More times than we can count, I've heard people say Portland's bike love a lot like what they have encountered in Amsterdam. But a new report out of The Netherlands shows that they really don't compare.

"The bicycle is the means of transport used most often in Amsterdam," reports Bike Europe. "Between 2005 and 2007 people in the city used their bikes on average 0.87 times a day, compared to 0.84 for their cars. This is the first time that bicycle use exceeds car use."So, how do we match up exactly? Portland transportation officials have never compiled data looking at how many times residents use a particular vehicle on a daily basis.

But Greg Raisman, a traffic safety specialist for the Portland Bureau of Transportation who recently returned from The Netherlands, guessed nearly 40 percent of Amsterdam residents use their bicycles as their primary mode of transportation.

In Utrecht, a city southeast of Amsterdam with which Reisman is building a school-safety, transportation and health information-sharing partnership, the number is 35 percent, he said.

Although bicycles account for up to 20 percent of traffic on some Portland bridges, only 8 percent of respondents in a recent transportation audit said it was their primary mode of transportation. Ten percent said it was their secondary mode.

According to the Census Bureau, about 4 percent of the city's residents say they get around primarily by bike. Raisman's problem with that number: "If you ride your bike twice a week, it's hard to reflect that when you're asked to check a single box" for a question asking how you get to work.

Portland is still leaps ahead of other U.S. Cities when it comes to bicycle commuting and infrastructure. But given our divergent cultures, histories and urban forms, it's not realistic to think think that out city will catch up to Amsterdam, Raisman said.

"But it would be a great thing to do," he said.

Well, let's see what happens when a gallon of petrol hits "$20 Per Gallon."

Check out Raisman's excellent collection of photos and videos from his traffic-geek vacation in the Netherlands, including the above movie "Slow Dance."

-- Joseph Rose; josephrose@news.oregonian.com