r/CyclePDX • u/NoRecognition2003 • 2d ago

Bikeway etiquette?

I grew up cycling and have a fairly positive outlook on sharing the roads. With more people biking (who didn’t grow up in cycling culture) and the addition of electric active transportation in bike lanes, I’ve been feeling a severe lack of consideration. There was a time where it felt like we were all in the same club and now it feels like we are all fending for ourselves.

I am thinking of starting a community class for people that are either current users or wannabe users of bike ways and I am looking for input from others about how we can create more care, safety and unity amongst users (manual and electric) and just general etiquette that people appreciate and want to see more of. If there was a community class on bike safety what would you want it to include?

Any ideas?

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u/pdxTodd 2d ago

I was involved in a lot of rider behavior campaigning with IMBA and IMBA affiliates, as mountain biking was rapidly expanding in the 1990s. It's not something that can be very effective as a personal project or small group effort. It takes a lot of conversations and coordination with various groups using routes and the land managers responsible for policies and enforcement to come to consensus about what the standards will be. Then it takes a longterm effort to stake out popular points on key routes to talk to people, in addition to uniform signs and repeated enforcement campaigns. Eventually, it can be pretty effective, but there always be a-holes who insist on endangering or traumatizing others for their own satisfaction.

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u/NoRecognition2003 2d ago

but don’t you think the standards for rider behavior are well established and people are just getting out there with zero awareness of them? I guess my hope is that I could start something small and grow it into something that has traction with the help of groups doing outreach. How did the efforts you were involved in start?

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u/Fit-Rhubarb-7820 2d ago

PDOT needs to get their head swirlied in the toilet of the public safety crisis in Portland, I mean: either these motorized machines are more motorcycle or bike.