Portland has become the first large US city to achieve the Platinum-level as a Bicycle Friendly Community, following only Davis, California, with the designation. The announcement was made Tuesday by the League of American Bicyclists.
Congratulations go to a wide group of activists, politicians, bureaucrats and even the local bike blogger who kept their eyes on the prize in recent years and helped push bicycling into the mainstream of the city's transportation and culture.
Let's hope it gives bicycling enthusiasts elsewhere the incentive to do the work to get their cities added to the list of Bicycle Friendly Cities (listed) that currently stands at 72.
Whose responsible?
A short list of those responsible include the city's bicycle program director Roger Geller, Scott Bricker and everyone at the Bicycle Transportation Alliance, City Councilman Sam Adams who vowed to make Portland a platinum-level city, and those legions of cyclists who take to the streets daily and remind us that bicycles are a superior way to get around.
Credit also should go to Jonathan Maus, the blogger at BikePortland.org, for in-depth reporting of bicycling news in his city and for making it easier for everyone to voice their opinions about how to improve bicycling.
Guidelines
The League of American Bicyclists awards Bicycle Friendly status to cities every year. The League looks at the Five E's — Engineering, Education, Encouragement, Enforcement, and Evaluation — in determining which cities get the designation.
The Cascade Bicycle Club and others have been working closely, and sometimes heatedly, with the City of Seattle as it tries to implement its bicycle master plan. Maybe all that work will pay off by getting Seattle named as a Bicycle Friendly City one day.
Recent Comments