The Monday Roundup: Stationless in Seattle, future of bike racing, fixies on trial, and more

This week’s Monday Roundup is sponsored by no one. We need advertisers! Text me at (503) 706-8804 or email for more details.

We hope you enjoyed the eclipse. Wasn’t it cool?!

Here are the best stories we came across last week…

No driverless cars: Post-Charlottesville, Lloyd Alter of Treehugger wants us to remember that, “Cars don’t kill people — people, kill people.”

On a similar note: There’s a new Twitter account, @AbsentDriver, that tracks the phenomenon of these robotic vehicles that apparently think and act without input from humans.

Smart speed bumps: A few countries are testing a high-tech speed bump filled with “non-Newtonian liquid” that’s soft when hit at slow speeds and hard when hit at high speeds.

E-bike essay: A wonderful rumination in the New Yorker on the moral and mobility dilemma that electrified bicycles represent.

Latest from Seattle: Ofo is the third company to launch a stationless bike share system in Seattle.

Incrementalism sucks: Transportation isn’t the only field in our region that is stuck in the mire of incrementalism. This must-read from Design Week Portland shares a lack of boldness and leadership that is very similar to the problems we have with bicycling and transit.

A new tour: Portland resident and bike touring advocate Laura Crawford of Path Less Pedaled fame has moved to Missoula, Montana for a new job as U.S. Bicycle Route System coordinator with the Adventure Cycling Association.

Future of U.S. bike racing: VeloNews opines on the recent Colorado Classic stage race and thinks its innovative format offers a more compelling future for the sport.

Better train service: Amtrak has boosted frequency and raised the speed of their Portland to Seattle route.

Dangerous bike racks?: The city council in Greenville, Ohio inexplicably voted to remove bike racks due to safety concerns.

Bike share partisanship: The Trump Administration had a Capital Bikeshare station removed from White House grounds. The station was installed under Barack Obama in 2010.

Bike lanes in black neighborhoods: When it comes to planning for bicycle access in neighborhoods, racial profiling and crime fears are among the top three biggest concerns from black and latino Americans.

Fixies in court: A London man who collided with and killed a woman while bicycling on a fixed-gear bike without a front hand-brake was forced to defend his actions in court. The case reminds us of the 2006 Portland case where a judge ruled against a fixed-gear bicycle rider.

Another way cars kill: If cars are the “weapon of choice” for terrorists than cities should designate more carfree spaces in crowded urban areas.

On a happier note: Police in Akron Ohio gave an 89-year-old man a bicycle after his was stolen.

— Jonathan Maus: (503) 706-8804, @jonathan_maus on Twitter and jonathan@bikeportland.org

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