Bike lanes, bicycle boulevards, bike commuting, and more are highlighted in this NBC Nightly News video about Portland, Oregon and other progressive cities in the U.S.:

So much of life these days comes back to the price of gas, the high cost of simply getting around, which is why, any number of American cities and towns… are following the example of Portland, Oregon.

Construction is still underway on Detroit’s Dequindre Cut Greenway.  Light posts and emergency call boxes are still being installed.  It appears the trail surface base is ready for paving.  The Antietam bridge has not been completed and it appears to still require considerable work.

Will it be ready for the planned grand opening in August?  We hope so.

The Oakland Press reported about Michigan’s Governor commuting by bike to the State Capitol:

Gov. Jennifer Granholm is riding her bike to work a couple of times a week, an example of a way she says Michigan consumers can save money.

The 49-year-old governor lives just southwest of the city center, about 3 miles from her office near the state Capitol. She rode her blue bike to work Wednesday, accompanied by her security detail.

The state Department of Transportation is looking at state roads to figure out where it would be safe to add bike lanes and is planning to expand park-and-ride lots and add more, since some are at capacity as more drivers carpool to save money, Granholm said.

Heather Newman of the Free Press also blogged on this:

Granted, Granholm’s three-mile commute isn’t exactly a grueling workout. But most of us make plenty of short trips - to the dry cleaners, or the local supermarket/convenience store, or the movie rental place - that we could probably reach easily on a bike. Or walk to, for that matter.

It’d save a little gas, and it might add a few calories to our daily workout. It’d cut down just a bit on our personal smog emissions. But more importantly, it’d contribute to giving us all a more healthy, active lifestyle - one fueled by the recognition that our legs can, in fact, take us to meaningful places.

As we posted earlier, the Detroit police will soon enforce a 1964 ordinance requiring all bicyclists within Detroit to have a licensed bike.

As expected, the Detroit News published a follow up article:

Detroit Police spokesman James Tate insisted the reason for enforcing the obscure ordinance is not to fine bicyclists.

“We’re trying to get people to register their bikes,” Tate said. “We’ve got hundreds of bikes piled up with no way of knowing who they belong to. The idea isn’t to start handing out tickets to little kids on tricycles.”

If the Detroit Police are seriously concerned about returning stolen bikes, why aren’t they using the National Bike Registry system? The National Bike Registry does provide a way of finding the owners of stolen bikes — and it does it on a nationwide basis.

Unfeasible to Enforce

Yesterday we spoke with attorney Michael Salhaney, who represents the City of Birmingham. We discussed the state law that allows cities to register bikes. He concurred that the state law requires appropriate signs through out the city, making bicycle license enforcement “unfeasible.”

Unreasonable Expectation

Also, as Dustin commented earlier, imagine if all cities started enforcing similar registrations? It’s an unreasonable expectation for cyclists to visit the police station of each city they ride through to register their bike. And it’s even more unreasonable in Detroit since the bike licenses are only for sale Mondays through Friday from 9am until 5pm.

Note that riding an unlicensed bike to the police to get it registered is against Detroit’s city ordinance.

A Better Solution

A much better solution for registering stolen bikes is to use the National Bike Registry, especially since the advent of craigslist and eBay mean stolen bikes are less likely to stay in the city where they were stolen. Cyclists can register their bike on a nationwide basis for roughly $1 per year. Or, they can pay 99 cents to register a recently stolen bicycle, which is a no-brainer.

It’s also critical that cyclists record the make, model, color, and serial number of their bikes. In case a bike is stolen, this is invaluable information that make it more likely the bike can be found. Bike serial numbers are typically found underneath the bottom bracket, where the pedals go through the bike frame.

If you have a camera, you may want to take some photos of the bike and serial number. They may come in useful in case it’s ever stolen.

Another part of the solution? The Detroit Police should set up an account with the National Bike Registry so they can clear out their “hundreds and hundreds” of recovered bikes.