In the Pacific Northwest, the municipal powers-that-be are catching on that it’s no fun at all to ride a bike through a slippery pile of wet leaves. Actually, it’s kind of terrifying. But big, car-lane-sized street sweepers can’t do the delicate work of getting leaves out of protected bike lanes.

So, Portland bought a smaller, bike-lane-sized street sweeper to do the job, according to Bike Portland:

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The RAVO sweeper is shorter, narrow, and easier to maneuver than the other sweepers in PBOT’s fleet. We have yet to see the new sweeper in action, but we did spot it parked inside the City’s Albina Maintenance Yard. In the photo below you can see how the RAVO compares to another one of PBOT’s sweepers. It comes in at 105-inches tall, 89-inches wide (7.4 feet), and 178-inches long.

Now, not to be outdone, Seattle is getting one, too. And after they’re done sweeping up leaves, they’re going to FIGHT.

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