The Monday Roundup: Best bikeways, judging Buttigieg, brazen theft, and more

Welcome to the holiday week. BikePortland will be a bit quieter this week. We’ve still got stories to share, but don’t expect the regular output until next Monday.

This week’s Monday Roundup is brought to you by Cascadia Codex, who invites you to purchase a Digital Tree Token to help fight climate change and boost forest resiliency in Oregon.

Here are the most notable items we came across in the past seven days…

Go Clara Go!: Portland resident Clara Honsinger continued her amazing march to the top of the cyclocross world with a jaw-dropping 2nd place at the UCI World Cup in Namur on Sunday. It’s considered the hardest course in Europe and Honsiger rode superbly to put the world on notice!

Where’s Portland?: Once again Portland has zero bikeways on the annual People for Bikes “10 Best New Bikeways” list. (The last – and only – time we appeared on this list was for the SW Multnomah bikeway in 2014).

Secretary Buttigieg: Biden’s pick for Transportation Secretary, former mayor and candidate for president Pete Buttigieg, could bring significant changes to the US DOT says Streetsblog. Politico (with very good transportation reporters) calls Buttigieg a “smooth talker” and points out that he won a “Smart Streets” award from Obama’s DOT while mayor of South Bend, Indiana.

No bike is safe: Thieves nabbed $160,000 in rare bikes from the lobby of Specialized headquarters in California.

Austin’s big diet: A major road through downtown Austin is poised for a reconfiguration that will include less space for driving and protected space for bicycling (among other things).

Helmet laws are bad: An analysis by Crosscut found that a large percentage of the (rather small overall) number of citations for not wearing a helmet were issued to houseless people.

Economics of car ownership: Transportation policymakers must take affordability of modes into account and stop assuming that lower-income people are better off with more access to driving.

Smarter policing: The City of Burlington, Vermont has shifted parking citation enforcement from police to a public works department that does now approaches the work from a “customer service” mindset.

Americans in the Netherlands: A Dutch expat news source shares the story of a retired U.S. couple that wanted to live in a place where bicycling was easy and normal.

Vision Zero perils: At a recent panel on policing and race in America, an activist shared an uncomfortable truth about Vision Zero: it hasn’t worked in the U.S. because a racist over-reliance on enforcement that puts Black and brown road users at risk.

Goodbye Mr. Kelsey: TriMet GM Doug Kelsey will retire in March after three years at the helm. This gives TriMet an opportunity to choose someone who will take the agency in a new direction.

— Jonathan Maus: (503) 706-8804, @jonathan_maus on Twitter and This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
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