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Rider Spotlight: Logan Bowers' Journey To Seattle City Council

One of Seattle’s most important seats in city government might soon be held by an electric unicycle rider.

Logan Bowers

For Seattle City Council, District 3

When I heard about Logan, I knew I had to meet him. I’ve had plenty of discussions about micromobility with city-level politicians, but most officials’ realm of knowledge and talking points revolve around the recent rise of rental-model scooters and bikes. But Logan is not only familiar with electric unicycles- he rides them daily and truly understands the huge positive impact EUCs can have in an exploding urban population like Seattle.

My trek from San Diego up to the great Pacific Northwest was not an unfamiliar one. It just so happens that Logan is in the running to represent Seattle District 3 which includes the very neighborhood in which I spent 9 years of my adult life. Capitol Hill is where I saw my very first Solowheel cruising down down Olive Street; where I learned to ride my own wheel.

VIDEO: Meet Logan

Coming back to Seattle as a visitor instead of a resident was very surreal. I had been away for about 2 years at this point, and at the rate Seattle is growing, there were many unrecognizable sights to behold. The signs of continued explosive growth are obvious, but even with high rise construction at times even out-pacing any other US city including NYC, the non-stop flurry of construction cannot be completed fast enough to accommodate the demand. Gentrification has had a high impact on District 3 (especially Capitol Hill), and Seattle is in the middle of a housing crisis.

Of course more people also means more congestion on the streets, sidewalks, and on the various transit options. If you live in Seattle and need to commute via car, you likely consider Seattle to be in a traffic crisis as well. We all know that cars (especially single occupancy!) are the least efficient way to move a high volume of people through a dense urban area, yet not enough people truly have safe, workable options to choose mass transit instead of braving the highway. Seattle has made some excellent strides with light rail with the wildly successful line extension that passes directly through Logan’s District, but even with the already approved & funded massive ST3 expansion that will make some desperately-needed neighborhood connections, the projected completion date is laughably distant. Seattle needs to think about what can be done right now.

What I like about Logan’s Campaign As A EUC Rider

Logan’s objectives revolve around making Seattle’s systems work for everyone. In terms of transportation, He says he wants to improve access to mass transit, but also improve safety and ease of use for pedestrian travel as well.

However, the truly meaningful stances Logan takes that will affect any electric unicycle rider (or micromobility user) are his desires to improve bike infrastructure. Parts of Seattle have had some state of the art, protected bike lanes installed over recent years, but much of it remains disjointed, and many (most?) neighborhoods are completely lacking any network of protected lanes whatsoever. Logan understands that many people choose a car for their commute or short trip because they feel too unsafe on a bike if they have to ride in an unprotected lane for much of their journey. With a goal of adding and connecting all of the safe corridors, more families can feel safe bringing their kids for a ride as well. Riding a bike or scooter around town should not be a harrowing experience!

Better & more bike lanes is an obvious benefit for us EUC riders as well - especially when you consider Logan is an advocate for making and keeping bike corridors all-inclusive. Because in the end, it’s all about choice. Personally, I’d like to see bike lanes across the world renamed to “Rolling Lanes” because it’s clear to me that the future of micromobility is much bigger than just bicycles. Electric scooters, boards, and unicycles are here to stay, and the faster local governments can react by providing safe spaces for riders to use them, the less friction everyone will experience… and the sooner more people will be encouraged to leave the car at home.

 

If you’d like to learn more about Logan Bower’s campaign for Seattle City Council, you can visit his website: www.votelogan.org

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