Bicycle Brown Bag upcoming sessions - click here

2013:

Thursday, April 18th:

High Crash Corridors and Neighborhood Solutions

Presented by Clay Veka, PBOT High Crash Corridor Program; 

MaryLouise Ott, South Tabor Neighborhood Association; and

Paul Leistner, Mt. Tabor Neighborhood Association

Fifty-nine percent of the region’s serious crashes occur on arterial roadways, which carry only 40% of vehicle travel. The Portland High Crash Corridor (HCC) program targets limited safety resources on 10 of Portland’s roadways with exceptional concentrations of crash activity. Roadway characteristics, crash types, and neighborhood needs are unique to each corridor, thus requiring unique solutions.

This presentation focused on the Division Street High Crash Corridor, with a focus on proposed improvements between SE 60^th and 80^th avenues– including reconfiguring the roadway from 4-lanes to 3-lanes, and adding bike lanes. Working with the Mount Tabor and South Tabor neighborhood associations, PBOT is responding to the long-standing request from these neighborhoods to improve safety and reduce severe crashes for all road users.

Thursday, March 21st:

The Path Ahead for Active Transportation in Portland

Roger Geller, Portland's Bicycle Coordinator, presented a white paper analyzing data from the 2011 Oregon Household Activity Survey (OHAS).

The analysis is intended to answer two questions:

1) What have been the trends in transportation behavior for Portland residents 1994-2011?;  and

2) What does Portland need to do to achieve its policy goals related to transportation in general and bicycle transportation specifically?

 This analysis demonstrates a path to achieving the mode split goals identified in the Portland Bicycle Plan for 2030 if the city aggressively pursues them.

-> Find the audio recording (.wma file) and the slides (.pdf file) by clicking here. <- 

Thursday, February 21st:

High-wheels and Hot Mamas  - Women, Bikes, and History

presented by April Streeter, author of Women on Wheels

Celebrating Women's History Month a little early! 

-> Download an audio recording (.wma file) of April's talk by clicking here. <-

January 17th:

Seattle's Path to Neighborhood Greenways

 Presented by Cathy Tuttle,  Bob Edmiston & Eli Goldberg

You can watch a video of the presentation on Youtube - click here.

You can download the Powerpoint slides from the presentation - click here.

Eavesdrop on Seattle's conversations here:  http://seattlegreenways.org/

2012:

December  5th:  How Will We Pay for Tomorrow's Roads?

Presented by James M. Whitty, Manager,  ODOT Office of Innovative Partnerships and Alternative Funding 

As Oregonians make the switch to highly fuel efficient vehicles, the state's principal road funding mechanism--the fuel tax--will no longer raise sufficient revenue to maintain the system.  ODOT manager James Whitty presented Oregon's groundbreaking new approach to road funding--a charge on distance traveled--as a potential replacement for the fuel tax.

This talk was introduced by PBOT's Director, Tom Miller, who gave a brief synopsis of funding sources and challenges for Portland's transportation system.

-> Find the audio recording (.wma file) and the slides (.pdf file) by clicking here. <- 

November 15th:  Confessions of a Traffic Engineer- The Misuse of Level of Service and its Impact on Active Transportation

presented by Peter Koonce, P.E., PBOT Division Manager of Signals, Street Lighting and ITS

This session described the challenge of traditional traffic engineering measures used in the industry and provided technical policy suggestions that would make active transportation more competetive in the community.

Technical difficulties prevented the recording of this talk, but never fear - Peter gave the presentation again at the PSU Transportation Seminar in January 2013.  You can stream the talk by clicking this link.  Or, you can download the presentation by clicking here.

October 18th:  The Bicycle Transportation Alliance's Blueprint for Better Biking: World Class Network.

Picture the safest, most accessible, and most forward-thinking bicycle oriented transportation system in the world.

Now imagine yourself in it, doing the things you normally do every day. When you go to work, what type of street do you take? How do your kids get to school? Think about going to the park with your family, talking a walk with your parents, going grocery shopping. What would it take to transform the neighborhood you live in, to make it truly world class for bikes?

September 20th:  The Economics of Bicycling - Mode Choice and Consumer Behavior

August 16th:  What I Saw at Velo-City

 Velo-city Global bills itself as  "the world’s premier international cycling planning conference."  Take one look at the Conference Program and you'll see why.

 July 19th:  Mapping the Experience of Cycling

Many cyclists choose to travel by bike because it’s fun. However, existing bike maps don't talk about fun – they're dull, practical tools.  Google Maps, for example, shows distance and where to turn; it's hard to learn which roads have heavy exhaust fumes, where the funky houses are, or other rich details about the trip.   A trip planner that describes experience could encourage people to cycle more and could help cyclists enjoy their ride more.

This presentation describes research into the design of interactive digital maps that represent both the experience and logistics of urban bike trips. The presentation is in two parts: What maps can say about the experience of cycling, and how they can say it.

Presented by Evan Dickinson, an interaction designer and Master of Arts candidate at the School of Interactive Arts and Technology at Simon Fraser University in Vancouver, BC. He's also one of the organizers of Velopalooza, a Pedalpalooza-like bike fun festival in Vancouver.  You can download the PDF file of slides and the WMV file audio recording by clicking here and searching for "07.19.2012_BikeBrownBag_Mapping the Experience of Cycling".

[Image courtesy of Debra C West / www.MsStarryArt.com ]

Thusday, June 21st : Introducing the Active Transportation Division

 Internal reorganization within the City's Bureau of Transportation will bring together staff from several PBOT divisions with expertise in planning, designing, promoting and managing systems for human-powered travel. Hear Division Manager Dan Bower and Program Managers Linda Ginenthal, Gabe Graff, and Mark Lear talk about how these changes will affect Portland's progress toward being the nation's most livable city.  Read a summary of the talk on BikePortland.org.   Or  Find the audio file (25 mb WMV format) and Powerpoint slides (2 mb PDF) by clicking here.

   May 17th:  Cycling Sojourner - The Making of a Guide to Bike Touring in Oregon

Continuing our themes of cycle touring and books about bikes, a presentation from Ellee Thalheimer.

Cycling Sojourner is a complete guide to self-supported, multi-day cycle touring in Oregon, released in May 2012. Author Ellee Thalheimer shared true tales of rural bike touring in our beautiful state, inspiring attendees to travel by bike, and told the story of how this book, the only one of its kind currently in print, came to exist.

See a video of a shorter version of this presentation on the Crank My Chain! website (thanks to Dan Kaufman). [Introduction starts at 2:27, presentation starts at 7:30.]

April 19th:  Neighborhood Greenways & Transportation Demand Management

Scott Cohen of PBOT Transportation Options talked about Going to the River, a project which combines engineering enhancements with outreach and marketing to neighbors in the new Greenway’s bikeshed.  The project connects the current NE Going St. Neighborhood Greenway westward to Swan Island and includes improvements that create the N Michigan Neighborhood Greenway.

Hear about this new idea in the City’s ongoing process of building a network of pedestrian- & bike-friendly streets. 

Find the slide show by clicking here. / For the audio recording of the talk (27 mb WMA file), click here.

Click here to read more about the Going to the River project.

March 15th:  Bike History in Oregon

A graphic representation of the first wave of bicycles in Oregon, written by Sarah Mirk and illustrated by Shawn Granton, published by the Dill Pickle Club. 

Captured in a 30-page book, a moment when bike ownership quintipled in 4 years (to one bike for every 10 county residents), about a time when a new shipment of bicycles was celebrated with a brass band, a time when rideable roads were paid for by the local chapter of the Wheelman.  And a time before women could vote, but when suffragist Susan B Anthony remarked,  “I stand and rejoice every time I see a woman ride by on a wheel. It gives her a feeling of freedom, self-reliance and independence.”

Read an interview with Shawn about the book on the Dill Pickle Club blog.

Special bonus – a dramatic reading from another book in the series, Dead Freeways.

Download a PDF of the slides and an audio file of the presentation here.

Feb. 16th:  What’s so great about world-class bicycling cities, anyway? 

PBOT planner, Denver Igarta, spent the month of November meeting with planners, advocates, urban designers and engineers in Munich (Germany), Rotterdam (Netherlands), Copenhagen (Denmark) and Malmo (Sweden), on a fellowship sponsored by the German Marshall Fund. His presentation sheds light on a few things that distinguish these cities (with 17-36 percent bicycle mode shares) and what that means for Portland’s goal of achieving a quarter of all daily trips taken by bicycle.

Find the slide show by clicking here. / For the audio recording of the talk (27.5 mb WMA file), click here.

Click here to read more about Denver's studies in Europe on his blog.

Jan. 19:  Bike Tourism, Rural Communities, Historic Roads

Bike Tourism along Historic Roads – surefire development strategy for rural communities?  Heidi Beierle pedaled across the country exploring this question. She shared what she learned in this talk, describing a typology of bike tourists, and offering new ideas about where in Oregon to ride. 

Download the slides from this presentation here (8 mb PDF) and find the audio recording of the talk here (25 mb WMA file).

For more on promoting bike touring and rural development check out this link from Adventure Cycling.  You can find a link to Heidi's report near the bottom of the page.

2011:

Thusday, Nov. 17th: Bike Train Lessons

Kiel Johnson gave a talk about his experiences organizing bike trains, group rides to school along prearranged routes. Last year he helped organize bike trains at 12 Portland schools, resulting in parents and children riding over 3,200 times.  Kiel, a 2011 winner of the BTA's Alice Awards, talked about his successes and struggles in building a bike train movement and how his experiences can be applied to other efforts to promote active transportation. 

Bike Brown Bag attendees enjoyed the world premier of the Bike Train Movie.

Thurs, Oct. 20th:   East Portland in Motion - A Five-year Strategy for Active Transportation

Steven Szigethy talked about efforts to improve active transportation options - walking, biking and taking transit - in East Portland.

As a recent cover story in the Willamette Week describes, improvements are needed.

Sept. 15th:  StreetSmart -  Bill Beamer presented on PBOT's safety campaign, a community partnership that contributes to safe transportation in Portland.  The goal of the StreetSmart initiative is to reduce traffic injuries and fatalities by promoting traffic safety through smart, safe behavior.   This initiative brings together groups as diverse as the BTA, AAA-Oregon, the Willamette Pedestrian Coalition and the Oregon Trucking Associations.   Click here for a PDF file of the presentation slides, including links to the StreetSmart kickoff event and other safety efforts at home and abroad.

August 18th:  Bikes Mean Business

Encouraging bicycling at the workplace strengthens the company bottom line while growing our local and regional economy! 

Steve Hoyt-McBeth of SmartTrips Business and Tom Rousculp of the Bicycle Transportation Alliance and representatives from Regence and New Seasons shared how bicycling has transformed their workplaces for the better and how your business can get involved.  See Steve Hoyt-McBeth's slides here and Timothy Morita-McVey's (Regence) slides here.

July 21st:  Promoting Bikes & Road Safety Outside of the Urban Core:  Bruce Buffington / North West Bicycle Safety Council

Bruce discussed the challenges and rewards of educating road users about safety and encouraging bicycling in urban, suburban, and rural communities. 

June 16th:  The Portland Society: Women of Portland, on bikes and in business

The Portland Society is a nonprofit alliance of Portland women who are invested in both business and bicycling. Co-founder Elly Blue talked about how they create opportunities for networking, leadership, professional development, growing their businesses, and riding bikes. 

Missed the Brown Bag?  Watch a 10-min. video of the highlights! 

And read about the online discussion Elly Blue started on why women aren't using bikes as much as men.

May 19:  A Movement for Mobility, Lessons from Latin America (A transit trip from Portland to Puerto Montt, Chile)

Did you know that Guadalajara, Mexico has a Bike Fun movement that is arguably more robust than Portland?

Or that Mexico City runs their Sunday Parkways past the National Cathedral, Presidential Palace, and the Zocalo?

Or that the government of Chile finances the purchase of tricycles for recycling scrappers as a low level economic stimulus?

Two Portland Bicycle and Tricycle advocates ventured from Portland to Southern Chile by public transit and learned many lessons from our bikey brothers and sisters to the south.  They met bike activists, politicians, and tricycle vendors along the way.  See photos on their Flickr page, e.g. Mexico City's ciclovia.

April 21:  Hitting the Streets: Bike Commuting Injuries in PDX

Bill Lambert, PhD, OHSU Department of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, Center for Healthy Communities

Ever wonder about the numbers and types of injuries that occur during bike commuting to work?  Dr. Lambert will present the findings from an OHSU study of 1000 bike commuters who reported on their  injuries over a one-year period in 2007-08.  Injury events were evaluated with respect to rider experience, safety equipment, and street conditions.   You can download a pdf of the journal article using a link on OregonLive here. 

March 17:  Remaking Traffic Signals to Encourage Cycling

Historically, most streets and traffic signals were designed and managed to meet mobility standards that focus on the movement of motor vehicles, failing to adequately accommodate and prioritize cycling. A new culture of innovation is needed to meet the goals laid out in the Portland Bicycle Plan for 2030. Peter Koonce, Manager of the City's Signals, Street Lighting, & ITS Division discussed how the City's traffic signals will be made more effective for people riding bicycles.  View this talk as presented at PSU's Transportation Seminar by clicking this link and searching for the March 4th session.

February 17:  Portland and Europe Bike Planning: Impressions and Connections

January 20, 2011:  Safe Routes to School: Agonies of Defeat and Exultations of Success  - Four Portland parents shared their strategies to increase biking and walking at school, and their on-the-ground experiences. 

 Immediately after the Brown Bag we had an extended conversation about starting a Safe Routes activity.  Much networking occured.  Thanks to Safe Routes for the tea and cookies while we discussed.

  Read a short summary of the session here [thanks to BikeTrain blog]. 

Take a look at the Maplewood & Beach Schools' slides.

2010:

Nov. 18:   Incentivizing Biking at Work & School

Oregon Health Science University’s John Landolfe presented on incentivizing biking at work and school, including budget-conscious solutions and a first look at OHSU’s new web app to streamline cash-for-biking and data-crunching on ridership. 

Download a PDF of the presentation notes here (744 kb). 

Read a write-up of the presentation on the BTA's blog here.

Learn about OHSU's bike program by clicking here.

Oct. 21:   What I Learned at ProWalk/ProBike

A biennial conference presented by the National Center for Biking and Walking, ProWalk/ProBike is THE place to be for professionals and activists promoting active transportation and livable communities.  Rob Sadowsky and LeeAnne Ferguson from the Bicycle Transportation Alliance, Steph Routh from the Willamette Pedestrian Coalition, Colin Maher of TriMet,  Gabe Graff, PBOT Safe Routes to School, and Sarah Figliozzi, PBOT (Bike Parking)  told about new ideas and strategies they found at this year's confab.

Here's a link to LeeAnne's presentation on Safe Routes to School education programs in Portland that she gave at ProWalk/ProBike.  You can find slides from many of the other sessions here.

September 16:  Adventures in Bike Mapping

Matthew Hampton of Metro (Bike There!)  and Jeff Smith of PBOT (Portland By Bicycle and more) shared recent developments in helping cyclists find their way.  Contact Timo Forsberg for a .WMA audio file of the talk and .PDF files of the slides.  [On the audio file Jeff Smith is first, Matthew Hampton starts at 18:17.]

Aug 19th:  De-Throned! Why Minneapolis is the new #1 Bike City  - Ian Stude, PSU Transportation Options manager

After many years as Bicycling Magazine’s top city for biking in North America Portland was displaced by Minneapolis.  Ian Stude went, he saw, and came back to tell us what he found – and what Portland can learn from our snowy friends to the East.

Co-sponsored by PBOT Transportation Options and PSU Parking and Transportation Services

July 15th:  Rob Sadowsky - Welcome to Portland, Now Get on the Mike

Welcoming the incoming Executive Director of the Bicycle Transportation Alliance to town. 

Rob talked about new directions for the BTA and biking in Portland.  Rob also asked the group to help brainstorm ways to "herd the cats."

June 17th:  Authors on Bikes   Mia Birk,  Joe Kurmaskie, and Jeff Mapes ride what they know.

May 20th: Goodbye Park & Ride, Hello Bike & Ride 

How to make riding your bike to transit as attractive as driving your car.  Colin Maher previewed TriMet bike parking projects.  Read a full write-up of the presentation from BikePortland.org, and a follow-up on the project.

April 15th:  Understanding Barriers to Bicycling

Have you noticed who rides bicycles in your community? Have you noticed who doesn’t?

In early 2009 the Community Cycling Center recognized that, despite the cost savings and health benefits of bicycling, many people cannot or do not choose bicycles to get around — particularly among communities of color.

Alison Graves, Executive Director of the Community Cycling Center, shared what has been learned during the Understanding Barriers to Bicycling project and what can be done to reduce roadblocks to bicycle use.  Look for the full report online after May 1st.  Also, read this excellent summary of the presentation on BikePortland.org .

March 18

Promoting Bike Tourism : Ride Oregon, Ride! + Oregon's Scenic Bikeways 

Kristin Dahl / Travel Oregon, and Alexandra Phillips / Oregon Parks and Recreation

Oregon is the first state in the country to have a State Scenic Bikeway program.  Bikeways show Oregonians and tourists the best places to enjoy the beauty of Oregon from the viewpoint of a bike seat. Learn how bikeways are designated and the important role local proponents play in each designation.
Rideoregonride is the site to visit when planning any kind of bike trip. This interactive site was recently launched by Travel Oregon.  Read about Travel Oregon's new campaign to promote Oregon's great biking in this BikePortland article.

January 21

Initial Assessment of Portland's Green Bike Boxes, Jennifer Dill and Chris Monsere, Portland State University

Portland pioneered the use of bike boxes to prevent "right-hook" crashes.  Dr. Dill and Dr. Monsere will share initial findings from their study of this innovative intersection treatment.  (Originally presented at the Dec PSU Transportation Seminar - slides & video available at this link.)

2009:

November 19

Carrying Stuff by Bike - show & tell

 - special location at Portland State University  

Get ready to haul – well, whatever you’ve got!  From groceries to kids to furniture, sometimes you just can’t travel light when going by bike.  Presenters showed a variety of different methods and rigs. Presenters included:

• Jeff Smith from Transportation Options: Building a Bike Bucket
• Beth Hamon from Citybikes: Buckets, Bags, and Beyond
• Marion Rice from BikePortland.org: Carrying Kids and more on an Xtracycle
• Carie Weisenbach-Folz: Carrying Kids by Bakfiets
• Ryan Hashagen from Cascadia Pedicabs and Evan Ross from Portland Bicycle Tours: Cargo Trikes for Business

October 15

Lessons from Europe: A Look at Residential Streets - A presentation by PBOT's Greg Raisman

Europe’s cycle tracks and bicycle signals in commercial areas have garnered a lot of attention.  But most trips start at home and 70% of Portland's streets are residential.

Bike Boulevards present an excellent opportunity to address these important goals. Come hear about residential traffic calming concepts that could take Portland to the next level, making our streets safer for children, seniors, and people with disabilities – and more attractive for cycling.

See the Powerpoint slides in a PDF file (5.3 mb) here - includes many links to video and additional photos showing how these streets work in real life.

September 17

Bike Boulevards  - where will they go next?

PBOT will add 15 miles of Bike Boulevards to Portland's bikeway network in the near future.  Where are they going? What will they look like? And how soon can you enjoy them?  Project Manager Kyle Chisek and Project Sponsor Mark Lear presented.

Read more about the project here.  Wondering what Bike Boulevards are?  View an infomercial here.

August 20

Adventures in Bike Parking

It's great to ride but where do you leave your beloved steed once you get there?  Especially when "you" is about 8% of everyone traveling.  Sarah Figliozzi talked about some of the challenges and some creative solutions.

View a primer about on-street bike parking here. You can also check BikePortland.org's coverage here.

July 16

Bike Sharing - in Portland? 

It's all the rage in Paris, Barcelona, London, Stockholm - what does Europe know that Portland might learn?  Steve Hoyt-McBeth of PBOT's Transportation Options division shared what he's learned about the potential for a new kind of transit in the Rose City.  Find out about bike sharing before the Brown Bag here.

June 18

Gateway Green - An Emerald Jewel on a Platinum Strand?

A concept to convert a neglected parcel of land into a premier recreation destination.  Linda Robinson and Ted Gilbert from Friends of Gateway Green presented on how a proposed park at the juncture of 1-205 and 1-84 could reclaim greenspace, create a world-class off-road cycling facility, link neighbors, spur development in East Portland, and serve as a model for sustainable practices - all just a short MAX or bike ride away! (Find out more from BikePortland.org's extensive coverage.)

May 21

The Platinum Bicycle Master Plan

Ellen Vanderslice, Project Manager, presented a status report on this revision of the 1996 Bike Master Plan.

You're invited to join us at a Virtual Open House for the Bike Master Plan. Or take a look at Ellen's Brown Bag Presentation in pdf format (4 mb file).

Thursday, April 16

 Be a Bicycle (Commuter) Champion!

Encouraging Riding at Portland State University

Learning some fun and easy ways to get your friends and colleagues to take bike commuting for a test ride - and to stick with it!

March 19

Bikes and Transit: Strategies for Growth 

Both transit use and the number of people cycling are going up. And be it weather, hills, or a flat, sometimes a biker just needs a bus.

How can we accomodate more people and bikes in the system? Check out this BikePortland.org article or this article for a look at some of the challenges.  Read this article for some good news.

Colin Maher of TriMet presented this slide show (click for 911 kb PDF file).  Click here for a short summary of the presentation.

Feb 19

 The Proposed Idaho Stop Law:  Now we're rolling!

The Bicycle Transportation Allliance has drafted legislation to allow cyclists to treat stop signs as yield signs.  Ray Thomas, attorney and author of Pedal Power: A legal guide for Oregon bicyclists, and Karl Rohde, former Government Relations and Public Affairs Director for the BTA, discussed what this law would mean for cyclists, motorists, and pedestrians.

For another discussion of the topic listen to the KBOO Bike Show program from Feb. 4.  (thanks to PortlandTransport.com for hosting the Bike Show archives), or read these files:

Draft Legislation - Idaho-style stop law; Idaho-style stop Frequently Asked Questions; Article: "Why Bicyclists Hate Stop Signs"

Jan 27

"What I Saw in Copenhagen and What You Might See in Portland"

City Traffic Engineer Rob Burchfield joined several Portlanders on a trip to (perhaps) the most bike-friendly city in the world.  The record-sized crowd heard what he learned and how Portland may benefit.  You can review the powerpoint here.

2008:

Nov 20 - Biking in the Rain  Learn to love Portland's weather - on your bike! 

   Why celebrate winter riding?  Let me count the ways...

...You can shower on your way to work / Easier to find bike parking than in the summer

Impress your non-biking coworkers / You feel so good when you get inside again...

Presented in partnership with Portland State University's Transportation Options.

Oct 16 - Cycle Zone Analysis:  A New Bicycle Planning Tool

Click here to view the Powerpoint slides (4 mb PDF).

Special thanks to BikePortland.org! You can view the slideshow and listen to the audio of this session (just click the link and scroll to the bottom of the post - click the "four arrows" button in the bottom left corner of the window for full-screen viewing).

To better understand how conditions for cycling vary across the city, Portland planners moved away from the city's eight traditional planning zones--defined by political boundaries--and instead divided the city into 32 "cycle zones" that describe distinct micro-environments for bicycling. This presentation describes how this tool is helping Portland more accurately assess conditions for cycling in sub-areas of the city and create more focused treatments to improve cycling conditions.

Sep 18 - Parents on Bikes  How do they do it?  We'll have a panel of moms and dads who use bikes for the family transport tell us their secrets.  -> Bike and Walk to School Day is Wed, Oct. 8th! <- 

Aug 21 - Bike Champions  Get ready for the Bike Commute Challenge with tales from these workplace superheros.

July 17 - North Portland Greenway envisions a trail system along the Willamette River from the Steel Bridge in downtown Portland to Cathedral Park near the St. Johns Bridge.  Scott Mizee and Francie Royce spoke about progress towards realizing the dream.

June 19:  Bikes in China 

Jeff Smith, Portland's Bike Map guru, talked about what he learned across the Pacific.

May 15th:  Bikes and Buses

Portlanders use these vehicles more than most Americans.  Representatives from TriMet and the BTA talked about working together to help everyone get to their destinations safely.

April 17:  Sunday Parkways

Linda Ginenthal, Program Manager with Transportation Options, talked about the process of bringing this event, based on Bogota's Ciclovia, to Portland. 

Read more about the event here.  Includes links to Linda's Powerpoint, videos of the event in Portland and in other cities, and stories from Portlanders who walked, biked, rolled and strolled that Sunday.

March 20th: The Bike Box: Portland's new green space.

Roger Geller, City of Portland Bicycle Coordinator, discussed how advanced stop bars and colored pavement treatments will help prevent crashes and increase safety for cyclists. Read more about bike boxes here.

Plus special guest Raymond Gawthorne, veteran driver with the Bureau of Maintenance, offered a perspective on road safety from the cab of a truck. Read about Raymond's presentation here.

February 21st:  From DIY to Public Funding: Financing Portland's First Bicycle Paths, 1896-1899

Historian Eric Lundgren discussed early efforts to fund and build safe routes for cyclists.  Read a transcript of Eric's talk here.

January 17th:  Safe, Sound & Green Streets for Cyclists soon?

Mark Lear & Jamie Waltz of the Safe, Sound & Green Streets project and Roger Geller, City of Portland Bicycle Coordinator discussed the proposed bikeway network improvements in store if the Safe, Sound & Green Streets proposal is adopted. 

2007:

January 18:

We kicked off the series with a great documentary film,  Portland: Celebrating America's Most Liveable City (click here to see a clip about Bike Boulevards). The film shows what our citizens and leaders have done in the past to promote and build the number one bicycling city in the U.S.

Additionally, we heard presentations about Transportation Options' award winning programs to encourage alternative transportation,  SmartTrips Downtown and SmartTrips Southeast .

February 15:

Is the fresh air blowing through the halls of power a tail wind for cyclists? February's Brown Bag featured two speakers well-positioned to bring us news from the front of the legislative peleton:

Karmen Fore, District Director for  Rep. Peter DeFazio's office and Scott Bricker from the Bicycle Transportation Alliance discussed issues of interest to cyclists in our local and national legislatures .

A video of the presentation will be available in the near future.

March 15:

Making Oregon the premier place for a bike holiday .  Iris Riggs, Bicycle Recreation Coordinator for Oregon Parks and Recreation spoke about promoting Oregon's great opportunities for biking, on the roads and the trails. She is working with local governments and bike groups, as well as helping Travel Oregon expand their promotion of cycling.

Jeff Smith from PDOT Transportation Options discussed tips on planning a bike vacation.

Get information to plan your trip in our Bicycle Touring webpages.

April 19:

Portland's Bike Master Plan Update - After 10 years, Portland's plan is being updated, and we're going for Platinum !  Roger Geller, Portland's Bicycle Coordinator, took a look at how far we've come since 1994 when the first BMP was envisioned.  He posed the question, How can we use our current momentum to make Portland truly a world-class city for bikes?

Continue the conversation - come on one of the Bike Master Plan rides (click for more information ).

May 17: Bike to Work...In Style! + Bike to Fun .  Bike fashionistas Carye Bye, Jessica Roberts, Scott Bricker, Shawn Granton, and Tori Bortman offered tips for looking good on the way, and when you get there.  Attendees were treated to a showing of the film "Do Skirts & Bike Mix?", as well as Scott's demonstration of how to look sharp on the outside while staying sporty on the inside.  The panel also talked about organizing a bike-fun event (Pedalpalooza is in June).

June 21st: Why People Aren't Cycling (and How to Help Them Start) - what new focus group and poll information tells us.  Linda Ginenthal, Program Manager for Transportation Options, presented results from a new study commissioned by the City. Click here to download the presentation slides.  (A written narrative for this session will be available soon.)

July 19th:  I Share the Path - Pedestrians and Cyclists Can Coexist in Peace, Ask Me How!

This special field-trip edition of the Bicycle Brown Bag series took a spin over the Hawthorne Bridge to the Eastbank Esplanade.  There we talked about how to encourage path users to show courtesy.  We also reviewed the new Share the Path brochure, produced by Portland Parks and PDOT.

August  16th: Gear up for the Bike Commute Challenge – Advice and support for advocates who want to help their colleagues get on bikes, from the experts - worksite coordinators who have gotten results. Read their suggestions here .

The BTA's Bike Commute Challenge occurs every September.

September 20th: Innovative Designs in Bikeways and Parking

Tales and pictures from the cutting edge of bicycle-friendly transportation design –at home and abroad! 

November 15th: See & Be Seen and I Share the Road - we can all get along!

Whether you walk, drive, bike, or ride transit, you're in the enviable position of traveling in Portland. What each of us can do to make the road safer for ourselves and our neighbors.

Judge Christopher A. Larsen spoke about the success of the I Share the Road diversion class, which offers remedial education for the traffic-infraction impaired.  Karl Rohde, Legislative Director for the Bicycle Transportation Alliance, gave an inspiring pitch for more and better education for motorists.