The bike bus motion has been a decidedly grassroots phenomenon. Mothers and dads have stepped as much as set up rides at native faculties and households have proven as much as journey collectively. However because the development matures and appears to develop past early adopters and attain its true potential, it wants a stronger basis that should embrace assist from native authorities to maintain roads protected and welcoming for everybody.
“We’re saying, ‘Convey it on!’ Let’s work out how to do that even higher. We actually welcome the partnership with bike bus advocates.”
– Kristin Hull, PBOT Planning and Undertaking Supply Group Supervisor
At a gathering of its Bicycle Advisory Committee final evening, the Metropolis of Portland made it clear they’re “all aboard” relating to the bike bus. Employees from the Portland Bureau of Transportation outlined three energetic tasks value about $650,000 that they’re engaged on to make bike bus routes safer.
“We’re saying, ‘Convey it on!’ Let’s work out how to do that even higher. We actually welcome the partnership with bike bus advocates,” stated Portland Bureau of Transportation Planning and Undertaking Supply Group Supervisor Kristin Hull.
Hull attended the assembly together with PBOT Visitors Security Part Supervisor Dana Dickman. Their presentation was a direct response to Bike Bus PDX, a coalition of advocates who launched a strain marketing campaign directed on Portland Metropolis Council again in February. Their Bike Bus Pleasant Neighborhood Greenway Decision calls on PBOT to decrease the typical every day auto visitors quantity threshold (from 2,000 vehicles per day to 500 vehicles per day) on 25 neighborhood greenway routes the place energetic bike buses exist previous to the beginning of the 2025-2026 faculty 12 months.
Whereas PBOT strongly helps the idea, they revealed final evening that they’ll solely have funding to work on 4 corridors by subsequent 12 months. To assist soften the blow of that actuality, Dickman and PBOT Bicycle Coordinator Roger Geller outlined three energetic tasks they’re engaged on to enhance bike bus circumstances: a $50,000 Metro grant for wayfinding and signage on bike bus routes, $100,000 from the Common Fund for intersection security enhancements, and $500,000 from Fixing Our Streets program for enhancements to neighborhood greenways utilized by bike buses.
The signage venture is funded by Metro’s Regional Journey Choices program. It should stoke bike buses at 10-11 faculties by paying bike bus leaders and putting in new indicators and markings on the routes. The brand new signage is aimed each at drivers and bike riders. PBOT hopes individuals will drive extra safely once they’re on a motorcycle bus route, they usually need individuals who take part within the bike bus to know the place it’s protected to journey even past the college day. Bike bus leaders have heard from households that children love using and need to do it extra typically, however they face extra risks exterior the protection of the group and aren’t positive the place they need to journey.
PBOT has developed garden indicators, rider indicators (on present avenue indicators), “caboose indicators” to be warn by bike bike bus leaders, and pavement markings that ought to begin exhibiting up someday this summer season. A pilot venture to gauge impacts of the indicators will start this fall. Bike bus leaders will probably be paid $500-$750 to take part within the pilot and will probably be required to take surveys and keep in shut communication with faculty communities and PBOT workers.
The $100,000 from the overall fund will goal intersection updates the place bike bus routes cross busy streets. Any funds left over from that work will go towards daylighting intersections. PBOT says they’re taking a look at two intersections: SE thirty fourth and Hawthorne and SE thirty fourth and Division.
The most important venture will spend $500,000 to implement modal filters and different types of visitors diversion on 4 (probably 5) bike bus routes alongside neighborhood greenways. PBOT says they’ll spend $100,000 this 12 months creating the tasks and doing any mandatory public outreach and the rest of the funds will go towards building.
Geller stated PBOT planning and engineering workers have already ridden with seven bike buses to watch circumstances and obtain suggestions. “We’re listening to there are too many vehicles, side-street incursions, individuals not stopping at cease indicators, poor motorist habits, tough intersections and chaotic circumstances close to faculties the place greenways overlap with father or mother drop-off.”
Since this venture will embrace diverters and different infrastructure parts designed to constrain driving entry, Geller instructed BAC members he believes they have to assist construct group assist to keep away from driver backlash. “A number of the issues [we want to build] are prone to be controversial in the neighborhood, notably diversion,” he stated. “So we actually need to work to develop our constituency for these enhancements and develop champions for recognized tasks.” Geller needs the BAC and native bike bus advocates to prepare weekly bike rides on the faculties to curry favor and unfold consciousness.
Geller says it can take a groundswell of group assist to shake unfastened sufficient funding to deal with all bike bus routes all through the town. “We’re going to want extra funding and determination makers are going to want to determine that they need to present extra funding, and that comes from political assist,” Geller stated. He warned in opposition to shifting too fast with modifications and stated, “We can not shove issues in peoples’ neighborhoods,” as a result of, “That sort of factor comes again to chew us and we don’t need to be one-and-done which threatens the long-term imaginative and prescient.”
“I simply need to thank the bike bus advocates for creating this area for us to even have this dialog. Thanks. What a possibility we’ve to grab their onerous work to make a distinction for what we need to do.”
– Jim Middaugh, Bicycle Advisory Committee chair
BAC Vice-Chair Joe Perez stated the group ought to push again on PBOT and advocate treating greater than 4 greenways by subsequent 12 months. However Chair Jim Middaugh urged assist for PBOT’s proposal. Middaugh stated given PBOT’s dire price range scenario, the BAC ought to embrace the town’s assist, even when it’s not as sturdy as activists are calling for. “That mixture of exterior [Bike Bus PDX] and inner [PBOT] alignment is a extremely sturdy basis for long-term features,” he stated. A majority of the BAC appeared to agree and can now work on a letter of advice for metropolis council so PBOT can take their work to the subsequent step.
In the long run, this can be a traditional instance of how group activism can velocity up progress from PBOT. In spite of everything, we’re all pushing for a similar factor.
“All these children which might be on the market biking are all future grownup cyclists in Portland, and that’s actually what we wish,” Geller stated. And BAC Chair Middaugh added: “I simply need to thank the bike bus advocates for creating this area for us to even have this dialog. Thanks. What a possibility we’ve to grab their onerous work to make a distinction for what we need to do.”
PBOT will select a minimum of one faculty from every council district. The faculties have but to be chosen. Anticipate a public engagement course of to start later this summer season and work on the bike bus greenway enhancements ought to start in 2026.
