City boosts bike buses with new markings, signage – BikePortland

What’s better than rolling to school with the kiddos on a low-stress neighborhood greenway emblazoned with sharrows, 20 mph speed limit signs, speed bumps, safer crossings, and hardly any stop signs? Doing it on a route that has cool, new “Bike Bus” pavement markings and caution signs.

In the latest sign of how the rise of bike buses in Portland have influenced city policy, the Portland Bureau of Transportation debuted new signage and markings on several routes. It’s all part of a $650,000 plan (funded in part by a Metro grant) to make bike buses even better, and it’s happening just as thousands of parents, ride leaders, and students across the city head back to school on two wheels.

The pilot project will aim to educate communities about bike bus routes around nine schools: Alameda Elementary School, Abernethy Elementary School, Creston Elementary School, Glencoe Elementary School, James John Elementary School, Maplewood Elementary School, Vernon K-8 School, Vestal Elementary School and Woodstock Elementary School. In addition to the pavement markings and bright yellow “Bike Bus” signs (see below), PBOT will also install lawn signs in residential yards along routes, support school staff with positive messaging, and evaluate the project by counting traffic and conducting school surveys.

This is just one of many ways PBOT is working to make the school trip by bike better than ever. Last year they completed 55 projects near schools (including new crosswalks, sidewalks, paths, lowering speed limits, and so on) and they’ve got more planned this year.

As Portland heads back into the school season, police issued a statement yesterday saying they would have, “a visible presence in and around school zones,” the first few weeks of the year to make sure folks drive 20 mph or below. Even Mayor Keith Wilson has weighed in on the importance of being safe on the road as kids head back to class. “As is the Portland way, thousands will be walking, biking and rolling to get there, just like I did with my kids,” Wilson said in a statement yesterday. “It’s up to all of us to watch out for our students and keep them safe.”

PBOT and city leaders plan to join a bike bus in southwest Portland this Friday to help keep the momentum going.