ts (not as fun), not booking said plane tickets and exploring this city by foot. There seem to be four acceptable modes of transportation in Portland, OR: hybrid, foot, bus or bike. Light rail and streetcar are good too. Sure, people drive Jeeps and VW's, but you get fewer nasty stares from the bike commuters if you're in a Prius. The looks that I catch in my headlights on a near hit on Ladd Avenue seem to say, "Get an effing bike...oh wait, you drive a Prius? That's okay. Sort of." Okay, I'm making that up, but today I skipped the wheels altogether and headed downtown in my New Balances. It wasn't quite clear enough to see Mt. Rainier as I crossed the Thurman Bridge, but it was still a really beautiful day. Thanks to the alphanumerical grid of NW Portland, I was able to reach my destination by way of a route I had not gone before. I discovered new shops, new schools, and new angles from which to view the cityscape. On my way home, though, when I was running a bit behind schedule, but it was faster to walk than wait for the next bus, I thought, "Man, I could really go for a bicing." A what!? A bicing!
I was introduced to this community bike-share over the summer while in Barcelona. For a yearly membership of 24 euros, commuters can check out a bike from one of a number of stations throughout the city. In Barcelona, the first 30 minutes is included with the membership, and after that, there is a charge of 0.30 euros per half hour. 24 euros and zero emissions? You really can't beat that. Bicing definitely came to the rescue a couple of times during our stay, particularly when we had to get far past Montjuic to go to the UPS holding station but the metro was under construction. So we hit the streets with a good map and a few bikes. Problem solved.
Bicing/SmartBike is run by US-based Clear Channel. So where is it in the States? As a car owner who doesn't yet own a bike and who doesn't always want to wait for the bus, a bicing-like program would be a welcome addition to this already bike-friendly city. Turns out that in August 2008, a trial fleet of smartbikes was introduced to Washington DC. Our country's 120 bikes and 10 stations (all in DC) are easily rivaled by Europe's 13,035 bikes and 1,254 stations, but at least we're giving it a go.
While I don't know the current status of the planning process in Portland, a cursory perusal of local blogs seems to suggest that mayor-elect Sam Adams is on the case for a public bike-share. At least he was as City Commissioner. We'll see what comes of his mayoral term. The likely advocates of such a system would be cyclists--people who want to advocate a 2-wheeled culture to overpower the imposing 4-wheelers. But are they? They already have bikes; They're never hankering for a bicing. I may have to wrangle my Barcelona travel companion (also a Portland resident) to champion the cause with me if we find that nobody else is doing it or find that it has simply slipped through the cracks of electoral excitement. More research is definitely in order, but if you're in DC, check it out and let me know how it is.
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2 comments:
Annie:
Use Facebook to connect with Marion Rice Galford. She's Gillie's other mom -- and avid bicyclist, writes for the local biking blog. She'd love to meet you and talk bikes. She knows all the politics.
Tricia
Abigail and I fell in love with CityBike in Vienna and I often hanker for it here in Boston, despite my ownership of a bike. I'm not sure how the cities compare, but the challenges in Boston are the scary streets and drivers. They're adding "bike lanes" all the time, but even when they're not being used as parking spots, inexperienced riders might never feel completely comfortable or sure that some driver won't decide it's a good passing lane.
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