Incursio

For those of you thinking on relocating to Tennessee be forewarned that Tennessee does not have a "Department of Motor Vehicles" per say. They have a Drivers Services division of the Tennessee Department of Safety.  This is where you get your Tennessee drivers license. Each county (Tennessee has 95 of them) has a County Clerk.  That is where you register your vehicles. The state also has a Department of Revenue division which is where you have to go to get a temporary tag for a vehicle if for any reason there is a problem with any paperwork when you try to title or register a vehicle. Some cities and jurisdictions in the state have vehicle inspections, which can be either emissions testing or safety inspections, or both.  This testing varies by jurisdiction, which could be a city or a county.  Testing requirements also vary by jurisdiction (some times by neighborhood within the jurisdiction) regarding which vehicles need which inspections. Oh, OK.  BUT...

It has been too long since I posted, so I will kick off my return with this helpful Venn diagram I created today after walking to and from my office:

I recognize that you only drive into "the city" to work or go to a special event.  No big deal. But "the city" is also a neighborhood.  I live in "the city", so do my family and pets. So when you come in to "the city" and drive like a jackass on your way to work - you put me and my family in danger. I'll tell you what.  When you drive in to work in "the city" slow down a little, watch for crosswalks and children and pets.  And I won't drive out to the burbs and haul ass around your neighborhood. I would be really angry if you killed my child while they were walking to the bus - just because you were frustrated that you and all your suburban friends clogged up the freeways with single occupancy vehicles - and you decided to take a short cut through "the city" at high rates of speed. Just because the buildings are taller than three stories doesn't mean people don't live here.   Respect my neighborhood and I...

Unless GMC is sneaking out plug-in Yukons, this person needs a ticket and reading lessons...

Only 1 million payments of $4000 each!

From a recent article in New York Magazine: New York’s streets are getting new ownership. Lane by lane, curb cut by parking space, in steps so scattered and incremental that they hardly get noticed, people on foot are wresting control of the asphalt from those behind the wheel. and the basic unit of urban life: the street. There, lifestyles intersect and city dwellers co-exist with people different from themselves. It’s where we learn toleration, where leisure shares space with urgency, commerce with activism, baby carriages with handcarts. When it is narrowed by garbage or overwhelmed by traffic, then the street reverts to its most primitive use: as a corridor. But a truly public place allows people to move at many different paces, or not to move at all. The article talks about Robert Moses. Who was Robert Moses ? He was an extremely powerful developer and politician for four decades in New York City. BikePortland has an i nteresting article and subsequent discussion about...

On Thursday night this last week, I had to drive into Tigard and Beaverton (two cities on Portland's west side) during the night time. I was amazed to see that a major construction project on Oleson Rd. was running during the night! Oleson Rd. is a very valuable connector in the hilly southwest part of the metro area. It has been undergoing a redesign and repaving project for what seems like forever. But it runs almost 100% through residential neighborhoods. There is almost zero non-residential property actually on Oleson. But Sunday through Thursday nights, they are working through the nights on the road. With bright lights and loud equipment. Many, probably hundreds, of homes are within mere feet of the road construction. As they widened the road, the yards of these homes shrunk considerably. Lots of the homes are now within one dog-leash of the new sidewalks. And there are significantly more homes in close proximity. So apparently those communities would rather no...

A Portland Police officer sitting on the SE 9th Ave Pedestrian overpass clocks people coming off the Ross Island Bridge onto SE Powell Blvd. There were about 6 officers waiting down on 9th to take off and pull over the offenders. Here is the spot on Google Maps: View Larger Map

This morning I was walking by Starbucks in Portland on MLK next to the Burgerville and the Convention Center. I decided I would like a Tazo and a pastry, so I stopped. The parking lot was completely empty, but the line in the "drive" through had at least 5 cars in it. As I walked through the empty parking lot to the door, I looked at the shiny new white Chevy Tahoe SUV - the last in line. I went inside, decided I wanted one of their breakfast sandwiches instead of a pastry. They had to prepare it in their toaster thingy so it took a couple minutes. I paid, waited for the sandwich. They called my name, I took my sandwich and tea, and walked out the front door. The lady in the white Tahoe was not even up to the ordering microphone yet. If $4.50 gas won't encourage a person in a 14mpg vehicle to turn off the engine and walk inside - then there is not much we can do to get people to change their habits. I see this all the time walking downtown. A person will gu...

What motivation would you need to spend 4 billion dollars on one single highway project, 4 billion dollars on one single 5 mile stretch of highway. 4 billion dollars on one single project that would be considered the single most expensive public works project ever in the history of the Pacific Northwest? Would one of the nation's worst traffic bottlenecks qualify? I mean if you were going to spend twice the city of Portland's annual budget one one single project - would a nationally known and recognized traffic bottleneck be a good place to do so? If you wanted to spend four times the State of Oregon's education budget on a single 5 mile stretch of highway - would you want to cure something that was pretty bad - I mean really bad? If you were going to ignore peak oil, or climate change, or air pollution, or gas price trends, or vehicle miles traveled trends, or economic advice - and build one single massive project that is likely to suck up regional transportation fu...

You could think these are from Portland, what with all our bike culture and whatnot... Cincinatti, Ohio. Atlanta, Georgia.

Here is a real interesting counter. You can look in "real time" how many people and how much money is lost due to automobile crashes in the Pacific Northwest (Washington, Oregon, Idaho, and British Columbia). Car Crashes, By the Numbers (counter)

Take this quick test: Consider this little test if you have friends or loved ones who ride bicycles or walk. Drive Safe...

I would like to take a minute to mention that I have had a few very good successes with some services that the City of Portland provides. If you see a traffic hazard that the city can fix - you can report it by calling (503)823-SAFE . The city has been real good about responding. They fixed the problem I reported in under three days! But there has to be a legitimate problem. You call, leave your name and information and a description of the problem on their answering system. If they need more info they will contact you. Once again, that number is (503)823-SAFE (503)823-7233 . If you have a parking concern. Such as cars parked across a sidewalk, bike lane, or a driveway - you can call parking enforcement . (503)823-5195. I even called them after hours and left a message and there was a response! If you see Graffiti anywhere in Portland, you can report it to the Graffiti Abatement office . Usually it will be removed promptly... I have had good results with them as wel...

Pssst. Hey You. Yeah, you. My reader. It is time to raise the Oregon gas tax . Now go tell your friend(s)...

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 gre...

Portland police have lately been operating "stings" against bicyclists. They have been watching for things like not staying within bicycle lanes or not coming to complete stops at stop signs (including putting your foot down). They have been targeting areas like SE Clinton around 26th, Ladd's Circle, the area between OMSI & the Springwater Corridor, the area on the east side of the Broadway bridge, and several others. (Google "Portland bicycle enforcement action" to find lots of reports). I have personally seen the ones between OMSI and the Springwater corridor, including one tonight. Often these "stings" will use massive amounts of manpower, the one at Ladd's Circle had at times six to ten officers on motorcycles and in cruisers. Tonight there were two motorcycle cops issuing citations. According to Jeremy Van Keuren, Public Advocate for the office of the Mayor Tom Potter: "In an average month, the Traffic Division will issue ...

American diesel fans get screwed... OK, maybe we don't get screwed. But we do have it tough. After having owned a Volkswagen TDI diesel for three years, and enjoying the torquey motor with regular mileage in the 45 to 50 mpg range - I really like my diesel cars... Currently we drive a Jeep Liberty CRD, which is powered by a 2.8L common rail diesel engine. It is a great vehicle. Extremely capable in many areas, it's 30mpg on the highway is not too shabby for a vehicle of it's type. And it's 300 pounds of torque really make towing fun. In fact, the CRD simply feels like it is not happy unless it is climbing or towing. Now, where am I going with this? Well. What do we have currently for diesel options in the USA? Mostly big trucks - which not only are really big - are expensive since the diesel options only come in the heavy duty versions. Volkswagen offers diesel in several of their passenger cars. There is the Mercedes E 3 series with diesel power, althou...