(Photo: Port of Portland)
The Portland International Airport has unveiled a new perk for people who travel with their bicycles: A bike assembly station.
PDX has been working to make this idea a reality for over two years, after the idea sprang forth during a brainstorming session at the 2008 Oregon Bike Summit. As we reported back in October of that year, PDX modeled their new facility after bike assembly areas at airports in New Zealand and British Columbia.
According to Jason Gately with the Port of Portland, the new bike assembly station offers a workstand with two clamps, basic tools (pedal wrench, pump, etc…), and maps and other literature about biking resources in the region. Airport employees who bike to work are also expected to take advantage of the new workstation. Tools are loaned out through the Welcome Oregon kiosk. Here’s a close-up of the sign inside the assembly station:
Travel Oregon partnered with the Port on the project, seeing the facility as a way to make bike tourism more appealing and convenient. Gately sees PDX as a “natural gateway” for biking and says, “We want to promote bike tourism as much as possible.”
The bike assembly station is location on the lower terminal roadway near the TriMet MAX station. Here’s a map:
UPDATE: To answer a few of the questions in the comments, here’s more information from Rachel Wray, Environmental Outreach Manager with Portland of Portland:
The assembly station is available 24/7. The State Welcome Center is staffed from about 8:00am – 10:00pm (I need to verify the hours, but they certainly cover our busiest times). During those hours, there is someone available to lend basic bicycle assembly tools. This feature is brand new, so it’s a work in progress, but the plan is to check out tools as a courtesy in exchange for a piece of ID (drivers license). Travel Oregon will assess how this goes and adjust the check-out process as needed.