Year: 2015

Bike Milwaukie raises money for public bike repair stand outside City Hall

Buffered Bike Lane with a bike symbol and arrow pointing forward

This year, the city just south of Portland is getting a new light rail line and an excellent new bike path extension alongside McLoughlin Boulevard. The co-founders of the group Bike Milwaukie want to add another amenity: a public bike repair stand.

“Over the past four and a half years, we’ve gone on over 50 rides with hundreds of participants, and it’s been a lot of fun,” group co-leader Greg Bartz-Bowman explains in the Kickstarter video above. “The only thing what hasn’t been fun is that when we have that occasional breakdown, there’s nowhere in town to get your bike fixed.”

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#BetterNaito demo kicks off two-week trial of multi-use path west of Waterfront Park

Better Naito Set Up

(Photos: Greg Raisman)

Backed by a slightly bleary-eyed team of Portland State University engineering students, community volunteers and city staffers, local street redesign group Better Block PDX brought its latest city-approved demo to the easternmost lanes of Naito Parkway at 6 a.m. Friday.

The temporary treatment will convert the bike lane and rightmost mixed-traffic lane alongside Waterfront Park to a multi-use path for northbound bike traffic and for people walking.

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Weekend Event Guide: Filmed by Bike, Corkett fundraiser, fast recumbents, and more

Filmed by Bike 2012-12

The glamour, fun, and films make Filmed By Bike a special festival.
(Photo J Maus/BikePortland)

Welcome to your menu of weekend rides and events, lovingly brought to you by our friends at Hopworks Urban Brewery.

It’s quite a weekend ahead. The Naito Pilot Project opens up at rush-hour tomorrow and Filmed By Bike takes over the Hollywood area all weekend long. And for many Portlanders (including me!), Friday morning is the start of the grueling Oregon Outback, a 360+ mile ride (75% dirt) from Klamath Falls to the Columbia River.

Whatever is in your plans, have fun and enjoy the weekend.

Friday, May 22nd

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Portland’s housing supply still isn’t keeping up with population, but it’s falling behind more slowly

Screenshot 2015-05-21 at 10.34.41 AM

*2010 housing figures reflect an upward readjustment from information gathered in the decennial Census.
(Data: Census Bureau, summarized here)

After eight years of failing to add housing units nearly as fast as new residents were arriving, Multnomah County nearly kept pace in 2014, according to Census estimates released Thursday.

The shortfall in new units since 2005 has led to the country’s worst chronic shortage of rental housing in the most desirable parts of Portland as residents have competed for the largely unchanging number of homes in the central city. That’s led to rocketing home prices and rents, forcing many to live in less bikeable areas further from the urban core.

In 2014, a wave of new apartments hit the market and the City of Portland has led the region in both single-family and multifamily housing starts. The population still grew faster than the number of housing units, the Census estimated, but by a much smaller margin.

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New bill in Salem would create legislative Vision Zero task force

Buffered Bike Lane with a bike symbol and arrow pointing forward
buczek walking

SW Barbur Boulevard, a state-run street.
(Photo: M.Andersen/BikePortland)

Under a bill due for its first reading in Salem this afternoon, the state of Oregon would create a new task force to “examine strategies to reduce and eliminate traffic crashes … by a specific target date.”

House Bill 2736 would be “kind of the first step in the conversation” about a statewide Vision Zero policy, Bicycle Transportation Alliance Director Rob Sadowsky said in an interview Wednesday.

In addition to the Oregon Department of Transportation, the task force will include representatives of the Oregon Health Authority and State Police.

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Portland’s first-ever 24-hour bike count shows bike traffic on Ankeny never stops

everybikecounts

The city’s hour-by-hour count sheet.
(Photo courtesy PBOT)

Portland: the city of bikeways that never sleep.

A 24-hour count of bike traffic at the corner of Southeast Ankeny and 28th Avenue observed 2,231 bike trips from noon on Thursday, May 14 to noon on Friday, May 15. In the busiest hour, 5 to 6 p.m. on Thursday, 325 bikes went past; in the least busy, 3 a.m. to 4 a.m. on Saturday, six bikes did.

“I think one of our event volunteers said it best,” Taylor Sutton, a city worker who helped organize the first 24-hour count, said in an email Tuesday. “There’s never not a bike on Ankeny.”

Portland’s 10 years of peak-hour bike count data at dozens of locations around the city would be the envy of almost any city in the world. But those counts neglect the many commuters who don’t work traditional office hours, not to mention many of the non-work trips that account for more than 80 percent of our transportation. Sutton said the 24-hour bike count was intended as a way to enrich the city’s understanding of other hours of the day.

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Job: Service Department Mechanic – Bike Friday

Buffered Bike Lane with a bike symbol and arrow pointing forward

Job Title *
Service Department Mechanic

Company/Organization *
Bike Friday

Job Description *
Ever dream of having a job building something environmentally benign that at the end of the day you can feel good about? We are an ambitious group of people trying to do our part to make the world a better place to live. Green Gear Cycling (Bike Friday) is an internationally recognized manufacturer of high performance folding bicycles for traveling and utilitarian/commuting use. Most of our designs are the market segment benchmark product. We employ lean manufacturing techniques (Toyota Production System) to hand fabricate the bicycles here in Eugene, OR.

The qualities we want from you is the combination of positive can do attitude, strong people skills, drive to get the job done, and most importantly, personal responsibility. A strong mechanical aptitude is needed. Other personal qualities you will need are the flexibility to adapt to a changing environment, strong communication skills, and a healthy sense of humor. Prior bicycle shop (service mechanic) experience while not required, is generally needed.

While the position we are filling for is for a bicycle mechanic to work in our service department, the team member may be cross trained to work in the production line on occasion. This differentiates this position from a traditional bicycle shop service job as you get to participate in the fabrication of bicycles. The Bike Friday Service Department handles customer phone calls, walk-in assistance, warranty repairs and elective service for Bike Friday bicycles only. This position relies on team members who are seeking a challenging, dynamic opportunities.

Qualities/ Skills required:

-Superior mechanical aptitude
-Strong bicycle mechanical / repair skills
-Positive, optimistic attitude
-Strong communication skills
-Desire to be held personally accountable
-Ambition
-Exceptional problem solving skills, both in person as well as on the phone with customers

This position will be some flexible mixture of wrenching as well as working with customers via email and over the phone. We have a very close and supportive relationship with our customers whom seek support via email and the phone. This position would be a mixture of support and wrenching.

What we offer is a challenging environment with supportive co-workers who will be interested in your success. If the position becomes permanent, benefits include profit sharing, 401K , health insurance, dental, vision, covered bike parking, shower facilities, discount on bike parts, paid holidays, shop privileges and family friendly. And, you get to build yourself a personal bike on the company’s dime.

How to Apply *
go to https://www.bikefriday.com/userfiles/Bike_Friday_Employment_Application_fillable_2.0.pdf

to fill out an application and email it to

jobs@bikefriday.com

or mail to 3364 W.11th Ave Eugene, OR 97402

Our May podcast: How biking advocates are made

2013 BTA Alice Awards-18

Gresham High School health teacher Kristen Warren
accepting an Alice B. Toeclips advocacy award in 2013.
(Photo: J.Maus/BikePortland)

One of the five ingredients for building a great biking city is a steady flow of passionate and talented people motivated to shed sweat and tears to make their cities better.

But where do advocates come from?

That’s the question we explore in the latest episode of the BikePortland podcast, which is back after a several-month sabbatical (our volunteer producer, Lillian Karabaic, was busy riding bikes and catching trains in 10 countries, among other things). We’re joined by a native Portlander who thinks about this subject a lot: the cerebral, disarmingly humble executive director of the Community Cycling Center, Mychal Tetteh.

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With pilot project, City will turn Naito Parkway into public space for all

naito-lead

It’s coming!
(Graphic: Better Block PDX)

Starting this Friday morning, the non-profit Better Block PDX, the Bureau of Transportation and its commissioner-in-charge Steve Novick will embark on perhaps the boldest experiment we’ve seen in years: the creation of public space on Naito Parkway in what are currently standard travel lanes.

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Job: Junior Buyer – Velotech Inc – FILLED

Buffered Bike Lane with a bike symbol and arrow pointing forward

Sorry, this job has been filled. Browse more great jobs here.Job Title *
Junior Buyer

Company/Organization *
Velotech, Inc

Job Description *
Junior Buyer
Function of Position:
Works under the supervision of a higher level buyer to manage lower tier categories. Includes maintaining optimum stock levels, increasing gross margin and inventory turn, and managing vendors. Emphasis is placed on communication with cross-functional teams to maximize customer service with the ability to effectively prioritize and multi-task with extreme attention to detail. It is expected that this role will groom the high performing employee into a Buyer position as business needs dictate.

Expected Job Duties:
• Manage inventory and stock levels and communicate status between vendor and Sr Buyer on a routine basis.
• Forecast and order replenishment and seasonal stock based on product history and vendor performance to maximize sales and minimize out of stocks
• Meet and maintain department KPI’s
• Shop and analyze the competition to understand trends, pricing opportunities, marketing concepts, and the customers’ perspective.
• Research and evaluate suppliers based on price, quality, selection, service, support, availability, reliability, production and distribution capabilities, and the supplier’s reputation and history.
• Study sales data and inventory levels of current stock to develop strategic purchasing plans
• Liason with Receiving, Accounting, Customer Service, and Marketing for assigned category products and issues.
• Manage New Product Set up across all categories with the assistance of the Purchasing Coordinator
• Assist department in other duties and special projects as needed.

EXPERIENCE:
Two+ years Purchasing, Procurement, Buying experience. Proficient in MS Word, Excel, and data entry. Proficiency in written and spoken English.

EDUCATION:
BA/BS degree preferred.

SKILLS/KNOWLEDGE:
• Strong knowledge of road and/or mountain bike products and lifestyle.
• Excellent attention to detail
• Ability to multi task with changing/conflicting priority levels
• Strong relationship building, communication (both verbal and written), and presentation skills.
• Desire to provide stellar customer service for both internal and external customers
• Ability to work with minimal supervision while remaining on task and hitting deadlines
• Work as a member of a cohesive team
• Strong time management and organizational skills
• Resourceful with the ability to problem-solve and present ideas and solutions
• Keen analytical and decision-making skills and the ability to accomplish objectives.
• Solid command of retail math, including understanding of calculations for OTB, forecasting, gross margin, inventory turn, and ROI.

We are an Equal Opportunity Employer. We provide equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment without regard to sex, race, color, age, national origin, religion, disability, genetic information, marital status, sexual orientation, gender identity, citizenship, pregnancy or veteran status, or any other status protected by applicable law.

How to Apply *
Please send your cover letter and resume to jobs@velotech.com

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From the Archives

Opinion: If we’re serious about cycling, let’s get serious about cycling infrastructure