Bike Rush Hour!

Photo Credit: BikePortland.org

Portland, Oregon is regarded as one of the most bicycle-friendly cities in the US, and it's not by chance. The City of Portland has committed itself to developing an environment that promotes cycling by:

• Engineering high-quality bicycle infrastructure, including bike lanes, bike boxes, a system of bicycle boulevards, greenways, special bicycle traffic signals and more.
• Education of cyclists and drivers alike regarding responsible use of shared streets.
• Encouragement of residents to go by bike.

A large part of Portland's success has been due to 1) commitment and support from City leadership, 2) a willingness to learn from other cities around the world, and 3) the City's willingness to experiment with a variety of ideas to see which work best. Recently, Portland was recognized for this great work with a Platinum-Level Bicycle Friendly Community rating by the League of American Bicyclists.

Here in St. Louis, we are making important strides to create a bicycle-friendly city. Through the work of a few key organizations, including Trailnet, St. Louis leadership has become more and more supportive of bicycle infrastructure. Most recently, in Mayor Slay's Inaugural Address on April 21, he spoke very clearly that the first business of his administration will be to re-focus the city government on, "maintaining parks; providing recreation opportunities; fixing streets, sidewalks and alleys; expanding greenways and bike paths, and marking bike lanes." We commend the Mayor for this commitment and look forward to working with him and other key City leaders to create healthy, active, and vibrant neighborhoods throughout our city. We encourage you to contact Mayor Slay to thank him for this commitment: 314-622-3201

Don't forget, here in St. Louis, May 15th is BIKE TO WORK DAY.

Back in Portland: the real evidence of success is visible every day as thousands of residents ride their bikes to and from work, to the grocery store, to their neighbors' house, and to brew pubs all around town.

The folks at Streetfilms.org put together the following video to showcase the shear volume of cyclists that commute to and from work. Enjoy: