June 5, 2021

Bike Brigades

(List of previous bike brigade rides will be listed here)

February 26, 2021

Legislature that promotes cyling:

support of (click on the following to view bill)SB 395-Prozanski

The main part of the bill increases the ODOT funding from 1% to 5%. One percent was legislated fifty years ago and needs updating if we are ever going to see bicycle and walking facilities improved in our lifetimes. We support the work of a coalition group working to pass SB 395, which includes the Street Trust in Portland and Better Eugene-Springfield Transportation (BEST) here in Lane County.

Contact the Joint Transportation Committee today 

and urge them to vote YES on SB 395! 

Co-Chair Senator Lee Beyer - Sen.LeeBeyer@oregonlegislature.gov 503-986-1706Co-Chair Representative Susan McLain - Rep.SusanMclain@oregonlegislature.gov 503-986-1429Co-Vice Chair Senator Brian Boquist - Sen.BrianBoquist@oregonlegislature.gov 503-986-1712Co-Vice Chair Representative Ron Noble - Rep.RonNoble@oregonlegislature.gov 503-986-1424Senator Lynn Findley - Sen.LynnFindley@oregonlegislature.gov 503-986-1730Senator Lew Frederick - Sen.LewFrederick@oregonlegislature.gov 503-986-1722Senator Chris Gorsek - Sen.ChrisGorsek@oregonlegislature.gov 503-986-1725Representative Shelly Boshart Davis - Rep.ShellyBoshartDavis@oregonlegislature.gov 503-986-1415Representative Paul Evans - Rep.PaulEvans@oregonlegislature.gov 503-986-1420Representative Rick Lewis - Rep.RickLewis@oregonlegislature.gov 503-986-1418Representative Nancy Nathanson - Rep.NancyNathanson@oregonlegislature.gov 503-986-1413  Representative Karin Power - Rep.KarinPower@oregonlegislature.gov 503-986-1441

We will need testimony (just before the bill is scheduled to be heard) to show how bicycling benefits urban and rural areas. 

If you support the bill, please complete this form:

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfA2MVSijj4MG4mBQVjF6d77twoLeG1JTa92LVCNQlXJrLmEA/viewform?gxids=7628

February 6, 2020

Input to City of Eugene's Climate Act Plan (CAP) 2.0 for Transportation Impact from a Bicycler's Perspective

by Tomoko Sekiguchi

We know transportation is a major contributor to greenhouse gases, so impacting the CAP (Climate Action Plan) from the point of view of bicyclers is imperative. Using a bicycle for transportation is the most immediate, simple, and individually doable climate solution. Therefore, including greater support for bicyclers in the CAP is crucial. And it can be cost effective and inexpensive.

"A typical passenger vehicle emits about 4.6 metric tons of carbon dioxide per year. This assumes the average gasoline vehicle on the road today has a fuel economy of about 22.0 miles per gallon and drives around 11,500 miles per year."[1] Using this statistic, if 30% of the population of Eugene switched to using bicycles for their main mode of transportation, the reduction would be 248,400 metric tons [2]. This translates to 31.44% of the necessary CRO reduction that could be achieved since "reaching the Climate Recovery Ordinance 2030 local emissions goal will require a 790,000 MTCO2e reduction."[3].

See table below for possible percentage of reduction that can be achieved by varying the percentage of the population that converts to using bicycles instead of cars:

From the table above, taking large percentages of fossil fuel powered cars off the road would go a long way in reducing the Gap 2.0 described in the CAP 2.0. It would take fearlessness and defiance of the status quo.

For bicycling to be adopted by the general public, it must be faster, easier, safer and more enjoyable than travelling by car. And the city must make it clear that we need to change our habits immediately. We are in a state of emergency and there is very little time to make significant changes. Here are some examples of CAP solutions from a bicycler's point of view:

1. In the Appendices of the CAP plan “Recommended Additional Actions to Close the Gap”, is “City adopts more aggressive rate of implementation of the Eugene Transportation System Plan”. Specifically, bicycling infrastructure increases bike ridership:

· More protected bike lanes.

· Prioritizing bicyclers at traffic light so their wait time is shorter than for cars.

· Require covered bike racks near the entrance of all public buildings.

· Increase the number of striped bike crossings that connect bike pathways (an example is the crossing near 24th Ave. & Pearl Street.) So riders, like pedestrians, can cross busy streets more easily.

· Close streets to motor vehicle traffic. Select two streets, one north-south and another east-west to close and continue to do this every year until the city core is accessible only by bike, walking or buses. This is a radical solution that requires emergency treatment and major change. We are at the point where drastic transformation is required. See recent precedent actions:

i. New Arizona Development Bans Residents From Bringing Cars: https://www.wsj.com/articles/new-arizona-development-bans-residents-from-bringing-cars-11574164801

ii. NYC Council passes $1.7B plan to add 250 miles of protected bike lanes and 1M sqft of pedestrian space: https://www.6sqft.com/city-council-speaker-johnsons-1-7b-streets-plan-will-bring-250-miles-of-protected-bike-lanes-to-nyc/

iii. Banning cars on SF’s Market Street, once a radical idea, approved unanimously: https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/Plan-to-remake-SF-s-Market-Street-without-car-14535887.php

iv. What happens when a city bans cars from its streets?: https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20191011-what-happens-when-a-city-bans-car-from-its-streets

v. Cars Were Banned on 14th Street. The Apocalypse Did Not Come: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/13/nyregion/14th-street-cars-banned.html

vi. The Spine of San Francisco Is Now Car-Free, Laura Bliss, January 29, 2020: https://www.citylab.com/transportation/2020/01/market-street-car-free-san-francisco-bike-lanes-transit/605674/

vii. Here is a Eugene citizen's initiative to close down street around Saturday Market when the market is open. Citizens for Car Free Community Fun https://cfcfcf.org. This type of action should be supported and allowed to go to fruition.

2. Reward the use of bicycling, walking and public transportation usage at the city level and lead by example. Require city employees to log their work-time travel (including air travel) and use this data to encourage and reward moving away from fossil fuel usage. There are websites such as https://getthereoregon.org (already used in a statewide campaign) to log miles and keep track of personal metrics. There would be little financial cost to implementing logging of miles since the website is already in place.

3. Create an incentive program for Eugene businesses (including city employees) that encourages and rewards employees for bicycling to work. Also there is a Federal Bike Credit (https://www.bikeleague.org/content/bicycle-commuter-benefit) that could reduce taxes of people who participate in bicycling to work.

4. Involve businesses in friendly competition to increase using alternative forms of transportation. This is what the Business Challenge does for 1-2 weeks only it should be sustained all year.

5. Restrict high schoolers from driving to school. On October 1, 2016, the total number of high school students enrolled in Eugene was 5263[4]. This action would encourage students to utilize alternate modes of transportation. If the city cannot legally restrict high school students from driving to school, then create economic incentives such as higher parking fees and free buses.

6. Grow riders-normalize youngsters bike riding so they choose bikes over cars when it's time for them to make their transportation choice through education such as in Safe Routes to School and well as providing bicycles to students in need. Create a campaign for positive peer pressure around normalizing bicycle usage and include bicycle education into the school curriculum.

7. Make riding buses free. Kansas City, MO recently did this: https://www.citylab.com/transportation/2019/12/free-transit-how-much-cost-kansas-city-bus-streetcar-fare/603397. There should be studies about the increases in ridership when fares are free.

8. Develop bike brigades for emergency response that could respond quickly to and be available in catastrophic emergency situations. Overlapping and multiple agency solutions could share the cost of implementation. This would concurrently address City of Eugene Natural Hazard Mitigation Plan in Appendix 5, Triple Bottom Line Actions with increasing and normalizing bicycle use.

9. On page 93 in Appendix 5, Eugene's Triple Bottom Line Actions, the category of "Parks program: City of Eugene and Lane County providing recreational activities throughout the area" gets low marks. To address this area of deficit, create bike paths with art value. Intriguing art on the bike paths would entice riders to ride to these installations and make the ride more enjoyable. Examples of treatment of bike paths on the web include Starry Night in the Netherlands where glow-in-the-dark shards are embedded into the bike path and light up at night. And the list of ideas is as vast as the imagination.

https://www.wnyc.org/story/in-a-dutch-town-a-glowing-bike-path-inspired-by-van-gogh/

10. We need more than just infrastructure- we need a massive PR campaign. People need to hear every day that Eugene is prioritizing and supporting bicycling, bussing, and walking as a climate solution. It needs to be an effort - as in wartimes – to publicize the urgency of our climate crisis. In conjunction, create a bicycling campaign using billboards, radio, TV, and newspapers ads. Target public meetings and any congregations to address this emergency and existential crisis. Perhaps an acknowledgement of this could be made at the beginning of every city staff meeting. See the following link for information on wartime emergency support efforts: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_home_front_during_World_War_II

11. An example message is "25 X 25" which means 25,000 riders by 2025, a reasonable goal in light of closing the GAP.

12. Rebates and monetary incentives were discussed in the CAP to encourage the use of electric vehicles and is applauded. There should also be the same or larger incentives for bicycles. Anyone who wants a bicycle for transportation should be subsidized if needed. Bicycle adoption has a greater cost effectiveness toward reducing greenhouse gases, and they are a socially equitable solution. They should be intensely promoted.

13. Give up your car campaign. Give incentives to not own a car. Incentives can be monetary or in the form of credits for renting electric cars when traveling distances too far to bike. This is another drastic measure but only radical reductions will move the needle of greenhouse gas emissions down to what the CRO mandates.

14. The use of electric cars for city business is great but the three wheeled PEBL, Micro Car Ebike is less expensive and has a place in the fleet of city vehicles for around town use. https://www.better.bike/

Let's make Eugene look like Amsterdam or Hanoi or Santiago where there are so many riders that it feels natural and safe. Let's create a slice of the future so cities throughout the country will be inspired.

The notion of converting to a bicycle transportation culture within the city is extremely radical. But these are times that warrant such bold actions otherwise we will continue down the road of business as usual, and that would be disastrous. There is certainly a place for the marvelous technology and scientific discoveries but we must use them wisely and leverage them for necessary and appropriate use, not frivolously. Go by bi

...............................................................................................................

[1] from US EPA, United States Environmental Protection Agency, https://www.epa.gov/greenvehicles/greenhouse-gas-emissions-typical-passenger-vehicle

[2] (pop. of Eugene) x (percentage of pop. using bikes instead of cars)= (number of cars replaced by bicycles); (number of cars replaced by bicycles)x (typical emissions of CO2/year/vehicle) = (reduction of CO2/year in metric tons)

[3] Eugene Climate Action Plan 2.0, page 39.

[4] from https://www.4j.lane.edu/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/Enrollment-as-of-10.01.2017.pdf

July 16, 2019

Report on the Central Eugene In Motion Open House

by Tomoko Sekiguchi

This event, on July 10th, was an information gathering session put on by the city, concerning four areas of central Eugene:

1.) High St. and Pearl St. from 19th Ave to 5th Ave. — Both are currently 2 lane one-way streets, one going north and the other south.

2.) 8th Ave. from High St. to Lincoln St.

3.) a 5 block area centering around Oak St. and 19th Ave.

4.) Bike path connector approximately between Pearl and Willamette Streets.

The organizers laid out large maps and participants were instructed to mark on the map with areas of hazard and areas of opportunity, and descriptions of both. People had added comments objecting to a reduction in on-street parking, inconvenience of deliveries, alteration of garbage collection location, and the narrowing of car traffic to one lane. These comments seemed to come from the adjacent businesses who where invited to the event via hand delivered announcements.

The room was also filled with at least a dozen Climate Revolution Riders as well as other bicycle advocates. The demographic was mainly over 50. The younger generation was very scantly represented; it was a status quo kind of turn out. And at this crucial moment in the context of climate crisis, the younger generation should be loudly giving direction to the future of transportation planning. But there is still time to give input electronically at https://engage.eugene-or.gov until July 26th. Please give input and let them know you are a bicyclist.

Previous attempts to make these areas bike and pedestrian friendly were derailed by businesses in these area. Let’s not let that happen again. The city needs to know there is large public support of increased bike and pedestrian transportation ways.