Metro Senior Transportation Planner Matthew Hampton explains the evolution of the Bike There! map. Metro's Bike There! map has a long legacy stretching back, not decades, but more than a century.
On Thursday, May 6, Metro Senior Transportation Planner Matthew Hampton took visitors behind the scenes of the Bike There! map which has its roots in the first bicycle map ever produced in the region. The year was in 1896.
That first map showed harder surface roads in Portland that were suitable for bicycles. It also showed distances in miles, higher elevations and even the locations of bike motels.
Hampton explained that the next bicycle map wasn't created until 1979. A group of Portland State University students spearheaded the production of the map for the City of Portland. The map gave every street in the city a suitability rating for bicycles, and it incorporated riding safety information and tips.
Metro's first endeavor into regional bike mapping came in 1983. With computers still years away, transportation planners crafted the map by hand, showing elevation changes with shading. The map only highlighted the good streets for cycling such as wider streets. It also showed railroad crossings and bridges along with safety information. The map was funded in part by a Federal Highway Administration program called "Bike There."
By 1995 the Bike There! map incorporated bikes lanes and ramps. Different colors now reflected the suitability ratings of streets and, for the first time, the map showed where transit stops and centers were located.
Visitors get their first look at Metro's newest Bike There! map. Today Metro's eighth edition Bike There! map is now available at local bike shops, retail outlets and the Metro Store. This map is the biggest yet, expanded to show more of the region from Salmon Creek, Washington stretching south to Canby, and from Henry Hagg Lake in western Washington County across to Sandy on the east side. The new map also features insets of 21 local cities as well as downtown Portland that are aimed at commuters who use two wheels rather than four.
The latest Bike There! map has other improvements suggested by a range of people: both avid riders and those new to cycling as well as long-time residents and people who recently moved to the area. Hampton explained that by watching how the groups used the map, planners realized the need to simplify the map's legend so that safer, more suitable routes were easier to identify. They also learned that bike lanes don't necessarily make a street the best option. Those lanes are often incorporated into busier streets and bicyclists said they feel more comfortable taking a less crowded road.
The new Bike There! map still includes transit centers, elevation markers and railroad track crossings but it also shows when a street is one way or goes uphill. The safety information has been updated and simplified, providing helpful advice and rules of the road for everyone from the amateur, recreational rider to the veteran cyclist as they travel through the region.
The Bike There! map is durable and waterproof, and it sells for $9. Hampton said back in 1896 the first Portland bike map sold for 50 cents, however if adjusted for inflation, the cost would be $12.77 today.
Join us on Thursday, May 13 from 4 to 6 p.m. in the Metro Regional Center plaza as we celebrate National Bike Month and the release of the latest Bike There! map. The event will feature local media celebrities battling in a goldsprint cycling competition, free bike tune-ups and other fun activities.