Portland Surges to 7.2 Percent

[jbeattie]

http://bikeportland.org/2015/09/17/progress-for-portland-surge-of-5000-new-bike-commuters-bring-city-rate-to-7-159171

Ka-cha! Got you Frank. The cycle tracks are bringing them out in droves!

-- Jay Beattie

[sms]

"I’ve been a skeptic about the ability of neighborhood greenways to lure
people out of cars, because I think the network isn’t very intuitive to
new users."

But even if they aren't intuitive, those that are willing to bike
commute when there is a more viable route are willing to make the effort
to understand them.

Cycling rates rise and fall for such a wide variety of reasons that
three theories aren't nearly enough.

At least they came up with some good theories for the increase that did
not blame helmets for a non-existent decline.

[Frank Krygowski]

Well, something's generated a few more droves, perhaps. We'll see in a year
or two whether this is a blip, a trend, or a statistical fluke.

I'll note yet again that the data given applies only to those living within
Portland city limits. Some may imagine that 7.2% of vehicles on-road in
PDX are bikes, but that's far from the case. All those driving in from
suburbs (including Washington State) are not part of the data.

If it is a real increase, what do you think might have caused it? The flat
line for the past five years suggests that it's not the increasing number of
(sometimes weird) facilities. A cause-effect relationship should have
something resembling a dose response, not a flat line followed by a jump.

- Frank Krygowski

[jbeattie]

My guess as to increase: (1) people sick of MV traffic congestion, (2) gentrification of close-in north and northeast neighborhoods, (3) huge new condo development close-in westside waterfront, although that probably means more walkers and street car users, but some may ride, (4) global warming -- no kidding; it rains less than it used to, (5) some of the facilities may draw timid riders, primarily the bike boulevards, but those have been around for years. (6) It's weird and hip to ride a bike.

-- Jay Beattie

[avag...@gmail.com]

Frank ....

BEFORE I READ THAT IZZIT PROPAGANDA OR A FACTUAL STATEMENT ?

BTW, with Portland down on the Columbia, is there land available for city expansion as the Portland city business network ?

[sms]

I'm pretty sure that the fact that Portland did not pass an MHL is the
sole reason for the increase in cycling rates.

[Frank Krygowski]

Which of those are step changes, that would produce a step response?
Again, this jump follows five years of data showing (and people
complaining) that bike use wasn't increasing at all, despite lots of
infrastructure additions.

--
- Frank Krygowski

[avag...@gmail.com]

MHL MHL MHL ?


Mobile High-Definition Link ?

more Musk etherway ?

[avag...@gmail.com]

PORTLAND commuting


http://media.salon.com/2015/03/selma.jpg

[jbeattie]

(1) - (3) are step changes -- particularly all the condo infill in the south waterfront. Traffic has also gotten really bad in the past few years due to the influx of people. Major facilities have not changed, except for the addition of the south waterfront (SW Moody) cycle track. Nothing about my commute has changed in the last 20 years, except the number of cyclists. Oh, I did get some flashing lights going over the bridges. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UgYXYtzbv0w -- flashing lights at the head of that bridge and another. O.K., I confess, it does make me feel safer, but I've been riding down that road for 30 years without them. I haven't seen a surge in ridership since the lights were installed, and a lot of bicyclists go over the hills in to town. I'm too lazy most mornings. Why do a bunch of climbing to lose 400 feet elevation?

-- Jay Beattie.

[avag...@gmail.com]

30 years...we're impressed...I had ten in.....can we see a leg photo ?

Influx.... a disease right ? where are the influxers coming from ....geographically ?

What's the rent down on the rivah ?

would you give us an overview on the female influxers ?

[jbeattie]

Attack of the condo towers. http://portlandrealestateblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/DSC_42311-1023x442.jpg

Every tower is filled with hot women looking for husbands . . . like you (or maybe a friend of yours)!
Look at these people living life to the fullest! http://portlandwaterfront.com/

And if you ARE a woman who likes women, Portland is the NO. 2 lesbian city in the U.S. http://lesbianlife.about.com/od/families/tp/LesbianCities.htm Say it with me: "we're No. 2, we're No. 2 . . . . "

-- Jay Beattie.

[jbeattie]

Oh, I forgot to mention that our governor is bisexual. http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/oregons-kate-brown-americas-1st-openly-bisexual-governor/story?id=28953532

I went to law school with Katie, but I don't remember if she had a girlfriend or boyfriend back then. She oscillated and has a husband now.

[Frank Krygowski]

Seems to me that #1 and #2 would not be step changes on a one-year
scale. The waterfront condos would qualify, but they can't account for
the supposed magnitude of the increase.

Although not mentioned, I thought of one infrastructure change that
could cause a sudden increase. If a linear barrier like a freeway or
river existed that prevented a lot of bike commuting across it, and if a
new access point (say, a critical bridge) opened up to bikes, then one
might see a step change, i.e. a sudden spike in biking. The magnitude
of the change would depend on various factors, like the magnitude of
pent-up demand. That would depend on the local culture and the details
of the barrier.

I think the main thing to see about Portland's recent increase is "we'll
see."

--
- Frank Krygowski

[jbeattie]

We got a new bridge for bikes/trains/peds -- but it just opened. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tilikum_Crossing

For me, it's the bridge to nowhere -- not that it isn't useful for mass transit and cyclists (no MV traffic allowed) -- but it is located on the river at a place where I never cross. I pass the bridge terminus on the westside on my commute home, but I've never bothered exploring -- maybe later today when I wrap up a ride on the eastside. The facilities off the west side of the bridge are supposed to be bad. http://bikeportland.org/tag/tilikum-crossing

-- Jay Beattie.

[sms]

On 9/20/2015 8:55 AM, jbeattie wrote:

> We got a new bridge for bikes/trains/peds -- but it just opened. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tilikum_Crossing
>
> For me, it's the bridge to nowhere -- not that it isn't useful for mass transit and cyclists (no MV traffic allowed) -- but it is located on the river at a place where I never cross. I pass the bridge terminus on the westside on my commute home, but I've never bothered exploring -- maybe later today when I wrap up a ride on the eastside. The facilities off the west side of the bridge are supposed to be bad. http://bikeportland.org/tag/tilikum-crossing

You commies up in Oregon built a bridge for bicycles, pedestrians, and
trains?!

Our $14.8 million dollar bike bridge that crosses I-280 is better!
<http://bikesiliconvalley.org/files/images/mary-ave-bridge.jpg>

[Joe Riel]

$15M, they must have seen you coming. Ours is a 990 foot long, stressed
ribbon bridge across Lake Hodges. Cost was $10M. As a bonus the route
includes a dirt path, several blind corners (the path to the bridge goes
udner the existing freeway) and is closed at night. I believe
bicyclists are still allowed to take the freeway bridge across the lake,
which would be considerably faster but isn't pleasant.

--
Joe Riel

[jbeattie]

Here's another laugh for Frank: http://bikeportland.org/2015/08/14/first-look-southwest-moody-now-probably-portlands-best-street-bike-155284

This cycle track is the most confusing, worst place to ride for a bicycle going over 10mph. It dumps on to a road with parallel street car tracks, and getting around other cyclists means high speed bunny hopping between tracks which run down the middle of the road. The cycle track runs through the new condo area I was mentioning.

It used to be a rutted road with mini-storage through a bad part of town. I miss it.

This is the bridge over the highway to that same area: http://bikeportland.org/tag/gibbs-street-pedestrian-bridge Stairs and elevators.

Less dramatic than the Tilicum Crossing, but equally useless to me.

-- Jay Beattie.

[cycl...@yahoo.com]

This is impossible in the San Francisco bay area where the distances are too great for bicycle commuting and the companies don't seem to care at all. In many cases they purposely place companies in areas where even the principles find difficulties in commute traffic.

I find this extremely stupid to have 90% of the new companies either in Silicon Valley or San Francisco. The one is 2 hours commute time and the other available either via a very difficult (VERY crowded) rapid transit or living in a city where a two bedroom apartment can run over a million and a half dollars with spit, gum and chewing tobacco all over the sidewalk outside. And no garage. And in some areas $600 parking tickets.

[avag...@gmail.com]

((((((((((((((((((((((>


WHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE https://goo.gl/PsHC1w

[avag...@gmail.com]

SSSSSSSSSSSSSLLLLLLLLLLLLRRRRRRRRRR


WHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE https://goo.gl/PsHC1w

commonality here no ?

https://goo.gl/Iv7sWU

[avag...@gmail.com]

FFFFFFFFFF

mooooving toward the chair....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DxoTiPQzksA

[sms]

On 9/20/2015 4:53 PM, cycl...@yahoo.com wrote:
> On Thursday, September 17, 2015 at 7:23:14 PM UTC-7, jbeattie wrote:
>> http://bikeportland.org/2015/09/17/progress-for-portland-surge-of-5000-new-bike-commuters-bring-city-rate-to-7-159171
>>
>> Ka-cha! Got you Frank. The cycle tracks are bringing them out in droves!
>>
>> -- Jay Beattie
>
> This is impossible in the San Francisco bay area where the distances are too great for bicycle commuting and the companies don't seem to care at all. In many cases they purposely place companies in areas where even the principles find difficulties in commute traffic.

Huh? Bicycle commuting is very popular here. Look at the infrastructure
that allows cyclists easy access to the largest companies, Google,
Intel, Apple, Oracle, etc. For longer distances you put your bike on
transit. BART and Caltrain both allow bicycles at all times. San
Francisco, Oakland, and San Jose are all pretty high up in the list of
larger cities with the highest percentage of bicycle commuters, but it's
the mid-size towns like Shallow Alto, Sunnyvale, Cupertino, etc. where
cycling-commuting is really popular.

> I find this extremely stupid to have 90% of the new companies either in Silicon Valley or San Francisco. The one is 2 hours commute time and the other available either via a very difficult (VERY crowded) rapid transit or living in a city where a two bedroom apartment can run over a million and a half dollars with spit, gum and chewing tobacco all over the sidewalk outside. And no garage. And in some areas $600 parking tickets.

The large companies are also building facilities in other states. But
they are unlikely to build facilities in Modesto or Merced or Fresno.
They need facilities close to where their employees want to live.
Housing costs are high, but that's just one consideration of where to
locate.

A lot of companies are very bicycle friendly. My wife's company, a very
large HMO, advertises how they want people to be more active, but in
seven years at one location she's never been able to get them to install
a bike rack at her building. She locks her bike to some pipes at an
adjacent building.

[Frank Krygowski]

On Monday, September 21, 2015 at 10:09:59 AM UTC-4, sms wrote:
> On 9/20/2015 4:53 PM, cycl...@yahoo.com wrote:
> >>
> >
> > This is impossible in the San Francisco bay area where the distances are too great for bicycle commuting and the companies don't seem to care at all. In many cases they purposely place companies in areas where even the principles find difficulties in commute traffic.
>
> Huh? Bicycle commuting is very popular here.

??? Last I looked, it was roughly 3%.

The only way 3% qualifies as "very popular" is if you're comparing it to the
national average of roughly half a percent. But realistically, as much as
we'd like it to be different, biking for transportation is not very popular.
And absent some sort of technological apocalypse, I doubt it ever will be
in the U.S.A.

- Frank Krygowski

- Frank Krygowski

[cycl...@yahoo.com]

Quite correct Frank. Not only are the distances too far but the traffic speeds on surface streets paralyzingly fast. If people get too many speeding tickets on a street the traffic control people increase the speed limits.

And even though we have a very high rate of bicycle uses the people in poser are completely clueless about bicycles.

We just had a 10 year old boy riding his bicycle to school. He rode on the sidewalk as is usual for children.

He arrived at the school and while WALKING his bike across the crosswalk with a stop sign at that corner he was run over by an SUV traveling an estimated 25 mph driven by a man without a driver's license.

What is the findings of the police after the boy's legs are shattered and his ribs broken? "His life was saved by his helmet."

With this sort of intellectual superiority we aren't going to have safe commuting conditions for a long time.

[avag...@gmail.com]

HAVEN'T READ IT YET BUT THIS YEAR WAS ABNORMALLY temperate around Portland..

Silicon Valley et al is tooooo hot driving thru May/Oct but locals tell me the weather is miserable

https://www.google.com/search?site=imghp&tbm=isch&source=hp&biw=1231&bih=552&q=SILICON+VALLEY+YEAR+2014+TEMPERATURE+CHART&oq=SILICON+VALLEY+YEAR+2014+TEMPERATURE+CHART&gs_l=img.12...1558.19066.0.21670.42.25.0.17.17.0.246.3338.0j2j13.15.0....0...1ac.1.64.img..21.21.2331.TD1C7mAy4eE#tbm=isch&q=SAN+FRANCISCO++YEAR+2014+TEMPERATURE+CHART

[sms]

On 9/18/2015 2:06 PM, jbeattie wrote:

That's what's led to the increases in the San Francisco Bay Area as
well. A lot of in-fill housing closer to work places so many commutes
are shorter; increasing traffic congestion (ironically, the increased
traffic congestion helps cyclists by slowing traffic); an increasing
amount of gentrification; new bicycle infrastructure, especially freeway
crossings that have provided safe passage between formerly isolated
areas; the prolonged drought; and more employers becoming
"bike-friendly" with secure parking, and locker rooms.

The other thing that has helped is increased access by bicycle to public
transit. BART lifted the rush hour time-restrictions on bicycles in
2013, and Caltrain has spots for up to 80 bicycles per train (and people
are still getting bumped). I think that every bus operator now has
bicycle racks on their buses. A bike-transit commute is now relatively
easy. Folding bicycles on transit are also more popular, eliminating the
possibility of getting bumped.

7.2% is a dream, and in San Francisco it's probably never going to
happen because they have good public transit.

The other issue in the Bay Area is that so many of the large employers
have their own transportation systems. They are transporting large
numbers of mostly younger workers by private buses, and these workers
are the very ones that would be most likely to bicycle commute had their
employers not enabled them to live very far from work. San Francisco has
become a bedroom community for Silicon Valley thanks to the buses
provided by Google, Apple, Facebook, Yahoo, etc., see
<http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/how-private-buses-became-a-symbol-of-san-franciscos-divide/>.

[avag...@gmail.com]

YES MESH......

how about racks on private corp transport ?

increasing BO ?