“Destination Swan Island”: You’re Invited!

Posted on May 7, 2012 | Leave a comment

The Swan Island TMA invites you to the “Destination Swan Island”  launch party, this coming Wednesday, May 9, 10 am to 2 pm. Help us celebrate the $5 million in bike/pedestrian/transit access improvements coming to Swan Island this year!

Learn about the Waud Bluff Trail and the Going to the River sidewalk/trail improvements. Guided rides and walks at noon.

Bring your bike for complementary bike tune-ups (courtesy of the Green Garage), bike seat covers (courtesy of the TMA) and more!

Get the latest on Active Transportation options for employees from city bureaus, regional agencies and non-profits, hear prominent speakers from Cycle Oregon, Alta Planning and the BTA and check out your carshare options: car2go, Zipcar and GetAround.

Walk, bike, grab an 85 Swan Island bus or drive on over to N. Anchor & Channel (easy parking across the street at the former Office Max location) to Daimler Trucks North America, Corp 1, 4747 N. Channel next Wednesday, May 9th…You can’t miss the tents! *Directions attached.

Enjoy fine music, food (Lunch will start at Noon), and the chance win a $50 REI gift card!

Hope to see you there–come early!

For more information regarding the infrastructure improvements along Going Street and on Swan Island as part of the City of Portland “Going to the River” project, click HERE.

 

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Posted in Active Transportation, Bike Resources, Bike/Walk, Daimler Trucks North America (DTNA), Going to the River Project, Transit, TriMet

National Bike to Work Month– hatched 56 years ago this May

Posted on April 25, 2012 | Leave a comment

Past, present and future bike commuters,  a message for you:

Look outside! It’s no longer dismal out! In fact, this past week has been downright glorious biking weather (can the air possibly get any fresher?!), so how about brushing up on some BIKE TIPS (How-to Videos & Bike Resources) and reading on about how National Bike Month got started in the first place?

With weeks left in National Bike to Work Month this May, let us backtrack a bit to provide you the appropriate historical context:

THE HISTORY OF BIKE MONTH

For fifty-five years, National Bike Month has been the perfect time for new or returning riders to get back on the saddle and ride their bike to work. Originally the Cycle Trade Association called the month American Bike Month but in 1956 it evolved to Bike Month. Along with the name change, Bike Month became more about promoting cycling and safe bicycling, not just selling bicycles.

BIKING HISTORY DATES

1880 League of American Wheelman founded
1888 First pneumatic tires
1890 Good Roads Movement
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Posted in Active Transportation, Alternative Transportation Benefits, Bike Resources, Bike Safety, Bike/Walk, Uncategorized

Are YOU a safe pedestrian?

Posted on March 28, 2012 | Leave a comment

Happily, the days are getting longer so many of us no longer are returning from work in the pitch dark.  However, many of us either commuters heading to work in low light or are pedestrians during the evening hours throughout the week.  Hence, visibility issues should remain a consideration if you’re walking in the early morning or evening hours.

Our friends at the Westside Transportation Alliance created a great video that demonstrates a motorist’s visibility perspective of pedestrians and some precautions that pedestrians can increase visibility on the road.

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Posted in Active Transportation, Bike/Walk, Swan Island TMA

National Walk to Work Day just a week away!

Posted on March 28, 2012 | 1 Comment
Sure, we all know about the bus, the bike, the carpool…but how often do we think of our own feet as the best (if not most accessible) way to get around?

You’ll get a chance to test out your feet as a fun means of transportation on Friday, April 6th, 2012 when Portland celebrates National Walk to Work Day.   Never heard of it? No wonder! It’s the event’s inaugural year in Portland, thanks to the hard work of the Willamette Pedestrian Coalition –it promises to be a fun one!

The Willamette Pedestrian Coalition – in partnership with the Portland Bureau of Transportation, BTA, KEEN Footwear, Upstream Public Health, Oregon Public Health Institute, Lloyd TMA, Swan Island TMA, and other partners – is organizing an event with four starting points in various parts of the city. We will start with some treats at each meet-up and then walk downtown, converging at City Hall for coffee and light breakfast before your work- or play day.

Following are the meet-up areas. (Specific locations to come):

  • 34th & SE Belmont – meet 7:15am, walk 7:30am
  • 26th & SE Clinton – meet 7:30am, walk 7:45am
  • Leftbank Building (240 N. Broadway) – meet 7:30am, walk 7:45am
  • Lower MacLeay Park – meet 7:15am, walk 7:30am
A walking commuting program can help with employee issues such as Continue reading →

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Posted in Active Transportation, Alternative Transportation Benefits, Bike/Walk, Events, Swan Island TMA

Things flowing smoothly with the Big Pipe Project

Posted on February 15, 2012 | Leave a comment

2012 will be the first full year in Portland’s history that we are not using the Willamette River as a default sewer. Completing the CSO Program last month should dramatically alter the way Portlanders view our river and interact with it.The Bureau of Environmental Services not only came under budget but met its December 2011 deadline to complete the 20-year program to control combined sewer overflows (CSOs) to the Willamette River and Columbia Slough. An Oregon Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) order, originally issued in 1991 and amended in 1994, required the city to control CSOs by December 1, 2011. Completing the CSO program reduces stormwater overflow events from an average of 50 per year to an average of four each winter, and just one every third

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Posted in Big Pipe, Swan Island Road Construction