It cannot be overstated: Urban capacity expansion projects are the *worst* way to invest in freight movement. They cost 10x more per mile than rural and suburban bypass projects, and almost all of the benefit is soaked up by commuters.
The Oregonian@oregonian.com · yesterdayThe Portland project’s funding gap raises questions about whether it will proceed as planned. https://mrf.lu/2ZXPL
Build the caps over the current freeway (or fill in the freeway In our central city) and then let’s use all that money for other much more urgent transportation needs
The Oregonian@oregonian.com · yesterdayThe Portland project’s funding gap raises questions about whether it will proceed as planned. https://mrf.lu/2ZXPL
Really good episode. I don’t always agree with either the host or the guest, but it was a thoughtful conversation. I especially appreciate Walker’s critique of free public transit. It sounds great in theory but is seldom associated with frequent, reliable, and safe service in major cities anywhere.
The War on Cars@thewaroncars.bsky.social · yesterdayNew episode up! We talk with transit planner Jarrett Walker, author of the recently reissued classic Human Transit, about why buses are so great, how we can make them better, & how advocates should fight for public transit in a hostile federal funding environment. podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/h...
The Portland project’s funding gap raises questions about whether it will proceed as planned. https://mrf.lu/2ZXPL
https://www.oregonlive.com/politics/2026/08/price-tag-of-portlands-rose-quarter-road-project-jumps-past-3b-as-funding-gap-balloons-records-show.html - to put it another way, that’s five Moda Center Deals 😡
Norma Jean Osborne (1956): Public parking revenues should subsidize bus service. Car dependency was not a choice. It was and is the deprivation of choice.
Wherever tech is hyped, bad history thrives. Should AI conform to social norms? Jensen Huang says that’s getting it backwards. Social norms should conform to AI. For Huang’s proof, see comments. Neglect of history leaves us vulnerable to bad history. www.youtube.com/watch?v=VU8v...
AP EXCLUSIVE: Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang says society needs 'new social norms' in age of AI
YouTube video by Associated Press
youtube.com
e-bike subsidies (both for individuals and for a robust bike share program) are maybe the most cost-efficient small-scale climate investment we could make
pnwpolicyangel aka Angelita 👼@pnwpolicyangel.bsky.social · 5d agoMy best friend got an electric bike through the Portland Clean Energy Fund and the ease and joy it’s brought to her life is palpable. Plus, now it’s easier for her to see me 🥹 I love PCEF, it’s such a tangible force for good in Portland.
Free squishy @portlandstreetcar.org and scarf at @bonbpdx.bsky.social today!
Because the loudest voices in the city want you to forget this, I just want to say Portland is great. There are so many people who love this city so much and show up every day to make it more welcoming and more just. It’s a beautiful place full of people who give a shit.
Can we get billboards with this all across the city?
Jake Gotta@jakegotta.bsky.social · 6d ago“Cars are the most absurd means of transport in a city,” [says Jean-Louis Missika, Paris’s deputy mayor for urbanisation]. “They are parked 95% of the time. It takes two tonnes to move someone who weighs 70kg. And the denser the city, the more absurd it is.” www.ft.com/content/882e...
Notice that modern fire trucks built outside of the US can somehow reach over 50 ft high without requiring a 40 ft street width ( as currently required by most US fire codes)
Bob Koreis@rkoreis.bsky.social · 6d agoThe ladder extended quite a bit farther. The end articulates. There was a small crowd watching. In Tours, FR.
The Trump administration is sitting on more than $7 billion meant for big transit construction projects around the country: www.nytimes.com/2026/07/27/u...
Congress Budgeted Billions for Big Transit Projects. Trump Isn’t Spending It. (Gift Article)
“It’s hard to look at the last year and see anything other than a deliberate slowdown of these grants.”
nytimes.com
We love it when we have multiple families on the #FarmersMarketRide! Join us next week: shift2bikes.org/calendar/eve...
On the same day she posted this, the LA Metro board (including Bass) awarded $100 million to freeway widening projects.
Mayor Karen Bass@mayor.lacity.gov · 2w agoAs Chair, I’ll build a long-term financial plan to make Metro fare-free. I’ve fought for a world-class transit system my entire career because public transit should create opportunity for everyone.
Riding bikes is 10X more important than electric cars for reaching net-zero cities. And that’s just the climate emissions. Doesn’t include the massive public & personal cost difference, the air & noise pollution difference, the massive space difference, etc, etc…Via @theconversation.bsky.social
Cycling is ten times more important than electric cars for reaching net-zero cities
Active travel can help tackle the climate crisis earlier than electric vehicles – even if you swap the car for a bike for just one trip a day.
theconversation.com
youtube.com/watch?v=8w1s... great analysis of how the Federal Highway Trust Fund has become an out of control engine of destruction
We Built the Best Interstate System. Now It’s Falling Apart.
YouTube video by Strong Towns
youtube.com
Before we build more roads, let's take care of the ones we already have. Across the country, roads, bridges, sidewalks, and transit systems need repairs. But this bill prioritizes highway expansion instead. ‼️Congress should fix what we have first. Tell them ➡️ buff.ly/JJBoCJH
Contrary to persistent rumors, Saturday's #FarmersMarketRide will NOT be clothing optional! www.shift2bikes.org/calendar/eve... #FamilyFriendly #BikeSummer There are many opportunities to disrobe later in the day 😄
Calendar
Rides calendar
shift2bikes.org
We will once again not be turning away any riders seeking a cooling shelter on Wednesday, July 22.
Portland Streetcar@portlandstreetcar.org · 2w agoDue to excessive heat and Multnomah County's State of Emergency, we will not turn away any riders Tuesday who are seeking a cooling shelter for lack of valid fare. The emergency declaration is expected to last until at least 10pm.
I appreciate David coming around on the topic of transportation abundance: www.youtube.com/watch?v=r5B1... My take: abundant access? Yes! - Abundant mobility? Hmmm... - Abundant VMT? No thank you!
Look Both Ways LIVE with David & Wes: Episode 26
YouTube video by Look Both Ways with David & Wes
youtube.com
Due to excessive heat and Multnomah County's State of Emergency, we will not turn away any riders Tuesday who are seeking a cooling shelter for lack of valid fare. The emergency declaration is expected to last until at least 10pm.
Requiring developments to have offstreet parking is suicidal in large cities, but it can be pretty harmful in small towns too. Quit using policy to dictate how people live their lives. Instead, watch what they actually do.
Patrick Siegman@siegman.biz · 2w agoPort Townsend, Washington, was the first city in the state to remove minimum parking mandates. The sky did not fall. Port Townsend’s success should reassure leaders in timid places, like Boston and New York, that they can follow suit.
So gratifying to hear US mayors articulate this kind of stuff
Crystal Fincher@finchfrii.bsky.social · 2w agoSeattle, the World Cup brought possibility. Let’s build on it
It’s a fine achievement to win the World Cup but it is *nothing* compared to setting the world record for the Largest Electric Bicycle Ride and Party
Portland Bureau of Transportation@pbotinfo.bsky.social · 2w agoCongratulations Portland, we did. We just secured the title for Largest Electric Bicycle Ride and Party. With an official count 1060 people on e-bikes (plus more on pedal bikes or riding on an e-bike) we broke Seattle’s record of 405 e-bikes and made Portland history together.
Yes, the silence on these war crimes is abominable. This will just create more desperate refugees, which the US will refuse to admit. Heartbreaking and maddening.
Scott Horton@robertscotthorton.bsky.social · 3w agoThe US is adopting a strategy of attacking water storage and desalination plants designed to render the region uninhabitable. If continued, this strategy will make the Gulf littoral uninhabitable in the coming decades. Yet there is no discussion of these tactics and their repercussion in the US.
