Rob Sadowsky, Bicycle Transportation Alliance’s new director, looks ahead to the organization’s next 20 years
By Israel Bayer
Staff Writer
The Bicycle Transportation Alliance is 20 years old this year. The organization has helped foster a bicycle movement in Portland that is looked at as one of the most forward thinking in the country.
In the past decade the organization has gone through tremendous change, tripling its budget and helping foster pro-cycling policies in Portland and legislation for Oregonians across the state. Among their work, the BTA has helped pass legislation, from lower speed limits on specific residential streets to stricter rules to protect pedestrians and cyclists injured by motorists convicted of careless driving.
In short, the BTA has been a leading voice in creating a movement that continues to grow and have influence locally and around the region.
The organization has also gone through a tremendous amount of change and staff turnover. Some critics say the BTA is soft and too close to those in power; others say it’s too dogmatic. The organization recently hired a new executive director, Rob Sadowsky, who led the Active Transportation Alliance in Chicago for the past six years. He also serves on the national boards of the Alliance for Biking and Walking and the League of American Bicyclists.
Sadowsky has more than 23 years of experience in nonprofits, mostly working on affordable housing and economic development issues. He offers a fresh perspective for the BTA and Portland on a range of subjects, which was clear from the moment our conversation began.
Israel Bayer: Can you talk about some of the program work the BTA does and how it’s benefiting the community?
Rob Sadowsky: There are three main areas that we work on. The first is advocacy around creating the best network that can be there for cycling. Be it bike lanes, bike corrals, parking facilities — just encouraging all of our local partners like the Bureau of Transportation to do the best that they can.
The second thing is around safety and education to both encourage people to look at bicycling as an option whether it’s for getting healthy and physical fitness or environmental reasons or both.
The third is trying to build a movement around bicycling so that it becomes an integrated part of our culture and who we are.
On the advocacy side we’re doing a lot of activity to try to move the Bike Portland 2030 Plan. It’s a very bold bicycle plan the city recently passed. We’re trying to keep the heat on and make sure the city is taking the proper steps in partnership with us to raise money for the plan. On the face, it seems expensive, but in the world of transportation dollars, it’s not expensive at all.
On bicycle safety and education we’re focusing on a lot of education in schools trying to encourage kids and parents to bike or walk instead of using cars. We’re also working through both policy and legislative means to try to create the safest streets possible.
For example, I’m representing the bicycling community on Tri-Met’s Safety Task Force that is looking top to bottom on how Tri-Met could change the culture of safety so that we don’t has as many accidents, etc. in the community.
Then around the movement, Portland and the state are really blessed in terms of its integrated movement. We have events and activities every single night. We have representation in a variety of communities from folks who “zoo bomb” to the people that do parties and “coffees” on the bridges to individuals that want to get formally involved in something.
One of the things we’re exploring is what role we (the BTA) play in building that movement. Having a place to share ideas is important and when the movement needs to speak with one voice, we are prepared.
I.B.: Tell us more about Bike 2030. The way it’s been framed in the public is that it’s all this money, but if you look at the larger context of transportation dollars, it’s really not a lot when you’re thinking about the various impacts this plan would leverage.
R.S. Currently, around 8 to 9 percent of our trips to work in Portland are by bicycling. The plan itself, as far as its price tag, is not 8 or 9 percent of the overall transportation budget. The reality is if we want to serve the existing market of cycling we need to do better than what we are doing now.
The goal is to get a much higher percentage. If we can get to 25 percent of people using bikes to travel to work, school, the store, etc., then we will have less cars on the street, which will be better for people who are driving because there will be less congestion. We’re going to remove a significant amount of carbon from our atmosphere. Increasing cycling will serve as a key tool in our climate change plans. And in addition, we’re going to have more healthy adults and children because they will be exercising. All three are great goals and have economic impact.
For example, if we get people moving by bicycling that’s going to have a reduction in our public health care costs. If you just build another road you don’t have any public health benefits. None.
There are also win-win benefits for the larger community. A bicycling lane will slow traffic down by two to three miles per hour. That’s a benefit to people who may not even be bikers — kids and parents, neighborhoods, people with disabilities and pedestrians. We need to do a better job across the board at selling the benefits of biking to the non-biking community.
The environment is part of that. When we combine treatment such as bioswales and water treatment with bicycle lanes we’re going to see a benefit.
I.B.: For the readers who are still confused about bioswales. Can you explain what a bioswale is and how it connects with bicycling?
R.S.: If you look at any road right now, rainwater gets into that road and goes straight into the gutter and goes straight into the sewer system. There’s a lot of junk that goes with that water; oil, petrochemicals, etc. That water then has to get filtrated, which costs a lot of money, before it can come back into the system or into rivers. A bioswale takes that water before it goes into the sewer and filter it through natural plant growth (plants have a natural filtration system) along side roads. If you catch that water before it goes down into the sewer system through a bioswale process you can reduce your sewage filtration costs significantly and make it easier. It’s not just pretty plants along the road.
Where it intersects with cycling is that we’re sharing a lot of that same space. A bioswale is created right alongside the roadway and we have an opportunity to create bicycle lanes at the same time you create the bioswale. While you’re designing and engineering this plan, it makes sense to do both at the same time. If you come back 10 years later and design one or the other for the same space, it’s another expense that could have been avoided.
I.B.: You’ve been here six weeks. Is Portland welcoming you? Has the mayor and other players sat down with you and talked strategy?
R.S. Portland has been great in welcoming me. The mayor and I have met briefly, but I’ve been meeting with his chief of staff and transportation folks to get to know them. We have been exploring a benchline about how we can work together. There will be times when we are pushing them and times when we are working together. And it’s the same case regionally.
The mayor has communicated that it’s important for us to be on the edge and pushing because he needs to be able to do his job and hear from his constituents. We’re going to hold him to that.
I.B.: What can we do in areas where urban poverty and the lack of transportation are colliding and driving down people’s quality of life?
R.S. It’s a question of where is housing, where are the jobs and are those linked? Often it’s a mismatch for people who are living in underserved communities because they don’t have the same kind of resources.
It’s important for us to focus on transit-oriented development — looking to create these economic bases and job centers. It’s our job to encourage Tri-Met, when looking at new and existing bus and train lines, to look at that job mix and how they can be a tool for transit-oriented development. We have to be looking for small and large businesses to locate in areas that people can access for economic opportunity. All of this benefits the cycling community, because bike lanes are a great way to link people in underserved communities to a transit system.
Bicycling can be perceived as a privileged activity. In reality, when you look at who is actually biking, you see a much different picture. You see people who have no access to a car or money for a bus, cycling to work or to find work. They are not as blatantly out there. They don’t have the bike tattoo or the fixed-gear bike. Some might be riding on the sidewalk because they feel safer. They might not be as visually stunning because they’re everyday people. But they are there and riding bikes. And as you are aware, a bicycle and trailer for many people have become a home.
How can we at BTA approach this assertively? It’s something we want to be doing better. We want to be thinking strategically about partnerships and relationships to help people in underserved communities to fill a gap that’s missing through transportation. We want to be working more effectively with churches, social-service agencies, and partnering more with the Community Cycling Center in ways that can build on both of our skill sets. Also understanding the areas of the city that are limiting. There are pockets of Portland that don’t want to talk about homeless or bicycling issues. We need to be creative and sophisticated in our approach. We need to know how to communicate with people, whether we’re talking a foreign language or people that are blue collar and don’t want to feel preached at. We have to realize that the individual with a pick-up truck who is using his vehicle to transfer materials for their labor isn’t going to be able to achieve some of these goals. So we have to be able to talk with people at the ground level and get people interested in ways they can be engaged in bicycling.
I.B.: When you look at how organizations, events and news on how bicycling is promoted and covered in Portland, I don’t see a whole lot of diversity. What’s that about? I know it’s there.
R.S. There’s some diversity in Portland that you’re not seeing in other cities in terms of age and body style, which is exciting. I see older women bicycling in Portland that I would never see in Chicago.
It’s simple. Portland needs to come to terms with becoming an urban metropolis. And that means Portland has to wake up. If you look at the percentage of children in Portland public schools who are minorities, that number is pretty significant. These young people are Portland’s future. We have to embrace new ways of thinking and cultures in Portland, period.
What does that look like? Does that mean bike-to-worship programs where people can be active and excited about getting to and from church? There are all kinds of ways that we can be doing better in terms of equity and diversity. Internally, we are starting our strategic planning process and are looking at all of these things ranging from our hiring practices to board development to being more inclusive of the community. It’s also something we have to do citywide.
I.B.: Anything that you would like to add?
R.S.: I think we have really turned a corner. This last year has been one of introspection and figuring out who we really are, and organizationally we are beginning to shine some light on what we are and what we can be. We are trying to take steps that are proactive, smart and creative, and not being afraid of risk.
We try to represent the community in a way that is smart and reasonable. There’s such a great diversity within the bicycling movement from folks that want us to be out there screaming and locking our necks to a desk at City Hall. We have just as many people asking us not to scream at all. We are working to find that voice that makes sense for a better Portland.