorting and recycling, and that the earn-a-bike program in particular fit well with the Society’s mission. In addition to an earn-a-bike program, which at the Community Cycling Center “provides low-income adults with fully outfitted commuter bicycles and five hours of training on safe bicycle commuting,” meeting participants supported bicycle education generally, and programming specifically aimed at getting more women on bikes.

The group agreed to move forward on exploring the idea. Several participants came to the meeting from a background in business and volunteered to work on a subcommittee to write a business plan.

City Councilor Kate Tarter, who called the meeting, will also be talking about the project at the Salem Bicycle Club general meeting on the 28th.

City of Salem Disqualified for Bike/Ped Grant

We have learned that the City of Salem has been disqualified for the current round of Oregon Department of Transportation Bicycle and Pedestrian Program Grant funding. The City had proposed bicycle improvements on Winter, Myrtle, and Cherry streets NE as part of a longer-range plan to create a safe route for kids to the Kroc Center.

The reason for the disqualification is that the current project at River Road NE And Riviera Drive NE (where River, Front, Commercial, and Liberty all come together) is not yet complete. It had to be finished on October 1 in order for the City to be eligible for this round of funding.

This is disappointing, but not unprecedented. Of the twenty grants awarded last cycle, only 3 were complete by October 1. By what we might call "prevailing community standards," the grant cycle is apparently on the tight side for communities to be awarded grants in consecutive cycles.

According to the City, the traffic engineer who was managing the project quit last summer, and the city has not hired a replacement. The City is behind on delivering nearly all traffic projects, whether for autos or bicycles or pedestrians.

It is also disappointing because this was ODOT money rather than City money, and we all know that budgets all around will be tightening over the next few years. The City intends to continue to explore interest in the project, but the exploration will move forward in an increasingly dismal budgetary climate. We will have updates on future progress and opportunities for public comment or support.

2008 Bike Commute Challenge Results

The Salem-area Bike Commute Challenge results are in! For full details see the complete results here. You can sort by workplace name or by city.

As most participants know, the BTA built a new database and website for the BCC. During the first two weeks of it, the site was buggy and demand was high; consequently it crashed often, and it was difficult for people to register and to log trips. Anecdotally this reduced participation by a substantial amount. As it was, workplace participation increased by 5% and individual participation by 10%. We've seen the increase in riders on the road - could we have hit 50% this year? Who knows!

So here are the 2008 BCC results. I futzed around and can't get tables to work conveniently, so here's an awkward set of sentences that will present the data in what I hope are meaningful slices, sorted by size of workplace. (In another entry I may be able to write more about the BCC and share some individual stories.)

First up: The Bike Shop category. South Salem Cycleworks again won not merely in Salem, but statewide!

South Salem Cycleworks had 5 Employees, 5 Particpants, 0 New Riders, and commuted 202.7 Miles for a rate of 94.6 Percent
Scotts Cycling 2008 had 7 Employees, 0 Particpants, 0 New Riders, and commuted 0 Miles for a rate of 0 Percent
Santiam Bicycle, Inc. had 15 Employees, 1 Particpants, 0 New Riders, and commuted 136 Miles for a rate of 5.6 Percent

Next: Business or Non-Profits

Northwest Rehabilitation Associates had 7 Employees, 2 Particpants, 2 New Riders, and commuted 126.6 Miles for a rate of 8.4 Percent
Oak Street Surgical Associates had 9 Employees, 4 Particpants, 2 New Riders, and commuted 299 Miles for a rate of 15.1 Percent
Marion-Polk Legal Aid Service had 11 Employees, 2 Particpants, 2 New Riders, and commuted 66 Miles for a rate of 6.1 Percent
Salem Happy Riders had 20 Employees, 3 Particpants, 0 New Riders, and commuted 268 Miles for a rate of 12.7 Percent
Western Mennonite School had 56 Employees, 1 Particpants, 0 New Riders, and commuted 346.5 Miles for a rate of 0.9 Percent
Salem Pediatric Clinic had 60 Employees, 1 Particpants, 0 New Riders, and commuted 150 Miles for a rate of 1.5 Percent
Lifesource Natural Foods had 66 Employees, 1 Particpants, 0 New Riders, and commuted 295 Miles for a rate of 1.4 Percent
Greenpeace had 150 Employees, 3 Particpants, 2 New Riders, and commuted 449.2 Miles for a rate of 1.3 Percent
Salem Classical Fencing had 160 Employees, 4 Particpants, 1 New Riders, and commuted 110.4 Miles for a rate of 1.4 Percent
SWM had 200 Employees, 1 Particpants, 0 New Riders, and commuted 135 Miles for a rate of 0.3 Percent
Garmin AT had 223 Employees, 15 Particpants, 7 New Riders, and commuted 2435.95 Miles for a rate of 4.2 Percent
salem clinic had 250 Employees, 3 Particpants, 1 New Riders, and commuted 287 Miles for a rate of 0.6 Percent
Statesman Journal had 300 Employees, 1 Particpants, 0 New Riders, and commuted 64 Miles for a rate of 0.1 Percent
Willamette University had 450 Employees, 50 Particpants, 14 New Riders, and commuted 3402 Miles for a rate of 8.3 Percent
Salem Hospital had 3000 Employees, 3 Particpants, 1 New Riders, and commuted 253.5 Miles for a rate of 0 Percent

And finally, Public Agencies

Oregon Department of Fish & Wildlife had 1 Employees, 1 Particpants, 1 New Riders, and commuted 120.4 Miles for a rate of 29.2 Percent
white rabbit mental health,pc had 2 Employees, 2 Particpants, 0 New Riders, and commuted 196 Miles for a rate of 43.8 Percent
USDA Natural Resouce Conservation Services had 7 Employees, 1 Particpants, 1 New Riders, and commuted 300 Miles for a rate of 10.7 Percent
Community Housing and Employment Support had 10 Employees, 1 Particpants, 1 New Riders, and commuted 1 Miles for a rate of 0.5 Percent
Oregon Commission on Children & Families had 30 Employees, 2 Particpants, 0 New Riders, and commuted 283 Miles for a rate of 5.9 Percent
Budget and Management Division, DAS had 40 Employees, 8 Particpants, 5 New Riders, and commuted 787.4 Miles for a rate of 12 Percent
Oregon State Library had 44 Employees, 1 Particpants, 1 New Riders, and commuted 112 Miles for a rate of 2 Percent
Chemawa Indian Health Center had 45 Employees, 1 Particpants, 1 New Riders, and commuted 114 Miles for a rate of 2 Percent
Salem Heights Elementary had 45 Employees, 0 Particpants, 0 New Riders, and commuted 0 Miles for a rate of 0 Percent
Richmond Roadrunners had 49 Employees, 1 Particpants, 0 New Riders, and commuted 42.9 Miles for a rate of 1 Percent
BCD-Building Codes had 60 Employees, 0 Particpants, 1 New Riders, and commuted 0 Miles for a rate of 0 Percent
Or Dept of Land Conservation & Development had 60 Employees, 12 Particpants, 6 New Riders, and commuted 653.4 Miles for a rate of 12.8 Percent
Oregon Legislature had 70 Employees, 13 Particpants, 2 New Riders, and commuted 1032.5 Miles for a rate of 15.1 Percent
Oregon Office of the State Treasurer had 72 Employees, 3 Particpants, 2 New Riders, and commuted 731.8 Miles for a rate of 2.1 Percent
AASF #1, Oregon Army National Guard had 75 Employees, 3 Particpants, 3 New Riders, and commuted 137 Miles for a rate of 0.8 Percent
Parrish Middle School had 75 Employees, 2 Particpants, 2 New Riders, and commuted 141.5 Miles for a rate of 1.3 Percent
Oregon Department of Veterans' Affairs had 80 Employees, 2 Particpants, 0 New Riders, and commuted 212 Miles for a rate of 1.9 Percent
South Salem High School had 80 Employees, 8 Particpants, 4 New Riders, and commuted 821.2 Miles for a rate of 6.5 Percent
Oregon Dept of Energy had 94 Employees, 9 Particpants, 2 New Riders, and commuted 460.5 Miles for a rate of 5.3 Percent
Sprague High School had 120 Employees, 8 Particpants, 5 New Riders, and commuted 915.4 Miles for a rate of 3.5 Percent
OYA Central Office had 125 Employees, 1 Particpants, 1 New Riders, and commuted 56 Miles for a rate of 0.5 Percent
Oregon Water Resources Dept. had 142 Employees, 19 Particpants, 5 New Riders, and commuted 1254.4 Miles for a rate of 8.2 Percent
Oregon Parks and Recreation had 147 Employees, 7 Particpants, 3 New Riders, and commuted 588 Miles for a rate of 3 Percent
Salem main post office had 150 Employees, 3 Particpants, 0 New Riders, and commuted 420.1 Miles for a rate of 1.9 Percent
McNary High School had 160 Employees, 1 Particpants, 0 New Riders, and commuted 50 Miles for a rate of 0.6 Percent
Salem-Keizer Transit had 200 Employees, 3 Particpants, 1 New Riders, and commuted 227 Miles for a rate of 0.7 Percent
Oregon Department of Agriculture had 325 Employees, 9 Particpants, 3 New Riders, and commuted 624.8 Miles for a rate of 1.8 Percent
Oregon Department of Education had 500 Employees, 5 Particpants, 2 New Riders, and commuted 492 Miles for a rate of 0.7 Percent
ODOT Salem Area had 501 Employees, 52 Particpants, 6 New Riders, and commuted 5221.3 Miles for a rate of 7.2 Percent
Consumer and Business Services had 950 Employees, 11 Particpants, 2 New Riders, and commuted 1383.6 Miles for a rate of 0.8 Percent
Oregon Department of Revenue had 980 Employees, 2 Particpants, 0 New Riders, and commuted 341 Miles for a rate of 0.2 Percent
Oregon Department of Human Services HSB had 1000 Employees, 5 Particpants, 2 New Riders, and commuted 1485.8 Miles for a rate of 0.3 Percent
Oregon State Hospital had 1200 Employees, 14 Particpants, 15 New Riders, and commuted 844.82 Miles for a rate of 0.5 Percent
Marion County had 1251 Employees, 15 Particpants, 3 New Riders, and commuted 1767.6 Miles for a rate of 0.7 Percent
Oregon Department of Justice had 1400 Employees, 32 Particpants, 9 New Riders, and commuted 3125.47 Miles for a rate of 1.3 Percent
City of Salem had 1542 Employees, 24 Particpants, 7 New Riders, and commuted 2231.8 Miles for a rate of 1 Percent
Department of Human Service Summer St. had 3000 Employees, 4 Particpants, 3 New Riders, and commuted 472 Miles for a rate of 0.1 Percent

Bike Safety Ed at Waldo (JGEMs) & Pratum

Each Fall and Spring the Bicycle Transportation Alliance teaches Bicycle Safety Education courses in schools around the city. The BSE curriculum is a 10-hour course designed to teach safe bicycling habits. The "final" is the community ride. The students break into groups of 5 or 6, and are assigned two adult chaperone volunteers. Each group completes a ride of 5-7 miles.

Instructor Robert Fox sends this report on the fall sessions at Waldo JGEMS and Pratum:

Well, we did it again. Fall Bike Safety Eduction classes were a great success. As you know, we taught at both JGEMS (Jane Goodall Environmental Magnet School) and Pratum School. Just one class at each school: 30 6th. graders at JGEMS, and a combined 3rd, 4th, 5th grades class at Pratum.

At Waldo we had 2 kids that could not ride at the beginning of the week. And thanks to the mom who came up to me and made me aware of the situation about her daughter. We went right outside, got her a bike, and she was riding it in less than one minute. no exaggeration, I mean one time down the slight grassy slope coasting, and the next time she was pedaling away. Come to find out, she has had experience in swimming, ballet, soccer, and other physical activity. Great balance and excellent motor skills. I worked with her two more days after school and she did great on the community ride. Another non-riding student could not stay after school but one day, but after about one hour, I finally had him riding! He was not ready to go on the community ride, but I am hoping he can continue to practice at home in the future.

Highlights included the kid who just could not get the hang of "emergency stopping." He flipped over his handlebars all 4 times he attempted emergency stopping. Nothing injured but his pride, and the class was quite entertained! The "hot rod" kids who is riding "no hands" and singing while others are white-knuckling the grips while they wobble down the track - some kids are very frightened of being on the road and are so stiff and tense they can barely ride. Others are so oblivious to the cars they just cruise along, not a care in the world. I guess that is what being a kid is all about.

Pratum is a great little school. It was a little different teaching 3rd and 4th graders, I had not done that before. I know some of the traffic concepts and intersection practice was over their heads, but the hands-on stuff they could certainly handle.

One little 3rd grader was just leaning how to ride, with very limited skills when we started the Bike program. One of the dedicated teachers really took the time to work with her after we got her fitted with helmet and bike. She rode as best she could as the class progressed through the drills and exercises. She crashed, skinned her knee, cried, got up and did it again. She really persevered, and by Friday, she rode the whole community ride! You could just see her self-confidence swelling - she even asked to lead the group on the ride when it was not her turn - by the time we got back from riding on the busy street and down a long dirt road next to the railroad tracks, she had named her bike "Speedy" and could not keep the smile off her face - her mom brought her personal bike to school for me to fix. I removed the training wheels and pumped up the tires on her pink "Barbie" bike. It is way too small for her, but she rode it at school during recess for two days. Teachers and other students were quite impressed with her ability to ride a bike. I know it's something she will never forget.

Thanks to all the volunteers, and thanks for your expert help. Be safe over the winter and I'll be in touch for the big spring season.

Robert

Fossil-Fuel Food & Solar Food

On Saturday we visited LifeSource's annual customer appreciation day. The Severin Sisters played poppy bluegrass and there were lots of samples and happy people. It was great to see.

The highlight was seeing Victory Estates, a producer of olive oil in Keizer (no website, alas), and tasting their oil. It wasn't peppery like Tuscan oil, but was more buttery & fruity, and tasted to me like a Spanish oil. It turns out it's made from arbequina olives, a Spanish variety. We were so happy to see this local producer of oil at LifeSource!

One thing was really vexing, though. The parking lot was full; the bike rack was not. Virtually everyone drove cars. LifeSource makes it so easy to bike, and yet on one of their biggest days, only half the rack was full.

The connection between food & fuel, between what we eat and how it gets there, remains really problematic, made almost invisible by modern production & logistics. Even at LifeSource, people are addicted to oil. Some of the samples with the largest crowds, in fact, came from highly packaged, manufactured foods rather than farm-fresh produce.

On Sunday, the New York Times had another great piece by Michael Pollan. If you don't know Pollan, he's the author of The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals, and of In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto. In the Times piece, written as an open letter to the next President, he argues for a new food policy and the shift from what he calls fossil-fuel food, with intensive petrol inputs from fertilizer to shipping, to solar food, whose inputs more clearly & directly derive from the sun. Pollan is always good reading.

Earlier in the day we'd been to the Salem Public Market. It's indoors, runs year-round, and may not be as well known as the Salem Saturday Market. We were the only bicyclists. Cascade Baking Company was there and we had a nice chat with Debra. We talked some about spelt breads. Look out for some holiday baking with spelt!

Interestingly, several of the cars had McCain/Palin stickers on them. At the market we expect to see signs of the lefty/hippie/commie axis, but not necessarily signs of more conservative inclinations. Food security and food authenticity, however, are issues that increasingly unite folks on the right and left. Pollan says, "Reforming the food system is not inherently a right-or-left issue."

Indeed, political commentator Rod Dreher calls himself a "crunchy con," and says, "I read Edmund Burke and wear Birkenstock sandals. Go Figure." He writes about local food from a conservative angle.

Food and transportation is something Salem ought to be able to unite on. As the Capital City for one of the world's great agricultural regions, Salem is positioned to lead on what could be a keystone for bridging the rural-urban and right-left divides. Climate change and a sputtering economy, not to mention the prospects of a more serious depression, will make food and transportation even more critical. Bicycling, the 21st century victory garden, and local farmers will all be key pieces. Whether the legislature does anything on this front is 2009 is uncertain, but we can all do our part to drive less and eat more local food.

Willamette University Bike Shop needs Bikes

Willamette University's Bike Shop and rental program is growing and needs donated bikes in decent shape. Right now they are looking for 10 to refurbish for the fleet. The Bike Shop offers short-term bike rentals of 48 hours, and is building out the long-term program that will offer rentals of up to a full semester.

The Bike Shop started in 2006 and was funded by grants from Willamette University's Sustainability Council, the Community Cycling Center, the Salem Bicycle Club, and many others.

If you have a bike to donate, please use the contact form for a description of the bike and your contact information.

Want to Create a Bicycle Recycling Program?

City Councilor Kate Tarter and Kimberly Allain, Executive Director of St. Vincent DePaul, together invite folks who are interested in talking about the possibility of creating an organization to recycle bicycles here in Salem. In Portland, the Community Cycling Center has been doing this since 1994, and it is a model nationwide.

If you are interested, please come to the meeting!

Wednesday, October 15th
6:30pm to7:30pm
St Vincent DE Paul
3745 Portland Rd Ne

Salem is a "Bicycle Friendly Community"!

Recently the League of American Bicyclists named Oregon as the fourth most Bicycle Friendly State. For a long, long time, though, we've looked at the list of Bicycle Friendly Communities in Oregon, and wondered where was Salem? Ashland, Beaverton, Bend, Corvallis, Eugene, and Portland were all ranked, with Portland leading the nation, but the State's Capital was missing. It was an annoying omission. Bicycle Advocates wondered, why was the Capital City so far behind its municipal peers?

Well, maybe we're not so far behind! Just yesterday the League announced Salem merited a "Bronze" citation as a Bicycle Friendly Community! It's an important accomplishment and measure of progress. By national standards, maybe Salem isn't behind. The League cited Salem's achievements and progress in engineering and encouragement, leaving education, enforcement, and evaluation as needing work.

Of course there is much to do! By the standards set in communities like Bellingham, Olympia, and Seattle in Washington; Davis, Folsom, Palo Alto, San Francisco, San Louis Obispo, Santa Barbara, and Santa Cruz in California; and communities like Corvallis, Eugene, and Portland here in Oregon, Salem still lags behind. There are significant structural elements in Salem's roadway system that make bicycling difficult and connections counterintuitive. Hopefully we can work on those in the next few years. Good bikey stuff is coming out of the Vision 2020 conversations. The League will follow up with some specific recommendations for us to work on so we can achieve Silver or even Gold in 2012, when we will reapply.

So when you join us tomorrow morning for breakfast, raise your coffee up and toast the bronze! (And join us as we work towards the next step of Silver or Gold!)

Green Home Tour - By Bike!

While the focus here is on our Breakfast project, sometimes some other kind of bike fun comes along that's too great not to notice. The Willamette Valley Green and Solar Home Tour on October 4th is one of them. It's a "self-guided tour of several green and solar homes in the Salem & Silverton areas" that will be open most of the day.

Most interestingly, it has rational pricing! The ticket fee is per car and that will encourage car-pooling. Even better, bicyclists are free! So basically the pricing enacts a carbon tax. How great is that? I don't know how bike parking will be, and how home owners will feel if it rains - we bikey folk will be wet! (Though there would also be fewer bicyclists.) But I'm happy they are trying this, and I hope others will follow!

Pre-registration is required, so do click through the link check out the details. Hit me with an email if you are going by bike, and perhaps there will be enough of us that it makes sense to organize a bike ride!

Fall Breakfast Calendar

Now that we've got a routine established, we can plan the Breakfast sites farther out! (Though with the Holidays, we may change some of these...so do check back!) Here are the Breakfasts on Bikes for the fall and winter:

September 26 - 12th & Chemeketa

October 31 - Halloween & Costumes on Winter Street! We'll be in front of the North Mall Office Building again.

November 28 - By the AC Gilbert House, under the bridge. Here's what it looked like last time.

December 26 - For Boxing Day, we'll be back at Winter & Mission.

We hope in January to have a special edition for the Union Street Bridge Opening. Our regular January Breakfast on the 30th will complete the round and be at 12th & Chemeketa.

September 26 - Welcome to Fall Breakfast

For September's regularly scheduled breakfast, we'll be at 12th & Chemeketa, on the south side of the intersection on the bike/ped multi-use path. Bike counts we've been doing this summer suggest Chemeketa is the most popular bicycle corridor in the city. Passing through the Court-Chemeketa Historic District, the route is scenic, has auto low traffic, and is a perfect candidate for upgrading to a formal bicycle boulevard!



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August 29 Breakfast Report

About 50 bicyclists joined us this morning for the August Breakfast on Bikes. The pastries from Cascade Baking Company all had fresh berries and peaches and other ripe fruit. They were just melting in sweet goodness! Traffic seemed lighter than usual, and we concluded that lots of folks had left or were leaving down for the long weekend. Even so, we had about 10 or so new faces join us, so that was gratifying. (Photo: Debbie Boe)



Mary showed up in an old school helmet and we laughed and laughed at the retro look - it was silly in the best way! (Photo: Debbie Boe)






Though the Governor didn't join us again, we did have another special guest! A special surprise was Alex, the brand new Bicycle Recreation Coordinator for Oregon Parks and Recreation. I didn't have a chance to talk with her much, but I'm not even sure she'd officially reported for work. I think her first day might be next week! It was great to meet her and to introduce her to some of Salem's bikey fun. Debbie had met her while counting bicycles on the Center street bridge for the bike count project. (Photo: Debbie Boe)

August 29, Breakfast - Back to Mission & Winter

We'll be back at the site of our inaugural "Leap in the Saddle on Leap Day" breakfast. Hope to see you!


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[updated 8/27]

Bike Commute Challenge 2008

Last September, participants in the Bike Commute Challenge rode almost a million miles. They saved almost a million pounds of C02, almost $500,000 in vehicle costs, and $130,000 in gas. This September gas is $4.00 a gallon instead of $2.90 and even more people are riding. Imagine the savings!

Get ready for the 2008 Bike Commute Challenge. The challenge is a friendly statewide competition between bicyclists and companies run by the Bicycle Transportation Alliance. Each September thousands of bicyclists challenge themselves and each other. And everybody has fun.

Roland Maynard at the Oregon Department of Agriculture has already scheduled a bike repair and maintenance clinic for the middle of the month and challenged the Oregon Department of Education to a smackdown, "ODA v. ODE."

Last year Kathleen Kolman, math teacher at Parrish Middle School, used bicycling and her commute as another way for students to approach the equation "distance = rate x time." She also said that she enjoyed explaining to kids that instead of driving she "preferred to ride a bike because it was more fun, saved money, is good for my health and the health of the environment."

At the Oregon Department of Energy, Kip Pheil created an internal set of awards that included the "Multi-Modal Madness" award for the best combination of transit and bicycling, won by an employee who commuted from Eugene.

Robin Rolls, Senior Planner with Cherriots Rideshare offers additional prizes and incentives for bicycle commuters in the Mid-Valley area. Last year the local winners were South Salem Cycleworks (businesses of 25 or fewer employees), Oregon Department of Energy (26-100), Willamette University (101-500), and the Oregon Department of Transportation (501 or more). Who will win this year?

The Bicycle Transportation Alliance also makes raffle prizes available statewide and these have included massages, entry fees to supported rides, and wine. Salem bicycle shops including The Bike Peddler, Santiam Bicycle, Scott's Cycles, and South Salem Cycleworks offer a 10% discount for participating in the challenge with at least 7 rides.

Click here to sign up!

More on how it works and a help/FAQ page.

100 Bicyclists and the Governor!

Photo: Linda Morrell

BTA Executive Director Scott Bricker; Project Manager, Governor's Commuter Challenge, Alison Wiley; and Governor Kulongoski talk at Breakfast on Bikes. Photo: Doug Parrow.

This morning on a perfect summer day, 100 bicycle commuters joined us at the Capitol. About 8:30am, the Governor biked in to work! The Honorable Ted Kulongoski chatted with several cyclists and then gave a brief talk on his legislative priorities for 2009 regarding transportation and climate change. He also thanked bicycle commuters for their efforts. He thanked the BTA for their work on bicycle safety and education, as well.

More complete report later!

Update 7/28 - More photos from Linda Morrell:

Next Up: Friday, July 25th - The Capitol!

In honor of the Governor's Commuter Challenge, we'll be serving breakfast at the Capitol in July.
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Updated 7/2/08

June Breakfast Report

Photo: Al Smith

What a beautiful morning it was! The view out across the river was glorious in the morning sun. Al brought some beautiful cups he'd thrown, embossed with a bike, and then fired. A wonderful addition to our cup collection. Melissa from Oregon Peaceworks came by and tabled on the 5% Solution again. She also had information about tonight's ride during First Wednesday, "Put the Brakes on Global Warming."

Several new faces joined us, including some brand new commuters. We also had signs on the bridge above, but there were many cyclists who zoomed past. The bridge seemed to attract a higher proportion of strong cyclists who were on a time schedule. The difficulty of street connections seems to pose a barrier for new or less-experienced cyclists. It will be great when the Union Street Bike & Pedestrian Bridge opens! (Though its connection to Union and/or Commercial is itself quite problematic.) Still, I wonder if different types of cyclists will be attracted to each crossing.


Photo: Al Smith

Next up: Friday, June 27

Hello West Salem Commuters!

We'll be on Water Street across from the A.C. Gilbert House, right where the bike path off-ramp from the Center Street Bridge merges with Water Street and Riverfront Park.

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Updated 6/12/08

May 30th Breakfast

Photo: Debbie Boe

Photo: Tim Ehlers/TRE Photography.

We enjoyed a lovely spring day and set up in front of the North Mall Office Building. About 50 bicyclists joined us, and many others drove or walked by - we hope they'll be joining us on bike some time! Melissa Austin and Peter Bergel of Oregon Peaceworks came by and talked some about their 5% Solution Project, an incremental and achievable approach to global warming. We tried to direct passing cyclists to the breakfast bar, but some wouldn't stop! Their loss, of course... Those who did were happy to learn about the breakfast project, and we saw several new faces.

Next Up: Friday, May 30

This week we'll be on Winter Street, between Union and D streets, in the open area on the east side (northbound traffic side, alas), just south of the creek. Zoom in on the map for a better look!

We'll be there from 7am to 9am. Hope to see you then!

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Updated 5/22/08

Different Spokes - Sat & First Wednesday

Though it's not breakfast, it was great bike fun - and deserves mention here! Mary Lou Zeek did a bang-up job with Different Spokes. If you weren't there, you missed out! Though the party's over, the art is still around town, and you can see a larger map here.

Here's a couple of images courtesy of the wrap at Zeek Gallery:

Adults Promenade on First Wednesday - Note all the cruisers!

Kids Parade on Saturday

More Photos from Different Spokes, Saturday and First Wednesday!

Friday, April 25

Yay, sun! Though it was cool, it was sunny, and that sure put a smile on people's faces.

We forgot the signs, so we didn't catch as many drive-by bicyclists as we have in the past. I estimate about fifty people. This week we were at 12th and Chemeketa.

Lloyd Chapman, candidate for mayor, stopped by. Our proximity to the ODOT offices made it easy for ODOT staff to visit. We had information on Different Spokes, Mary Lou Zeek's bike art show on Saturday, May 3, and First Wednesday, May 7.

South Salem Cycleworks provided some nifty patch kits.

Friday, March 28

Breakfast on Bikes - "Spring Break & Welcome to Spring Edition"

The Mid-Willamette Valley chapter of the Bicycle Transportation Alliance brings you another Breakfast on Bikes on Friday, March 28th, between 7am and 9am.

For the "Welcome to Spring!" edition, we'll again be at Mission & Winter, just south of the hospital, in the parking lot between Deepwood and McCulloch Stadium at Bush's Pasture Park.

We'll have information about the MWVBTA bicycle survey and about some May "Bike to Work Month" activities.

Welcome to Spring indeed! The weather was 35 degrees, windy, rain mixed with snow. We were wet, cold, and lots of folks just wanted to keep moving and get to the office. Debbie Boe took this picture of our set up...Can you feel the wet & cold?

Leap Day - February 29

Photo credit: Tim Ehlers/TRE Photography.

On Leap Day, nearly 75 bicyclists leaped into the saddle for the inaugural "Breakfast on Bikes" on Mission and Winter. They enjoyed fellowship, coffee, fruit, and pastries! If you were there, you'll want to come again - if you weren't, come find out what you missed!

About the Leap Day breakfast, bicyclists said:

"The Breakfast on Bikes seemed a great success to me. Many more people than I had expected. A great idea and well implemented."

"A great idea to promote biking."

"Thank you for putting the breakfast together. That was a great location and it was a great turnout."

Please be sure to support and thank our gracious donors: Coffee House Cafe, Lifesource Natural Foods, and Cascade Baking Company.