7/29/10 - Beaverton's TriMet Transit Center, one of the busiest park-and-ride facilities for TriMet, gains 74 bike parking spaces. See the full story to see how 74 parking spaces were created by only getting rid of 8.
7/26/10 - Website Tuscon Velo published the story Riding in Portland: Lessons for Tucson about a visit to Portland, OR which found inspiration in the city's bicycle infrastructure. TV joined Tucson’s bike and pedestrian program manager, City of Portland planners, and Alta's Steve Durrant on a bicycle tour of the city. See the full story for insights into Portland network from Steve and the City's Greg Raisman and some great photographs.
7/12/10 - Bikeportland.org ran this story about Alta's recent win of a contract to develop bikeway projects in the Portland, Oregon metro area. Read the story here.
6/30/10 - Iredell County, North Carolina is considering options to extend the Carolina Thread Trail through their territory. Alta's Southeast office is managing the planning effort for a proposed trail alignment that will access the county's key points of interest. The Statesville Record & Landmark ran this article about the potential benefits of the trail and the community's goals for the trail. You can learn more on the project website at http://www.iredelltrailmasterplan.com/
6/28/10 - San Joaquin County in California is making a strong effort to improve bicycling for commuters and recreational riding. Alta is helping the county plan and manage a $43.9 million improvement budget to improve safety and access. Read Manteca Bulletin article on the bike route upgrades here.
6/25/10 - Normal, Illinois is taking steps toward implementing the bicycle and pedestrian master plan developed by Alta and adopted in 2009. Read the full article on the city's implementation in this Pantagraph article.
6/15/10 - The Bicycle Show on CBC Radio Canada - Alta Principal Mia Burk talks transforming Portland into America's most bicycle-friendly city on the pedal-powered edition of GO! with Brent Bambury. But what will it take to make Canada's cities even more bike friendly?
6/8/10 - Portland's TriMet is planning to open a 74-space secure Bike and Ride parking facility in July. The design phase of the project was completed by Moyano Leadership Group, Boora Architects, and Alta Planning + Design. Other Bike & Ride facilities are planned to open in Beaverton, Hillsboro, and at Portland State University, bringing the region 378 new or improved bike parking spaces. Read more here.
5/31/10 - Alta Principal Jeff Olson's workshop with regional councillors caught the attention of the online news source, YorkRegion.com . His workshop on constructing a viable network of bikeways and pedestrian paths within the region included emphasis that for path treatments "Context is crucial" for different environments. Read more on this article here .
5/21/10 - Arlington County and the District Department of Transportation (DDOT) announced today a joint effort to expand bike sharing tenfold in the Washington area. Both Arlington and the District will launch systems later this year with roughly 1,100 bikes and 114 stations and will be the largest of its kind in the U.S. Alta Bicycle Share will operate the system, and is implementing or consulting on similar programs in Australia, Europe, China, and other locations in the United States. Read more about this exciting news here.
5/19/10 - Alta Principal Jeff Olson was interviewed by Brazilian environmental news agency Eco Agencia about bike lanes and his international work.
5/11/10 - Bike San Diego » Interview with Alta Senior Associate Sam Corbett
5/11/10 - The Des Moines Register dropped in on a public workshop for the West Des Moines Bicycle Master Plan, led by Alta Project Manager Ann Freiwald. The purpose of the workshop was to gather input and ideas from community leaders and members on how funds should be distributed to improve and enhance current and future biking trails and pedestrian paths. Read more about the West Des Moines Master Plan here.
5/10/10 - City planners track cyclists, pedestrians to measure trail needs - USA Today on the National Bicycle and Pedestrian Documentation Project .
5/10/10 - Cobblestones, 'skinny tires', and how the Dutch really do it - Bikeportland.org discusses a unique Portland street treatment developed by Alta.
4/19/10 - 10 City Bike Sharing Networks to Watch - Earth 2 Tech discusses the upcoming Melbourne bike share scheme.
4/22/10 -
Wave and Smile
An Earth Day Essay on the Joys of Bicycle Transportation
By Mia Birk
CEO, Alta Planning + Design; author, Joyride: Pedaling Toward a Healthier Planet , forthcoming; Founder, Initiative for Bicycle and Pedestrian Innovation, Portland State University.
Ah Spring is here, and with it bicycling pleasures beyond words. On a typical day, I might get pelted by hail and then warmed by a double rainbow as I inhale swirls of cherry and pear blossoms. You just don’t get this kind of flowery intoxication sitting in a car. The stresses of running an international company in our down economy dissipate under a dazzling explosion of Camellias, Dogwoods, and Rhododendrons and are replaced by delight at seeing herons, geese, and an Osprey peeking out of his nest on the top of a power pole on the Springwater on the Willamette.
I wave constantly at my neighbors and at strangers who stop for me at stop signs. Often, they wave at me to go ahead. Used to be, I would motion, “No, you go ahead, really. I’ll stop.” But then I realized that when someone offers me kindness, it’s my responsibility to graciously accept. Besides, when you’re on a bike, momentum is your friend, and I think that the motorists waving me through must understand that. (Thank you – all of you!) Perhaps they themselves bike from time to time. I always smile and wave in gratitude. And since this happens numerous times a day, I’m always smiling and waving, waving and smiling, happy, happy, happy as I pedal along, until I arrive at work or a meeting or home feeling pleasantly hungry, energetic, even buzzed.
A friend once observed, “It’s hard enough trying to get people to purchase and screw in an energy efficient light bulb. Your work – creating more bikeable communities and trying to get people to change their behavior - that’s way, way harder.”
Point well taken, but see, I have a critical edge. Compact fluorescent light bulbs save you a few bucks, over time, and allow you to feel eco-friendly during the twenty seconds you’re actually screwing them in, but they don’t improve your health, reduce stress, allow you to bypass traffic, save you money, connect you with your community, and put a smile on your face. Let’s face it, double-paned windows, solar panels, and bottom-loading freezers are excellent energy savers but aren’t, in any way, going to get your heart pumping or tone your legs.
Yes, these pleasures can be yours too… but only if you try it. Because if you’re not part of the solution, unfortunately, you’re a part of the problem.
Bike, for as many trips as possible. Volunteer to walk or bike a group of kids to school. Factor in transportation to your daily transportation decisions and find ways to shift more and more trips to walking, bicycling, or transit.
No matter how you get around, model good behavior. When driving, yield to pedestrians and cyclists, slow down, hang up, and chill out. Refrain from over-generalizing or judging all cyclists by the few bad-behaving jerks and recognize that every cyclist is one less car on the road. And when you’re biking, always wait for red lights, yield to pedestrians, and wave and smile at the slightest act of kindness. Heck, wave and smile just to spread the joy.
In honor of Earth Day and for your health, community, kids, and pocketbook, start today. You’ll be glad you did.
4/12/10 - The
Marin Independent Journal explains the disconnect in bicycle routes between major communities in Marin County, California. Now the county is pursuing funding to carry out routing improvements based on a linkage study conducted by Alta. That's good news for area residents considering
the recent report that the number of bicycle and walking trips are on the rise in Marin . Read about the plan to improve Marin's bicycle transportation links
in this article .
4/7/10 - On Wednesday, April 7th, Alta Planning + Design had the opportunity to lead a tour of the proposed Naugatuck River Greenway in Waterbury, CT with Federal Highway Administrator Victor Mendez, Congressman Chris Murphy, Mayor Michael Jarjura and invited local leaders.
Alta Principal Jeff Olson was asked to lead the presentation, and it was an extraordinary day. The visitors were impressed by the complexity of the project and how quickly it has gone from an idea to a detailed plan that continues to gain momentum. Media report available
here.
4/9/10 - Forbes.com published a press release
"U.S. Biking Trends" describing the nation's increase in ridership and announcing the American Planning Association's media briefing conference call which will include Alta's
Southeast office manager John Cock .
4/1/10 - Alta Principal Mia Birk is featured in Fitness Magazine's "Champions of Health & Fitness 2010" article .
3/26/10 - Alta East's team working on the Naugatuck Greenway routing study presented their progress in a public meeting for area residents. The plan, encompassing pedestrian bridges, paths, and trails along the Naugatuck River Valley. Beacon Falls Citizen's News and the Republican American both discuss the meeting.
Update 4/1/10: More about these public meetings in Town Times.
3/19/10 - Melbourne is "a step closer to city bike hire scheme" according to this article in The Age . Alta is among the lead consultants rolling out this public bicycle sharing system. Learn more at altabicycleshare.com .
3/13/10 - Brazilian news source Delas interviews Alta Principal Jeff Olson about the importance of creating green infrastructure in major cities. Jeff was interviewed while attending the International Conference of Innovative Cities (CICI). The article, in Portuguese, is available here ( click here for a translated version ).
3/4/10 - Minnesota Business announces the launch of Green Complete Streets by Alta and several partners in the Minneapolis area. Learn more about Complete Streets on our website.
