Phone: 503-823-5185
Fax: 503-823-7576
1120 SW Fifth Ave, Suite 1331, Portland, OR 97204
Media Relations |
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Public Information Officer 503-823-3723 |
Beach PTA President Bryn shares this video of a very impressive bike train to school featuring the Principal and over 100 riders!
Learn how TriMet builds the pedestrian, bike and transit bridge
We may be two years away from the opening of the Portland Milwaukie Light Rail line, but Portland's first transit, pedestrian and bike-only bridge is beginning to take shape.
TriMet has produced BridgeView, a series of informational videos. Below is episode #7, where you learn how they pour concrete as part of bridge construction.
Short training is Tuesday, June 5th at 6pm. Pizza and gratitude provided.
VOLUNTEER BIKE COUNT TRAINING: TUESDAY, JUNE 5
The Portland Building
1120 SW 5th Ave, Room C
6-7pm, pizza provided!
Once again Portland will be conducting its annual summer bicycle count by making use of our most precious of resources: volunteer Portlanders.
THE DATA
Portland collects some of the best data on bicycle use in the country and it's all because of the tremendous support the City of Portland receives from volunteers. As anybody who's done a count in past years will tell you – it's fun! It requires only two hours of your time and the information you collectively provide us is invaluable.
This year PBOT hopes to collect data at more than 200 locations throughout Portland; this will require the participation of a lot of people. Because there is a specific protocol to follow, and to insure that data is collected from when and where it's needed, PBOT requires a brief training for new volunteers. It involves pizza and soda, is informative and fun, and is mandatory if you haven't counted before.
To see how we've used this data in the past, look at the reports here: http://www.portlandonline.com/transportation/index.cfm?c=44671&
(count reports on left side of page)
THE TRAINING
Volunteer Counter training will be next Tuesday, June 5.
All new volunteers must attend the training. This year we'll be holding a one-hour training at The Portland Building (1120 SW 5th Ave) in Room C (second floor) beginning at 6:00pm and ending by 7pm. It may take less than an hour and we'll be serving pizza!
PBOT will have a map of all the count locations. Volunteers will be able to sign up for your most desired intersections.
PLEASE RSVP!
E-mail taylor.sutton@portlandoregon.gov with your name and what type of pizza you prefer (cheese, pepperoni, veggie, or vegan).
RETURNING VOLUNTEERS
If you counted for us in previous years and would like to do so again, just PBOT know and they'll send you the forms. Please include:
Which location(s) you counted last year
Which location(s) you'd like to count this year
When you plan to complete the counts
Send these requests to taylor.sutton@portlandoregon.gov. (To ensure you get your desired location please respond by end-of-day Monday.)
Even if you counted in previous years you are, of course, welcome to join us for pizza and drinks.
Help spread the word!
Bring your friends, bring your family, spread the word, and help represent Portland's bicycle community.
Eye contact suggests a stronger community
There is an interesting piece in the Atlantic's Cities: Place Matter site about walking and eye contact with strangers.
The article cites a study involving an experiment where a woman on a college campus either makes eye contact, smiles and makes eye contact, or stares right through a fellow passing pedestrian.
Within a minute of the interaction, a second study member would ask the passing pedestrian - unaware that the eye contact or lack thereof was staged - a series of questions on how connected they felt to society.
Not surprisingly, pedestrians who had received eye contact reported the highest sense of connection to their community. Those who had been stared right through had the highest sense of disconnection (and higher than the control group).
The Atlantic Cities author conducted his own experiment in Washington, DC on his walk to work. Only 12.5% of people acknowledged his attempt to make eye contact. From my experience walking around Portland, I think the rate would be higher here.
Of course, there are many reasons people might not want to make eye contact with strangers, but in general, Portland is still a pretty friendly place. One of walking's great attributes is the ability to enjoy your surroundings and experience the place as opposed to simply going through it.
Graph courtesy of Eric D. Wesselmann, Purdue University.
This just in from TriMet's Portland-Milwaukie Light Rail team:
June 18 through 22, the east side Willamette Greenway
Trail will be closed between SE Clay and Caruthers streets. Cyclists and pedestrians will be detoured to Clay Street and Old Water Avenue. Detour map (490KB PDF)
For about three weeks beginning Monday, June 25, cyclists and pedestrians on SE Caruthers Street west of Old Water Avenue will be routed onto the sidewalk and around isolated work areas (phases include closure of the cul-de-sac and flagger-controlled access at the intersection at SE Caruthers and Old Water Avenue). Minor delays expected.
Sign up for the Portland-Milwaukie Light Rail alerts here.