Cycling in Portland, Oregon

[11] Portland's reputation as a bike-friendly City was enhanced by The Yellow Bike Project, a 1994 civic engagement action led by local activists Tom O'Keefe, Joe Keating and Steve Gunther.

[citation needed] O'Keefe proposed painting donated bikes – repaired by at-risk-youth served by the Community Cycling Center – bright yellow, and deploying them for free use around Portland.

O'Keefe cited the Provo movement's White Bicycle Plan in Amsterdam as inspiration after watching the documentary "Sex Drugs & Democracy".

The first project of the BTA was persuading TriMet, the regional transit agency, to carry bicycles on its buses and light rail trains.

BTA gathered over 7000 signatures and the support of numerous local city councils, prompting TriMet to conduct a one-year trial on a few bus lines.

[23] An important milestone in Portland's utility cycling infrastructure was the expansion of the sidewalks of Hawthorne Bridge in 1997, which significantly improved the safety and ease of bicycle commuting across the Willamette River.

[25][26][27] In recent years, the City of Portland has built personal motor-vehicle free bridges for pedestrians and cyclists whose commute crosses busy interstates or the Willamette river, and need a safe route.

[31] The following table shows Portland's historical bike commuting mode share with data coming from the Census Bureau's annual American Community Survey:[32][33][34][35]