Electric Vehicles Getting Closer to Roll Out

Two contenders for the electric vehicle market, the Chevrolet Volt and the Nissan Leaf, are getting closer to being seen out and about on city streets.

The Volt, according to the website is "an electric car that can create its own electricity. Plug it in, let it charge overnight, and it’s ready to run on a pure electric charge for up to 40 miles — gas and emissions free. After that...Volt uses a range-extending gas generator that produces enough energy to power it for hundreds of miles on a single tank of gas."

The Nissan Leaf, by contrast, is 100% electric. It will get about 100 miles on a single charge. Leaf owners can get a special charging station installed at their homes, or charge up at yet to be determined "charging stations" around town.

Both cars are pretty close in price. The Leaf's MSRP is $32,780, which includes three years of roadside assistance. There is also a federal tax credit of $7,500 for which the Leaf fully qualifies as well as a $1,500 state tax credit in Oregon. Chevrolet has yet to determine MSRP for the, but is currently estimating around $30,000 after the $7,500 tax credit.

The roll out for the cars is starting soon. The Leaf becomes available for purchase or lease at Nissan dealers in select markets (Oregon being one of them) in December 2010 and nationwide in 2011. The Volt is preparing for a selected market launch before the end of the year with nationwide roll out in November 2011.

CNET tried out the Nissan Leaf in 2009 and here is what they had to say:
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The Volt has been available for press test drives at the New York Auto Show this week. Here is a link to Fast Company's test drive.

What's your take? Are you ready to put your name on a waiting list for an electric vehicle, or are you not at all interested?

New Burside-Couch Couplet Set to Debut

Click on image to enlarge

After years of planning and six months of disruptive construction, the Burnside-Couch couplet is ready to go, and traffic pattern changes will begin April 4th.

The project is constructed on existing roadways from Northeast 14th Avenue to Northeast 3rd Avenue. Burnside and Couch Streets become a one-way couplet system, with eastbound traffic in three lanes on Burnside Street and westbound traffic in two lanes on Couch Street.

The city hopes the project will accomplish several things:

*Enhanced vehicle and transit access and traffic flow through the couplet.

*Reduced traffic conflicts between cars and bicycles.

*Significantly improved pedestrian safety.

*Assembling of two new city blocks for potential redevelopment at Northeast Sandy Boulevard and Northeast 14th Avenue.

*Improved access to businesses with left turns at all intersections and new on-street parking spaces on Burnside.

One of the most drastic changes in this project is the elimination of the complicated diagonal Northeast Sandy Boulevard/Burnside intersection which, from 12th to 14th avenues, will ultimately to be turned into a walkable and commercial hub. Traffic will be rerouted around closed-off blocks to eliminate this complex six-way “spaghetti” intersection.

For those trying to navigate in this area in the coming weeks, here are some things to keep in mind (from The Oregonian's Hard Drive Commuting Blog):

TWO-WAYS TO ONE-WAYS

Are you ready for this? Here’s the stage-by-stage plan to redirect traffic to the couplet:

Week of March 21: Sandy Boulevard will have lane closures at Northeast 14th Avenue, with one lane open in each direction as crews install a traffic signal and island at the intersection. Avoid the intersections of Sandy and 12th through 14th avenues. Expect delays on Sandy.

Week of March 28: Sandy closed for good between 12th and 14th. Couch Street will be converted to a one-way street between 14th and Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard. Sandy westbound will be diverted to Couch Street. Watch for detours to the Burnside Bridge. Sandy eastbound, meanwhile, will be diverted to Burnside (detour is Sandy to Burnside to 20th to Sandy). Avoid Sandy and Burnside from 12th to 20th avenues.

Week of April 4: East Burnside will be converted to a one-way street between the Burnside Bridgehead and 14th, while 14th is converted to a one-way between Burnside and Couch. The new westbound connection from Couch to Burnside Bridge will open. Expect long delays on Burnside.

Week of April 11: Completion of the conversion of Burnside and Couch from two-way streets between the bridgehead and 14th to a one-way couplet. Construction continues on Burnside to finish the streetscape with lane closures during nonpeak hours (thank you, PBOT!).

Here is a video from Joseph Rose's Hard Drive Commuting Blog on Oregonlive.com that provides a nice explanation of the changes to expect:

Portland's Burnside/Couch Couplet

What do you think of the Burnside-Couch Couplet project? After you've had a chance to navigate it, let me know what you think!

Words Matter: People First Language

In an effort to remove negative,divisive words from their law books, Idaho is considering dropping terms such as "mentally retarded" and replacing them with more modern and appropriate terms. The House approved the measure 68-1 to replace expressions considered offensive, and it now heads to the desk of Governor C.L. “Butch” Otter for final approval.

In the Ride Connection class "The Best Ride: A Passenger Care and Assistance Workshop" the discussion of more "preferred terms" and of of people first language takes center stage. For those who may be unfamiliar with the idea, people first language is way of speaking that puts the person first, and describes what the person has, not what the person is. Rather than saying "a disabled person" you would say "a person with a disability". It is a subtle, but important way of using language to guide our thinking. (For more information on the subject visit Kathie Snow's extensive website disabilityisnatural.com.)

I think it's great that lawmakers are becoming more sensitive to the fact that the words they use (both when speaking and when writing laws) make a huge difference in the way people are viewed. Labels can be hurtful, and the truth is most of the time the only labels we need to use are our riders' names. There are times however, where we must use certain descriptors to ensure that a rider is safely and comfortably served. In these cases, making sure that preferred terms and people first language are used by everyone shows respect for the individual and demonstrates to those who are listening that we are considering the person as a whole and focusing on what they need, rather than seeing them as a collection of "deficits" or "problems" to be overcome.

What do you think about the use of people first language?

The Volunteer Spirit is Alive and Well in Portland, Oregon!

Photo from http://www.bikeportland.org/

This article posted on bikeportland.org yesterday seems like the perfect snapshot of what makes Portland such an awesome city. According to the article, Dan Sloan has decided to offer "free bike help and advice" on the corner of N. Cook and Williams streets. Why? Because he "just wants to do something good for people" and he feels like sharing his knowledge on bikes is a way to do that.

Dan is sort of a guerrilla volunteer. He found a way to help others while doing something he loved, but he didn't wait around for an agency to have a volunteer position that fit, he just went out and made his own! If you happen to bike (or even drive) by Dan's bike help corner, take a minute to thank him for his efforts and volunteer spirit!

Congratulations to our own Lesa Pinker!!!

Congratulations to our own Lesa Pinker!!! She is one of the newest board members of the National RTAP (Rural Transportation Assistance Program). The National RTAP is a program of the FTA (Federal Transit Administration),whose mission is to improve the mobility of all rural, small urban and tribal communities across the country through technical assistance. Way to go Lesa!!

Morrison Bridge New Bike/Pedestrian Path Set to Open on Friday

After a lot of delays the new Morrison Bridge bike and pedestrian path is set to open this Friday.

The project, paid for with federal and county money, was supposed to be completed in mid-December, but design difficulties and construction delays pushed the opening back. One of the biggest design challenges was how to create a crash barrier that could work on a drawbridge.

The two-way path runs on the south side of the bridge, connecting with Water Avenue on the east side and with ramps to Southwest Alder Street and to Naito Parkway on the west side. It replaces a narrow sidewalk that was just 5 feet wide.

The new Morrison Bridge path should also help reduce conflicts for cyclists and pedestirans by absorbing some of the heavy bike and pedestrian traffic from the Broadway and Hawthorne briges.

For motorists, the new off-ramp will make the drive to the east side easier, according to Multnomah County spokesman Mike Pullen.

“It used to be that the off-ramp to Water was combined with a dominant freeway ramp,” Pullen said. “Now, you don’t have to worry about that freeway traffic. Things are separated.”

Here's a qick look at the new path, courtesy of the Oregonian's Joeseph Rose:

A tour of the Morrison Bridge bike, ped path

New Crosswalk Treatment Coming to Dangerous SE Foster Crossing

A dangerous crossing at SE Foster near 80th, where two pedestrians were killed in November of 2009, is getting a new crosswalk treatment in the coming weeks. This treatment, called a "rapid flash beacon" is activated by the pedestrian's push of a button. The LED lights then flash on the crosswalk sign, creating a very bright, visible signal that a pedestrian wants to cross.

According to the Portland Bureau of Transportation (PBOT) website "Rapid Flash Beacons combined with signage and pavement markings have been shown to increase the percentage of motorists who stop for pedestrians from approximately 18 percent before the improvement to nearly 80 percent after."

This is good news, considering that between 1990 and 2000, 37 percent of pedestrian injuries occurred in crosswalks due to driver error.

Below is a video from the beacon manufacturer's website that shows the rapid flash beacon in action.


Remember also, that drivers have specific responsibilities to pedestrians at crosswalks. You must stop and stay stopped for pedestrians at marked and unmarked crosswalks. If the pedestrian doesn't activate the beacon, you must still stop for them.

This is a great video to help remind you of Oregon crosswalk laws. Enjoy!