Portland's Bike Share is Moving Forward

After some delays back in 2008, it's finally happening! BikePortland reports that the city of Portland has released Request for Proposals (RFP) to try to find an operator for its bike share program: "Bids on the project are due on May 25th and the City is expected to choose a vendor shortly thereafter. The system itself, the RFP says, is should be fully operational by April 2013 with a possible test of the system by this fall."

It seems like an ambitious bike-share project (which is how it should be):

Portland envisions implementing the most popular and highly utilized bike sharing system in the United States; one that catalyzes investment in public spaces and provides a low cost transportation solution for thousands of system users. Bike sharing stations should serve as a basis for place-making in the city, and applications that directly couple bike share stations with other uniquely "Portland" public benefits such as distribution of bicycle maps, provision of local food or drinks, bicycle helmet sales, ATMs or other enterprises that enhance the public space around bike share stations are highly encouraged.

The RFP mentions a first contract term of 5 years of operations.

For more details, check out the Portland Bureau of Transportation.

Via BikePortland

E-Bikes are Coming

Love at First Sight from PiMobility on Vimeo.
As I was walking into my building today, a gentleman was walking out with a folding electric bike. I asked him how he liked it and he said he loved it, even with its $1200 price tag. I would assume that we are going to see more of this with gas prices getting nearer to their July, 2008 high of $4.11. And the end of this particular uptick may not be over yet, as tensions with Iran and an improving economy are blamed for pushing prices up. (Robert Reich says its Wall Street speculation driving up prices.)

The price for a trip to fill the tank has risen 17% just in this year. (The increase is also spurring more support for oil drilling.) Somewhat ironically but also logically, prices for hybrid and high-MPG cars are also rising. The AAA has estimated that the cost of car ownership has climbed to more than $8,000 a year. That's enough to purchase between 3 and 4 electric bikes (the cost to charge an e-bike will vary by region but is estimated to be around $.20 per charging cycle, or, at a charging cycle each day, around $65 per year).

Obviously, an e-bike is not a mini-van, but when you see all the single-person cars out on the roads, you've got to wonder...why have sales of e-bikes lagged in the U.S.? Pike Research says the market for two-wheeled e-bikes should grow around 9 percent each year through 2016. However, in spite of sales outlets at places such as BestBuy, e-bikes in the U.S. just don't have an established channel. Small independent dealers are also out there, yet not able to have much media reach.

Sales in the U.S. are expected to be about 250,000 ebikes annually, far below Chinese and European sales. The range of pricing on e-bikes is very wide, from the $399 electric conversion kit from Currie Technologies to the $2,100 Giant Twist to the $5,669 Picycle (featured above).

What will it take to get you to switch to an e-bike?

Stopping Bike Thieves the Copenhagen Way

If you'd like to steal a bike—if you are not bothered by the moral ramifications of doing so—and you live somewhere crowded and urban like New York City, go ahead and do it. Statistically, you are almost certain to get away with it. Why? Nobody cares about other people's bikes, and nobody cares about bike thieves.

Here, Filmmaker Casey Neistat embarks on an experiment, stealing his own bike, loudly and obviously, in the light of day:

This video is old, but he just redid the experiment for the New York Times, with similar results.


I do not know what I would do if I saw someone hacking off a bike lock by a subway stop. Especially if he was large and muscular-looking. If he were smaller than I, perhaps I'd say "Hey man, what are you doing?" Perhaps I wouldn't. Of course if they said "I lost my key." How would I respond then? Do you press the issue further or let them be.

Of course, the goal should be a society without stolen bikes. And indeed, such a society exists! The great city of Copenhagen is known for its numerous number of bikes leaning on buildings, unlocked. You may see them just tossed over on the grass. Nobody really wants the bikes, it turns out, because everyone that wants one already has one. Or has access to one, through the city's bike-share system. No bike thief could make any serious money selling bikes. Besides, income equality was much greater in Denmark, and the have-nots were not nearly as destitute or desperate as those in a city like New York. The incentive for organized bike-stealing is simply not there.

Sure, bikes get stolen, sometimes, but that is mostly the work of drunk kids or jerks. This may be an oversimplification. But the general principle rings true: in a more equal society, and in one that takes pains to provide the services that a populace demands, thieving drops!

You can't fundamentally alter the crowd psychology of human beings, but we can try to make sure that everyone who wants a bike has access to one. We must Denmarkify our societies.

Picycle on Pi Day

Today is Pi Day! Pi Day was created to commemorate the mathematical constant π (pi), and it is celebrated today because March 14 is written as 3/14 in the month/day date format.
The Picycle was created by Tang Yau Hoong, and if you like it as much as I do, you can buy prints here. It's a must for math-geeks who also bike!

All-in-One Electric Bike Wheel Conversion

Converting your regular bike into an electric vehicle with the use of a conversion kit may be the easiest and least expensive way to go, without having to buy another dedicated bike. There's no shortage of kits out there, and the db-RevO from Taiwanese bike company DK City allows riders to make the transformation by simply replacing the front wheel.


The db-RevO comes in eight various colors (magenta, red, orange, yellow, green, blue, white and gray) and two sizes (20-inch and 26-inch), with the colored panel hiding the integrated DC motor, 24V lithium battery, and controller within. All you have to do is replace your front wheel, attach the wireless console to the handlebars and voilà! an electrically-powered bike.



The db-RevO retails for about $1,200, which is definitely on the more expensive end, but with it may be worth the ease of installation and the aesthetic plus of hiding all the parts in the wheel itself. Theft may be a problem though; you'd probably have to carry it with you or lock it safely somehow to prevent it from disappearing. Check out the website for more detailed specs and ordering.

From the Netherlands to America: Translating the World’s Best Bikeway Designs

From the Netherlands to America: Translating the World's Best Bikeway Designs from Streetfilms on Vimeo.

The Netherlands is widely recognized for having the highest cycling rates in the world. What's not so well known is that the Dutch don't bike so much because cycling is in their DNA. They do it because after the country started down the path toward car dependence, they made a conscious decision to change course. After many decades of deliberate policy to invest in cycling as a mode of transportation, the Netherlands has the most advanced bike infrastructure you'll ever see.

Recently Streetfilms joined a group of city leaders from Chicago, Washington, DC and Miami on a study tour of the Netherlands, through the Bikes Belong Foundation's Bicycling Design Best Practices Program. The program shows American transportation professionals and policy makers real life examples of what it looks like to invest in cost-effective bicycle facilities. This video takes you on a tour of the incredibly well thought out street designs in the Netherlands. You'll see the infrastructure, hear from the experts on the ground, and watch the tour participants react and imagine how they might implement similar designs in American cities.

Top US Bike Advocacy Groups Set to Merge

Three of the most powerful bicycle advocacy groups in the US it could be the right number as they consider consolidation. Last month representatives from the Alliance for Biking & Walking, Bikes Belong, and the League of American Bicyclists met in San Diego to discuss the possibility of a merger.The key reasons for the groups to consolidate include: strength in membership numbers, reduced confusion over cycle advocacy issues, and presentation of a united message.

This new united front could “rock the boat" and make things better as well. At present, each group is asking their respective supporters what they think they need to see. One point that each group makes clear is that questions won’t directly overlap much, as the three groups each have a very different membership base. The League has individual membership and a very large membership base, the Alliance has city and state bicycle and pedestrian advocacy groups, and Bikes Belong has manufacturers and retailers. This new group would provide a greater single voice, and it should noted that all three groups, along with IMBA, Adventure Cycling, and the Association for Pedestrian, and Bicycle Professionals have worked together before on America Bikes, a coalition that was formed to focus on federal bike funding.

Advocacy leaders say the merger will give greater clout in Washington. This merger is important because with all these groups there has been confusion, specifically on Capitol Hill. Anyone who drops into bike advocacy is hit with a sea of acronyms. The merger of the three groups could help streamline efforts,
thus the yet unnamed group will suddenly speak for the multiple voices.