This Week in the Mercury
Friday, December 5, 2008
Bikes PDOT Makes Janky, Pastel-Colored Graphs
Posted by Sarah Mirk on Fri, Dec 5, 2008 at 2:15 PM
A few months ago, I rode through an intersection near the Franz Bread Factory and noticed a man off to the side, staring at me and scribbling something in a notebook. I stopped and asked him, "What are you doing?" "Watching you," he replied, revealing his Portland Department of Transportation credentials. For months, PDOT staff, volunteers and various robots have meticulously watched bikers at key intersections and recorded their every ride across the Hawthorne, Broadway, Burnside and Steel bridges.
The result of this massive undertaking? This little graph apparently composed using Microsoft Paint! 
I think its charming. It's quaint. It reminds me of when the internet first came out and every website was all sparkles and animated unicorns.
Of course, there's also a big report about the study's findings (bike use in Portland is up 28 percent this year! Thirty two percent of bikers are women!) that Amy analyzed a while ago, but since it lacks an easter egg color scheme it is bland and uninteresting.
In other bike news, in San Francisco they are trying to make adult tricycles cool. This despite the fact that adult tricycles manage to make even hottie SF mayor Gavin Newsom look like a complete tool:
This plan will fail because no one will be able to bring themselves to say, out loud, that they indeed ride an ADULT TRICYCLE.
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they should use empressr @ http://www.empressr.com/ its a free online power point killer. It has good charting tools.
Microsoft Paint? more like Mario Paint! oh BURN!
My brother rides an adult tricycle at the sewer treatment plan where he works.
'Nuff said.
I used to have a job where I'd deliver books in an awesome adult tricycle with a massive cart on it. The storage space on that thing was amazing and it was so fun (if kind of slow) to ride.
I ride an adult trike with pride! It is my version of the mini van since my kids and a ton of groceries (among other things) can and do ride with me. At least I am not ride a mid life crisis fixie.
Are you hearing this government agencies?!?!?!
2 words: edward tufte
Oh if only we could go back to those innocent days of playful ignorance of design or aesthetics. As for the adult tricycle, it just needs some good marketing. It could be renamed the "Radcycle" or the "Dudecycle". Obviously I'm not the person for this job.
"This plan will fail because no one will be able to bring themselves to say, out loud, that they indeed ride an ADULT TRICYCLE": Hold that thought, sweetheart. You'll be among the tricycle-riding demographic before you know it.
I think a good name could be THE TRICLONE: X-tra wheels are X-treme!
I know at least one hipster who is already pushing the adult tricycle trend. My friend Dave claims that it's better for riding to and from the bar because a) he doesn't have to lock it b) girls can ride comfortably on the back c) it doesn't fall over if he blacks out while riding it. I've witnessed all three of these claims proved hilariously wrong, but you've gotta admire his spunk.
...and yes. PDOT is awesome in so many ways, but their graphic presence is frequently an embarrassment. It's really a shame. Gabe's right. Mandatory Tufte classes for the whole lot of 'em!
Leslie and The Badgers
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