Why we bike — or don't

Study of cycling habits could aid in city planning

By Jennifer Anderson

The Portland Tribune, Jul 13, 2007, Updated Oct 30, 2009 (68 Reader comments)

l.e. Baskow / portland Tribune

Cyclist Dana Dickman, a PSU graduate student, analyzed data for a bike-usage study led by associate professor Jennifer Dill.

A new study detailing where, why and how often Portlanders ride their bikes may be a useful planning tool in plotting the future of bike infrastructure in the city. It’s also sure to prompt a discussion about how bikes and other vehicles share the road.

Portland State University researcher Jennifer Dill has shared the results of the first part of her study with the Portland Tribune — a phone survey of 500 adults who answered detailed questions about their cycling habits.

The study shows that 56 percent of the riders said they wanted to bike more but didn’t because of “too much traffic.” Thirty-seven percent cited a lack of nearby bike lanes and trails as their barrier. Those with a network of quiet streets near their home were more likely to ride regularly.

A second phase, to be completed this fall, will use Global Positioning System units to study the actual routes that riders take.

Dill said she initially decided to take on the project because she wants to see the Rose City — already nationally recognized for its bike culture — go even further in promoting biking as a healthier, environmentally friendly, fun and safe means of transportation.

“For a large bike city, we have done an awful lot, but still cycling is an awful small share of all the travels that go on in this region,” said Dill, an associate professor at PSU’s Nohad A. Toulan School of Urban Studies and Planning. “We’re still far below some European cities; there’s a lot more room for increase.”

Not everyone thinks bikes should get so much attention.

“Bike trips are, mainly, recreational,” asserts Mel Zucker, director of the nonprofit Oregon Transportation Institute. “If the city wants to add bike lanes, the funds should come from (Portland) Parks & Recreation, not the state or federal transportation funds derived from auto and truck users.”

John Charles, a local libertarian leader and president of the Cascade Policy Institute, a Portland think tank, also questions the city’s increasing investment in bike infrastructure.

“The real question here is one of priorities,” he said. “All over the city we have unpaved roads with giant potholes and roads with no shoulders or sidewalks at all (much of Southwest Portland). The first priority should be to maintain roads so that all users will benefit, and to add shoulders or at least sidewalks where there are none.”

European tracks inspire

City officials, however, show no sign of a slowdown in their race to boost the city’s bike-friendliness. Roger Geller, the city’s bicycle coordinator for the Portland Office of Transportation, is leading the effort to revamp the city’s bike master plan, which hasn’t been updated since 1996.

As part of the work, he’s exploring two specific actions that could be expensive and controversial.

One is widening the city’s existing bike lanes from 5 feet to 6 1/2 feet, which allows for more space between the curb and a vehicle and allows for two cyclists to ride side by side.

“People say wider bike lanes are better,” he says.

He’s also looking into something called a cycle track, which is a curb or other device that separates the cyclist from traffic. It’s commonly used in Europe and has been considered in Portland in the past, Geller said, but wasn’t made a priority.

“We’re going to look and see what we’d need to make them work,” he said, noting that there are no cost figures on either initiative yet because they’re still just ideas up for discussion.

Zucker, the transportation institute critic, says putting more time and money into efforts like these are “frivolous” and will only make traffic worse.

“The bike lane widenings, ‘bike boulevards’ and barrier-separated bike lanes will do nothing to reduce congestion,” he says. “In fact, they make things worse because bike lanes, wider sidewalks come at the cost of reduced auto and truck lanes.”

Bike advocates strongly disagree. “The space should be allocated where it does the most good,”said Michelle Poyourow, a spokeswoman for the Bicycle Transportation Alliance. “You can get a lot more people in bike space than you can in car space.”

As for Charles’ argument about addressing potholes first, Poyourow notes that bikes don’t produce the same wear and tear on the roads as other vehicles, which is why getting more bikes on the road is part of a long-term solution to the issue.

City wants platinum rating

The city’s bike master plan review coincides with the city’s goal to make Portland the next platinum-rated city from the League of American Bicyclists, a nonprofit organization that promotes bicycle advocacy.

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