Tuesday morning's Oregonian story on Portland Mayor Sam Adams boosting discretionary transportation spending on bicycle projects in a big way generated strong responses from all road users.



The story showed how Adams, with the way he has divided the city's pot of uncommitted transportation funds, has kept his promise to build up infrastructure for bicycles.



Last year, the mayor increased the amount allocated for bicycle projects from just 1 percent to 17 percent, a move that he bragged about at a recent Bicycle Transportation Alliance fundraiser. (Actually, he mistakenly said it jumped from 4 percent and was going to happen until this year.)





Most of the phone calls, emails and online comments in response to the story have come from Portland residents who would prefer the money go toward paving projects, especially on the myriad dirt streets that still exist.

Paul Mooring, president of the

, praised the article for giving readers an insight into “the politics that surround this city and it's transportation.”

He sent photos of the unpaved section of Northeast Skidmore Street outside his house. There's one to the left.

“My wife keeps encouraging me to make a documentary video and send it to the Mayor," he wrote. "The potholes don't seem to deter people from driving fast and many peds have literally had to jump out of the way. I'm not sure how that doesn't factor into the Mayor's call for safety.”

, many readers repeated their calls to charge bike commuters an annual fee to use the roads.

“I support funding for bike improvements, but I think we have arrived at a time where bicyclists need to pay into the pot through user fees, to which they do not pay any,”

wrote on OregonLive, where the story had received more than 170 comments Tuesday morning.

For years, bicycle advocates have been urging the mayor to dedicate a bigger chunk of discretionary spending into bike projects. But many were frustrated by the story showing how Adams had done it.

“Feels like you rounded up the villagers, riled them up, handed out pitchforks, & pushed them towards the mayor's office,”

of

, a bike-project consulting firm contracted by the city.

Gerik Kransky, whose Twitter profile reads “advocate, organizer, and a person who rides bikes,”

: “I want to thank @MayorSamAdams for his commitment to bikes. RT if you agree.” Several did retweet.

Some bicycle riders didn’t like how the story featured the opinions of people filling up their tanks at an East Portland gas station (all discretionary transportation funds come from gas taxes and parking revenue) but had no comments from bicycle commuters.

that he wished there were interviews with “bicyclists filling up their gas tanks and pedestrians at food carts.”

“Can we please remember that driving is a privilege, not a right? Says so in drivers' manual,”

.

Rob Sadowsky, executive director of the

Bicycle Transportation Alliance

, thought the story could have been more clear about a basic fact: The vast majority of Portland’s transportation funding benefits motorists, while bicycle programs “continue to fight for crumbs.”

Sadowsky, who noted that he and other bike commuters are among the drivers filling up their cars with $4-a-gallon gas, sent this thoughtful response via email:

However, in the story, Adams does comment that "the vast majority" still go to motor vehicle projects.

Andrew Wiley, a driver who is “pleased with having a substantial portion of my gas taxes go toward bike lanes and sidewalks,” said motorists need to stop whining about the way the city spends its transportation dollars.

“Rather than finding the nearest bus, train, or (gasp!) bike lane,” Wiley wrote in an email, “we’re treated to another parade of complainers who think it’s Sam Adams fault that theres turmoil in the Middle East and that speculators in Chicago keep running up futures prices for crude oil.”

Over at Bike Portland, editor Jonathan Maus was worried about the conflicts that the story might cause.

“Hey @Oregonian, @pdxcommute and (Oregonian City Hall reporter) Brad Schmidt... ever stop to consider that maybe bikes are so "polarizing" bcuz of your coverage?”

The article explained how general transportation revenue is on the rise because of the gas-tax hike and other driver fees linked to HB 2001. The story also detailed Adams’ push to build more sidewalks, with more than 30 percent of discretionary funding going into that effort over the next year.

Here's a look the bike and pedestrian projects set to get discretionary funding in the next city transportation budget. (Excel Spreadsheet)



As an added bonus, here is the Portland Bureau of Transportation's As an added bonus, here is the Portland Bureau of Transportation's

(PDF)





. In response to the article, Mirk focused on the raw revenue estimates growing as a result of HB 2001 and federal stimulus. Naturally, the numbers show that the amount spent on cars has increased. But so has the money for bikes, transit and pedestrians.

Mirk summarizes: “So, yes, the percent of the city's transportation money spent on cars has decreased while the percent spent on bikes has increased. But overall, nothing has been ‘slashed’—there's more money for both modes.”

Yes, the coffers are fuller. The story wasn't about the size of the pie, but the size of the pieces.

As the graphic above shows, the amount of discretionary spending that the city is putting toward motor vehicle projects has been slashed, cut, chiseled (whatever you want to call it) by 22 percent.

This year, it's about $9 million. If those projects were getting the same percentage as the year before, it would be $11 million. That's $2 million less being spent on motor vehicle projects than if the percentages had stayed the same.

As a result, there's even more money for bikes.

Again, isn't that what bicycle advocates wanted the mayor to do?