Portland is experimenting with "cycle tracks," bike lanes protected by a row of parked cars.
The city of Portland, Oregon, always a top contender for most bike-friendly city in the country, put out the video below, explaining its experiments with new types of bike lanes.
One tact seems pretty straight forward: putting bike lanes between parked cars and traffic and giving riders a larger buffer zone between them the traffic. The other idea, called “cycle tracks” is more novel: putting the bike lanes between the parked cars and the sidewalk.
With all the talk about expanding biking infrastructure in the United States lately, it’s interesting to see what a more bike friendly city might look like.
In related news, the Economist ran an article profiling Portland as a place where “the biggest force in local politics is not a party (Democrats in effect rule without opposition) but cyclists.”
It’s not all praise. The article notes that most of the city’s residents are young, childless and white. “San Francisco and Boston have become ‘elite cities’, attractive to the young and single, especially those with trust funds, but beyond the reach of middle-class families who want a house with a lawn,” one of the commentators says.
Here’s the link: http://www.economist.com/world/united-states/displaystory.cfm?story_id=15911324