Formation | 1990 |
---|---|
Founders | Rex Burkholder |
Founded at | Portland, Oregon |
Type | Nonprofit |
93-1057956 | |
Executive director | Sarah Iannarone |
Revenue (2018) | $963,092 [1] |
Website | www |
Formerly called | Bicycle Transportation Alliance |
The Street Trust (formerly the Bicycle Transportation Alliance) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit advocacy organization based in Portland, Oregon, United States. The Street Trust advocates for the safety and ease of biking, walking and riding public transit in communities. The organization does legislative work at the statewide and national levels and endorses legislation and ballot measures. It successfully lobbied Portland's mass transit company, TriMet, to accommodate bicycles on buses and prevailed in a lawsuit to uphold Oregon's Bicycle Bill.
Originally incorporated as the Bicycle Transportation Alliance in 1991, the organization changed its name to The Street Trust in January 2017. [2]
The Street Trust had its origins as the Portland Area Bicycle Coalition, a volunteer group founded in 1991 after a resident was not allowed to bring his bike on board a TriMet bus. The group submitted a petition with over 5000 signatures to local authorities requesting that buses be equipped with bike racks. [3] Following its success, the coalition incorporated as a not-for-profit organization and changed its name to the Bicycle Transportation Alliance.
The organization filed a lawsuit against the city in 1993, Bicycle Transportation Alliance v. City of Portland. The suit argued that bicycle provisions were required for new roadway provisions under the 1971 Oregon Bicycle Bill. [4] The Bicycle Transportation Alliance succeeded in 1995, compelling the City of Portland to provide bike lanes on new streets in the Rose Quarter. [5] [6] In the case, Oregon Court of Appeals further found that the provision in the Bicycle Bill "establishes an annual spending 'floor' of one percent" which governments must spend on facilities for bicycles. [7]
Following the success, the BTA was able to influence the outcome of the measures taken by the Portland Bureau of Transportation through its participation in stakeholder working groups and advisory committees. [4] In 2009, the organization lobbied in favor of allowing Idaho stops under Oregon law. [8] By 2011, the organization had begun issuing a 'bike-friendly report card' comparing the bicycle-friendliness of Oregon cities. [9] The report card was later expanded to apply to the entire United States. [10] The Bicycle Transportation Alliance also supported efforts to introduce a bicycle tax in Oregon, saying that it would increase the influence of cyclists. [11]
In 2016, the BTA announced it was changing its name to The Street Trust, reflecting an expansion of its mission to encompass pedestrians and transit users as well as cyclists. At the same time, it sought a 501(c)(4) designation, which would permit it to endorse political candidates. [12] The name change was finalized in January 2017. [13]
In 2021, The Street Trust was one of the main organization's supporting an amendment to the Oregon Bicycle Bill to improve the composition of the Oregon Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee and increase funding for bicycle trails and footpaths in Oregon. [14]
The Street Trust's bicycle boulevards campaign is working to create a comprehensive network of low-traffic streets in order to improve safety and increase bicycle ridership. It has led other campaigns including the For Every Kid Campaign that sought dedicated funding for safe routes to school in the Metropolitan Portland region. [15]
Sarah Iannarone was named executive director of The Street Trust in January 2021. [1] [16] Rob Sadowsky served as executive director for five years before he was fired in 2017. [17]
Safe Routes to School is a collaboration with Oregon Walks that seeks to increase the number of children walking and bicycling to school. The partnership provides technical advice and assistance for Oregon communities. The Street Trust, along with Oregon Walks, received a pedestrian safety grant in 2008 from the Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT). [18]
The Street Trust developed a Bike Safety and Awareness Program, which conducts courses in bicycle safety in fourth through seventh-grade classrooms. The bicycle safety program is supported by ODOT. [19]
The organization donated 32 bicycles valued at about $5,000 in total to the Central Point Police Department's bicycle safety program in March 2008. [20]
The Street Trust sponsors the Bike More Challenge, an annual challenge to workplaces and individual cyclists to commute by bicycle to work during the month of September. [21] According to BikePortland, a local bicycle blog, [4] the Challenge started in 1995 and as of 2016 included over 1200 participant businesses and more than 11,000 cyclists. [22]
The Street Trust presents the annual Alice Awards (formerly Alice B. Toeclips Awards), recognizing individuals, businesses, and organizations in Oregon and southwest Washington whose work has supported the organization's mission. [23] [24]
The Sellwood Bridge is a deck arch bridge that spans the Willamette River in Portland, Oregon, in the United States. The current bridge opened in 2016 and replaced a 1925 span that had carried the same name. The original bridge was Portland's first fixed-span bridge and, being the only river crossing for miles in each direction, the busiest two-lane bridge in Oregon. The Sellwood Bridge links the Sellwood and Westmoreland neighborhoods of Portland on the east side with Oregon Route 43/Macadam Avenue on the west side. At its east end it leads to Tacoma Street. The bridge is owned and operated by Multnomah County. The original span of 1925 was a steel truss bridge, while its 2016 replacement is a deck-arch-type bridge.
Like transportation in the rest of the United States, the primary mode of local transportation in Portland, Oregon is the automobile. Metro, the metropolitan area's regional government, has a regional master plan in which transit-oriented development plays a major role. This approach, part of the new urbanism, promotes mixed-use and high-density development around light rail stops and transit centers, and the investment of the metropolitan area's share of federal tax dollars into multiple modes of transportation. In the United States, this focus is atypical in an era when automobile use led many areas to neglect their core cities in favor of development along interstate highways, in suburbs, and satellite cities.
Portland is "an international pioneer in transit orientated developments."
Cycling advocacy consists of activities that call for, promote or enable increased adoption and support for cycling and improved safety and convenience for cyclists, usually within urbanized areas or semi-urban regions. Issues of concern typically include policy, administrative and legal changes ; advocating and establishing better cycling infrastructure ; public education regarding the health, transportational and environmental benefits of cycling for both individuals and communities, cycling and motoring skills; and increasing public and political support for bicycling.
A bicycle boulevard, sometimes referred to as a neighborhood greenway, neighborway, neighborhood bikeway or neighborhood byway is a type of bikeway composed of a low-speed street which has been "optimized" for bicycle traffic. Bicycle boulevards discourage cut-through motor-vehicle traffic but allow local motor-vehicle traffic. They are designed to give priority to bicyclists as through-going traffic. They are intended as a low-cost, politically popular way to create a connected network of streets with good bicyclist comfort and/or safety.
Transportation Alternatives is a non-profit organization in New York City which works to change New York City's transportation priorities to encourage and increase non-polluting, quiet, city-friendly travel and decrease automobile use. TransAlt seeks a transportation system based on a "Green Transportation Hierarchy" giving preference to modes of travel based on their relative benefits and costs to society. To achieve these goals, T.A. works in five areas: Cycling, Walking and Traffic Calming, Car-Free Parks, Safe Streets and Sustainable Transportation. Promotional activities include large group bicycle rides.
A cycle track, separated bike lane or protected bike lane is an exclusive bikeway that has elements of a separated path and on-road bike lane. A cycle track is located within or next to the roadway, but is made distinct from both the sidewalk and general purpose roadway by vertical barriers or elevation differences.
Complete streets is a transportation policy and design approach that requires streets to be planned, designed, operated and maintained to enable safe, convenient and comfortable travel and access for users of all ages and abilities regardless of their mode of transportation. Complete Streets allow for safe travel by those walking, cycling, driving automobiles, riding public transportation, or delivering goods.
The Springwater Corridor Trail is a bicycle and pedestrian rail trail in the Portland metropolitan area in Oregon, United States. It follows a former railway line from Boring through Gresham to Portland, where it ends south of the Eastbank Esplanade. Most of the corridor, about 21 miles (34 km) long, consists of paved, off-street trail, though about 1 mile (1.6 km) overlaps city streets in Portland's Sellwood neighborhood. A large segment roughly follows the course of Johnson Creek and crosses it on bridges many times. Much of the corridor was acquired by the City of Portland in 1990; remaining segments were acquired by Metro thereafter.
Cycling in New York City is associated with mixed cycling conditions that include dense urban proximities, relatively flat terrain, congested roadways with stop-and-go traffic, and streets with heavy pedestrian activity. The city's large cycling population includes utility cyclists, such as delivery and messenger services; cycling clubs for recreational cyclists; and increasingly commuters. Cycling is increasingly popular in New York City; in 2018 there were approximately 510,000 daily bike trips, compared with 170,000 daily bike trips in 2005.
Toronto, Ontario, like many North American cities, has slowly been expanding its purpose-built cycling infrastructure. The number of cyclists in Toronto has been increasing progressively, particularly in the city's downtown core. As cycling conditions improve, a cycling culture has grown and alternatives such as automobiles are seen as less attractive. The politics of providing resources for cyclists, particularly dedicated bike lanes, has been contentious, particularly since the 2010s.
Active mobility, soft mobility, active travel, active transport or active transportation is the transport of people or goods, through non-motorized means, based around human physical activity. The best-known forms of active mobility are walking and cycling, though other modes include running, rowing, skateboarding, kick scooters and roller skates. Due to its prevalence, cycling is sometimes considered separately from the other forms of active mobility.
Bike East Bay, formerly known as East Bay Bicycle Coalition, is a Californian non-profit organization that worked since 1972 toward "promoting bicycling as an everyday means of transportation and recreation" in Alameda and Contra Costa counties of the California's East Bay.
The Oregon Bicycle Bill is transportation legislation passed in the U.S. state of Oregon in 1971. It requires the inclusion of facilities for pedestrians and bicyclists wherever a road, street or highway is being constructed or reconstructed and applies to the Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) as well as Oregon cities and counties.
Bicycle use in Portland, Oregon has been growing rapidly, having nearly tripled since 2001; for example, bicycle traffic on four of the Willamette River bridges has increased from 2,855 before 1992 to over 16,000 in 2008, partly due to improved facilities. The Portland Bureau of Transportation says 6% of commuters bike to work in Portland, the highest proportion of any major U.S. city and about 10 times the national average.
Pedaling Revolution: How Cyclists Are Changing American Cities is a non-fiction book written by Jeff Mapes, a political reporter for The Oregonian. The book gives a brief history of the bicycle from its start in the early 1800s, when it could only be afforded by the wealthy, through to the present. He talks of the 1890s when bicycles were inexpensive enough for commoners to afford, yet automobiles had yet to be mass produced, and city streets were filled with bikes leading the League of American Wheelmen to lobby for paved roads. The end of World War II saw a decline in the bicycle as automobiles became more a way of life. The 1970s saw a boom in the American bicycle market, to again decline in the 1980s. Most recently, Mapes looked at several then-current politicians who were outspoken about bicycle advocacy such as then-chairman Jim Oberstar (D-MN) of the United States House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure who Mapes calls the highest regarded cycling supporter in Congress. Later chapters look at cycling in cities such as Amsterdam, Davis, California, Portland, Oregon, and New York City. The final chapters detail some of the risks and rewards of bicycling.
Cycling infrastructure is all infrastructure cyclists are allowed to use. Bikeways include bike paths, bike lanes, cycle tracks, rail trails and, where permitted, sidewalks. Roads used by motorists are also cycling infrastructure, except where cyclists are barred such as many freeways/motorways. It includes amenities such as bike racks for parking, shelters, service centers and specialized traffic signs and signals. The more cycling infrastructure, the more people get about by bicycle.
People's Bike Library of Portland, also known as Zoobomb Pyle or simply "the pile", is a 2009 steel and gold leaf sculpture by local artists Brian Borrello and Vanessa Renwick, located in Portland, Oregon, in the United States. It was erected in collaboration with the Zoobomb bicycling collective, and serves as a bicycle parking rack, a "lending library" for weekly bike riders, and a monument to the city's bike culture. The sculpture features a two-story spiral pillar with a gold-plated small bicycle on top; bicycles intended for Zoobomb riders are locked to the pillar and base, which has metal loops serving as hooks.
The history of cycling infrastructure starts from shortly after the bike boom of the 1880s when the first short stretches of dedicated bicycle infrastructure were built, through to the rise of the automobile from the mid-20th century onwards and the concomitant decline of cycling as a means of transport, to cycling's comeback from the 1970s onwards.
The Idaho stop is the common name for laws that allow bicyclists to treat a stop sign as a yield sign, and a red light as a stop sign. It first became law in Idaho in 1982, but was not adopted elsewhere until Delaware adopted a limited stop-as-yield law, the "Delaware Yield", in 2017. Arkansas was the second state to legalize both stop-as-yield and red-light-as-stop in April 2019. Studies in Delaware and Idaho have shown significant decreases in crashes at stop-controlled intersections.
Cycling infrastructure in the Canadian city of Halifax, Nova Scotia includes most regular streets and roads, bike lanes, protected cycle tracks, local street bikeways, and multi-use pathways.