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Getting around Portland

There has been a little bit going on with Transportation around Portland recently.

One cool thing that I found is ByCycle. They have made a really cool trip planner that supports Portland. You can use it to find and map bike routes. It contains the Metro "Bike There" map, mashed up with Google Maps and a route planning algorythm. Pretty cool, check it out and play with the trip planner a bit.

The funding for the new Willamette bridge from Riverplace (area) to OMSI (area) for the Milwaukie MAX and Eastside streetcar loop passed. The new bridge will also have very good bicycle and pedestrian access. This will be very good for southeast Portland, and eventually the MAX line is to run to Oregon City. I am sure we will be seeing more on this in the short term future. This comes hot on the heels of news about MAX exceeding ridership records.

Good job legislators, now lets get the Sellwood bridge rebuilt.

I came across a site called GoLoco which could be a great tool for carpooling. It allows you to set up routes, manage fund/cost sharing, review and rate carpool partners, and manage travel profiles. This could be a really handy tool for carpooling for school, work, or events!

Portland ranks high in the USA for bicycle trips. We have the highest percentage of bicycle commuters in the country, and we are ranked in the top 5 for bicycle friendliness. We are #1 in the USA for number of trips made by bicycle. The city of Portland is working on improving that ( even if the Portland Police Bureau thinks otherwise), and so is Metro. But despite all that, we are REALLY behind most european cities.

And finally, starting August 15th, every diesel pump in the City of Portland will be pumping 5% biodiesel blended with 95% regular diesel. This will clean up some of our diesel emissions, and help keep some of our fuel money local. The law has strict requirements about how much biodiesel must be made locally, and what it may be made from. Most of the biodiesel required to meet this demand can be made from recycled restaurant fryer oil. But displacing 5% of our imported fuel is a good start, and the cleaner emissions doesn't hurt either. As long as biofuels are produced locally and sustain-ably, they are a good thing. Portland is on the right track by not only using the fuel but being careful about how we get it.

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