---------- Original Message ---------------------------------- From: Frank Gmeindl fgmeindl@verizon.net Date: Thu, 17 Dec 2009 13:55:34 -0500
All,
Just reading the initial numbers which indicate a 6% drop I guessed the main causes to be unemployment increase and gas price decrease, which the the folks of Portland figured on as well. Considering their huge increases hitting a plateau is inevitable. What would really be interesting are the missing numbers, those relating to car counts at the same points and their yearly fluctuations.
Chip
Bicycle Board Members,
Some members cite something Portland's doing and then say we should do that here because Portland has seen a huge increase in trips by bike. The article in Willamette Week http://wweek.com/editorial/3606/13475/#comments_add says this year, Portland's bicycle trip numbers have dropped. Now everyone's wondering why.
The reason I send this article is to caution us to have valid data or at least sound logic before we proceed to implement ideas. Some people have credited Portland's bike lanes, bike boxes and bike routes for the increased bike trip numbers but fail to recognize that at the same time, the City ran an extensive education campaign. One problem with changing many things at the same time is that it's difficult to relate the results to the changes. Perhaps the number of trips by bike would have climbed much more if they only did the bike routes and not the bike lanes, bike boxes and education. Who knows?
Frank /Cyclists fare best when they act and are treated as drivers of vehicles/