It’s a Movement, Not a Moment

I am not a “bike person”, any more than I am a “toothbrush afficionado” just because I do it a couple times a day.

But as you may have guessed, I unapologetically support and advocate for more bike riding (and walking, and transit) in our city. I am an organizer at BikeBusPDX, and believe this movement shows us a way forward at PPS and urban America as a whole.

Bikes and e-bikes (especially e-cargo bikes) are the most powerful tools society has to fight climate change, improve physical health, reduce lonliness, increase civic engagement, decrease poverty, and eliminate congestion and pollution.

What else comes close? When you ride a bike you:

• Emit basically zero carbon, even on an e-bike. Electric cars still emit about 1/3 the carbon of ICE cars.
• Don’t pollute. Even with electric cars, tire and brake dust are a significant contributor to pollution.
• Exercise. Exercise is just as important for mental health as it is for physical helath, as explained on the Policy page.
• Meet your neighbors. It’s amazing what happens when you’re not tucked in a metal and steel box.
• Free up space for necessary driving. Driving is great! We just can’t do all do it all the time. Let’s make room for trips that make a lot more sense to be driven.
• Free up space for housing. One of the main forces against new housing development is around parking and congestion. When you ride your bike for more local trips, you see more neighbors as a benefit, rather than a concern.
• Reduce consumption. Driving a car involves moving 4,000 (to 10,000!) lbs of steel just to move about 200 lbs of humans. It’s a much more human-scale mode of travel.
• Become richer. Cars cost $1000/month on average, when factoring in depreciation, insurance, repairs, fuel, and fees. Bike costs are close to zero, and it’s easy to do your own maintenance if you’re so inclined.

If PPS were to aggressively pursue policies to get more kids and families on bikes, we’d see improvements across the spectrum:

• Students are less likely to be disciplined on days they get more exercise.
• Students are more likely to show up to school when they participate in walking and bike buses.
• Students who get exercise perform better on tests.
• Students love riding bikes.
• Students gain independence if they are able to transport themselves around the city.

I will push hard at PPS for the following. All of this is extremely cheap to implement. We do not need to pass a bond, raise taxes, or cut staff.

• Grow a bike fleet so every student can go through Bike Safety Education yearly. The bikes will be donated by Reborn Bikes, and grants and donations are able to pay for trailers and maintenance. Right now, PPS uses PBOT’s bike fleet, which is way over-subscribed, so schools can only have this program to 4th and 5th graders, and just once every two years.
• Advertise bike training at every school playground, since we all see preschoolers learning to ride there. Use this to draw young families into PPS, especially neighborhood schools. Kids cannot ride their bikes to private and charter schools easily, so this is a big benefit for PPS.
• Establish Bike Buses and Walking Buses at every PPS school as official policy. Send waivers home with all students to reduce risk and liability. Many schools will be able to staff their routes with volunteers, as they have so far. Grants are currently in use for Title I schools in North and East Portland. Eventually this should turn into a paid school function like yellow school buses.

PPS can show the way forward for urban districts across the country. It’s my heartfelt belief that the way forward, for those of us who are able, involves two wheels and two feet.