Portland-based activist and self-described public safety expert, Randy Philbrick (@pdxrandylee), is organizing an event this Friday where he and anyone else who shows up will park cars and trucks in the bus lane and bike lane on Southeast Division Street. “When citizens are ignored, this is what happens,” Philbrick wrote online last week.
According to tweets published by Philbrick under the guise of Portlanders for Positive Impact , the event is a protest against TriMet’s Division Transit project. That project wrapped up last fall and spent $175 million on bus service between downtown Portland and Gresham. It included changes to SE Division that the Portland Bureau of Transportation hoped would improve safety for all road users, speed up bus service, and provide more space for bicycle riders. Some business owners on Division have complained that the medians and other changes have made it hard for customers to access their locations.
Philbrick believes the PBOT is leading a “war on cars” and that “positive change” would be something that aligns more closely with his own ideas. “Tell Commissioner Mapps and PBOT that they need to include all community members in their infrastructure changes,” he wrote in a tweet.
The plan at the event Friday is for drivers to park in the new bus lanes, bike lanes, and the median on Division between SE 112th and 122nd.
Many people have responded with concern that this event will create major safety risks for road users. Philbrick rejects those concerns and says there is “no threat to public safety” and that the event will be peaceful. Here’s more from one of his Twitter replies:
“Cyclists can detour around the demonstration like motorists are made to do when they try to get home or to a local business because of the median. A median that is now a threat to public health and safety… These bike lanes is rarely used anyway.”
[PBOT changing Outer Division plans amid parking and freight access concerns]
Blocking public transit and/or parking in a bike lane is against the law in Oregon. That also hasn’t stopped Philbrick, who thinks that his free speech rights to protest absolve him from following traffic laws (much the same way people might walk in the middle of the street and/or against red signals during a march).
Regardless of what happens Friday, this is a notable escalation of opposition to the Division Transit Project. Some business owners have testified against it several times at City Hall over the years, and City Commissioner Dan Ryan is one of their allies. He has brought up his own personal disdain for the changes at several council meetings over the last year. At a budget work session in March he described a “scary” situation that happened when he had trouble making a u-turn on the newly narrowed street. “This could be dangerous,” he said, before asking PBOT if it would be possible to re-assess the project.
Whatever happens should be interesting. Stay tuned.
UPDATE: For more on this event, watch this video posted yesterday by organizer Randy Philbrick.
Thanks for reading.
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Who was it, Yogi Berra, who said that any publicity is good publicity? I bet most city residents don’t even know about these improvements, so such a protest will likely, and ironically, promote greater long-term use of them.
Let’s protest by doing what we already do everyday! Yay!
With all the infrastructure dedicated to everything else, it is pretty clear that there is no war on cars. If looking current conditions, I would say that the car industry has been waging war on every other transit mode for almost a hundred years now.
Nope no rear ‘war on cars’ in the US, as their vehicle license fees, fuel taxes and supportive land uses all pad most local and county government coffers (and attract federal and state capital funds)…even though there is still a deficit based on cost to serve cars in most suburban designed cities.
Are you implying that we should further tax, register and license bicycles?
No, he’s clearly stating that the tax on cars doesn’t sufficiently fund the actual cost of car use and roads.
If you bike or bus to work, and you pay rent or property taxes, you are subsidizing every car driver directly, and on top of that indirectly because roads, highways, parking lots, are in the red, financially. The federal and state governments subsidize the ability for anyone to own a car.
Our taxes go into politicians pockets and pet projects, and then federal grants come and further pad those projects etc while covering the cost of road development. It’s a tale as old as time.
“If you bike or bus to work, and you pay rent or property taxes, you are subsidizing every car driver directly”
How much property tax do you think Portland spends on road maintenance?
It’s pretty near zero.
It doesn’t have to be property taxes. Developer fees, federal/state/local grants, business license, utility license, franchise fees, general fund, and even property taxes pay for car infrastructure that don’t rely on you owning a car but we all pay one way or another regardless of car ownership.
Most of that stuff doesn’t fund streets (which non drivers benefit from), either.
The vast majority comes from vehicle sources.
Does not seem to be true looking at the recent city budget. Most revenue is non-vehicle sources or via shared revenue. Vehicle sources don’t seem come close to covering asset management:
Breakdown of main vehicle sources:
That’s about it for the main vehicle sources. No where near close to covering asset management costs of over $220mil.
Am I missing other vehicle sources?
Property taxes add absolutely NOTHING to the Road Funds. 100% gas tax and registration fees.
The rise of EVs is causing a growing loss of gas tax revenue. Future plans include a per mile tax. But engineers would tell you that for major roads, the major damage/cost driver is heavy trucks.
Should bikes pay a road tax to assuage the outraged drivers claiming we get to use the road “for free”? How should it be apportioned and collected? Does the “bike tax” collected on new bike already cover this?
This one ranks pretty high on the list of “Things We All Know That Ain’t So”.
If you look at the recent budget, a lot of PBOT revenue is via general city funds which includes property taxes – $38Mil in Local Shared Rev under Intergovernmental; more than all vehicle/gas taxes combined.
There are also significant portions from permitting, such as construction, and other non-car use fees. Car use fees don’t really come close to paying for the maintenance costs.
I can’t imagine my life being so empty and miserable that blocking buses is what I want to do on a Friday night.
Actually it may be more exciting for some, depending on their Fridays. [And remember that first adrenaline rush you had when corking your first intersection on a Friday PM?]
Sadly, the national ‘press’ is going to eat this up and support it much more than any 2000s critical mass ride.
Seriously. Someone ought to send him the pedalpalooza schedule if he really needs something to do!
Cold always topple some statues instead!
I read this comment in barbed jest (which I fully sign onto), but I suspect it’s really quite accurate: From what I’ve read, there’s a strong correlation between a lack of meaning and economic security (so, neoliberalism/”rugged individualism”) and this sort of…coded “rightwing populism”, though it’s not rightwing. Not even sure I’d call it conservative. Grievance populism?
Whatever we call it, you’re on to something!
That’s one of the first arguments people throw at you to try and make your efforts feel small.
“Don’t you have something better to do?”
“Get a life!”
Yes, protesters usually have a life that involves something better to do. And we’d be doing that better thing if everybody played nice. People don’t WANT to protest, they NEED to.
They NEED to make a public road all about themselves? How does that work? How about culvylists who NEED to use the bike lanes?
Car users get mad when bikes don’t follow the laws, but its okay for cars to not follow laws?
Cars [and bikes] always follow the laws…that is until humans start them.
Sorry, no one needs to spend their Friday night protesting bus lanes. This dude is small, and his protest is even smaller.
I wouldn’t be making fun of him if he was spending his time protesting about important things, even if I didn’t agree with his stance. Getting upset because it’s slightly harder to make your car move at dangerous speeds is a pretty small thing to get upset by.
Sounds about as conceptually developed as most Pedalpalooza rides
This is basically a normal day on outer Division. They’ve just made a flier for it.
Anybody else with a car feel like blocking the car lanes instead? This could escalate in a way this person doesn’t like.
Yeah but that’s just called driving 🙂
I would if I could but having different disabilities, I choose not to drive.
Perfect time and place for a Critical Mass ride. Let’s get offline and go say ‘hi’ IRL.
Matt, none of us BikePortland readers / cyclists own (or rent) cars. 😉
It would be nice if people could be less systematically stupid, just for a little bit.
Dude’s wearing an MTR western (a charter bus company shirt)… Interesting.
He’s actually taking the picture while in the driver’s seat of a bus. I bet that’s a big no no with his employer. Anyone want to send s screen shot of it to them and see what they think of their employee using a cell phone while in the driver’s seat of one of their busses??
Erik, you are assuming he took it…as it could have been taken by the cyclist stuck to his windshield.
I hope Parking enforcement schedules some tow trucks to show up!
I remember hearing of protests against cars parked in bike lanes where cyclists just climb over the cars with their bikes. It’s non violent, nothing gets damaged, and it doesn’t affect well behaved motorists. Just saying.
When I was much younger and dumber I used to walk over the hoods of cars that entered my crosswalk – of course in the 90’s it didn’t seem as likey that someone would pull out a gun and shoot me.
Yeah it’s amazing how delusional some of these takes are. It’s property damage that can easily amount to thousands of dollars or even a totaled vehicle. Keep repeating these provocations and someone is bound to act upon them. I fear that the attention this article brings to the “protest” is going to end up with a young and impressionable person seriously injured or worse.
Ignoring the trolls instead of taking the bait and escalating…. what an amazing concept!
Dude did apparently pull a gun on someone today, although no one damaged his property.
Aaaaand, like clockwork, a BikePortland commenter has made a call for violent property damage / vandalism.
Forget sinking to their level…. no, friends, we’re gonna sink way, way lower!
Please explain how these are the same.
Aaron: “nothing gets damaged”
You: “violent property damage”
I don’t know how to reason with a person like you. Seems like you’re doing that intentionally.
In the videos I saw, there wasn’t any damage. I think they had to be careful to avoid any windshields or such. Ideally, the worst they should get is some footprints.
That said, as other commenters have brought up, there is the risk of a confrontation getting violent when someone’s property is getting touched. Maybe more a critical mass style “ride” where a bunch of people stop their bikes around any misparked cars?
Blatantly disingenuous typing detected.
You and I have both seen enough road rage videos to know what would happen if someone were to pull a stunt like that.
This “wink wink, nudge nudge” schtick isn’t fooling anyone.
We need to include all community members in infrastructure choices, so to demonstrate that, we’re going to make it as difficult as possible for anyone not driving a car to use this public infrastructure. Just brilliant.
I’m sure there was a comment period on this project years ago that was more appropriate than this.
or
Maybe the buses can block him in for a few days where he’s parked for his little tantrum
or
Nothing to see here, move along
I suggest officials start having some balls and have tow trucks and extra parking enforcement all the round the area. As soon as someone stops it gets ticketed and then towed. This crazy Trump supporters don’t care about reason. City officials need to start having the balls to do the right thing and defend unapologetically
If you can’t make a safe u-turn then you shouldn’t do it, Dan Ryan.
Absolutely! If he feels uncomfortable making a U-turn in his multi-ton metal enclosure, I suggest he try cycling on the same streets before making a judgement call…
Seriously! I was reading that like, WTF is he talking about. “I tried to do something in the wrong place and it didn’t work. Clearly this isn’t my fault. I DEMAND YOU CHANGE THINGS TO BETTER-ACCOMMODATE MY POOR DECISION-MAKING ABILITY.”
Cue Austin Powers trying to turn a golf cart around…
I think the particular issue with Division is that if you feel you can’t make a u-turn, it’s about a mile before your next opportunity to do so. If you get particularly unlucky you face the 3 traffic lights within a single quarter mile stretch.
The division project was very hastily and poorly planned. Part of which is demonstrated through the fact that PBOT made no attempt to beautify the islands or create barriers. They just created a sea of ugly concrete islands. Even worse, they had no sticks on them, so in the deep snow, at times you were left guessing where the islands began an ended.
from what I’ve heard there is a water main running directly below a big stretch of Division, which meant that planting trees was a non-starter.
Yeah it was badly planned though, they promised us trees down that median and didn’t figure out the water main until after they’d started construction.
It definitely was NOT hastily planned- I think the design phase was 3 years long! ANd it was sewer/water mains that precluded median planting
How can it be a mile till your next turn, but 3 traffic lights in a quarter mile??
Sounds like Burnside.
Drivers need to get used to not being able to do whatever they want. Maybe use that brain.
comment of the week. ^^^
Had to go to the way back machine to play devil’s advocate. While I do not remotely support this guy’s protest (p.s. hope no gets hurt; hope he has a maxed umbrella policy!), the City is not really looking at these road diets with equity in mind.
Here’s an article with a map of where Columbia corridor workers lived, from 2016. Note that primarily, they live in East Portland, east of i205. In 2023, go observe the businesses that still remain in Columbia corridor. A lot have moved- Washington Co, Columbia Co, etc. all have been offering some very attractive tax incentives. A lot that remain are distribution centers.
Portlanders divided sharply by geography on the local gas tax – BikePortland
If your good paying and benefitted job that you worked at 15 years with a high school diploma moved across town to Hillsboro, what would you do? Transition to knowledge work and take a pay cut or go into debt for school? Commute via train- Trimet from deep east Portland to Ruby is north of an hour + last mile connections. Factor in a family and it becomes glaringly clear why this protest is happening. The City is pushing living wage blue collar/trade/manufacturing jobs outside of the City core; while using a broad strokes inner City approach to transportation. The mentality of forcing people to change without options is pretty darn divisive.
I’d love for folks to commute to Hillsboro to Gresham via light rail but you’re ignoring reality if you think that someone is going to sit for 3+ hours on a max vs drive. Ultimately, as much as I hate outer East Portland stroads, there does need to be some compromise or at least effort put forth by the City or Multnomah County to retain living wage job paying companies rather than letting them slip to outer ring counties.
Blue collar/middle class working folk keep getting pushed out (happened to me 5 years ago) leaving the wandering homeless absorbing more and more of the available resources and the upper crust office/academic/trust fund types busy tut tutting while the city metaphorically burns around them.
Yep, it seems the college educated non profit, Multnomah County and Portland government employees care more about virtue signaling their ideology rather than providing essential services and keeping good blue collar family wage jobs in Portland Metro.
Exactly. I live out here. I work in Tigard. If I took public transit versus driving, I’d spend 12 more hours a week commuting to and from. That is absurd, and nowhere close to tipping anybody towards using public transit out there.
The area has always been ignored though. The North/South bus gap is now from 122nd to 162nd. Until 5 years ago it was from 122nd to 181st. That area has always gotten shafted when it comes to public transit. Even more now as they chop away service to MHCC
I really appreciate this in that it highlights the siloing between housing, transportation, economic development, and land use policies. Sure, it’s far more difficult and complex to create complimentary and symbiotic policy, but without it you have folks on 147th/Division driving to Hillsboro every day.
Given the new city council districts includes an East Portland/Columbia Corridor proposal, I wonder if there will be a push for a new mass transit line along 122nd to the airport and out to the port facilities & Lombard?
Traffic violence also has an equity dimension. A pedestrian is more than twice as likely to be hit by a car in outer East Portland than a pedestrian in close-in neighborhoods. That’s in large part because of the wide, fast streets. The Outer Division Safety & Transit Projects should mitigate that somewhat.
https://www.portlandmercury.com/transportation/2023/03/13/46399773/traffic-deaths-in-portland-remain-record-high-for-a-second-year
Your response to montavillain is both defensive and implicitly classist. Please try to acknowledge that people who live on the periphery and in suburbs often live their because they can’t afford to live in twee inner PDX and are therefore not the narcissistic monster pick-up driving suburbanite stereotype that YIMBYs love to mock.
Likewise I would ask you not to mock another part of the city as “twee”.
Wow.
Where did that come from? Certainly not from Daniel Fuller, whos reply doesn’t talk to anything you’re ranting about. You lashed out and brought all the name-calling with you.
I’m so very sorry that I called Portland “twee”. I hereby pledge to only think positive thoughts about Portland.
1.) Narcissistic monster pick-up driving suburbanites are affected by the price of housing just like anyone else.
2.) How exactly is it classist to want residents of outer East Portland to *not* get hit by cars?
Just because someone has empathy for people displaced out of increasingly wealthy central Portland does not mean they lack concern for the terrible human impact of traffic violence.
In my experience, this kind of whataboutism is often programmed response from those who dislike discussion of economic eviction because it highlights the inherent contradictions of urban development (gentrification).
I have no problem discussing economic eviction. But equity is about more than just housing costs. Saying we should fight gentrification by opposing new public works is like saying we should fight gentrification by getting rid of other stuff rich people like such as parks, libraries, and schools. Call me a neoliberal developer shill, but I happen to think East Portland residents deserve safe and comfortable access to walking, cycling, and transit facilities.
This is a strawman. Do better in your discourse, Daniel.
No one called you this. And, for what it’s worth, ecosocialists like me have a better track record of supporting and building sustainable active and mass transit systems than liberal capitalists.
“ecosocialists like me have a better track record of supporting and building sustainable active and mass transit systems”
Large nuclear armed totalitarian governments have a decent track record as well.
Public transit in India and Russia is not decent.
Have you ever been on a Soviet subway?
You’ll never arrive at an optimal solution if Equity is an input because you are trying to engineer for a predetermined outcome.
A more optimal solution would be a social safety net and dense urban social housing but generations of brutal capitalist brainwashing rots any capacity for critical political thought.
Montavillain, you bring up a lot of good issues. I wanted to remind everyone that TriMet’s Forward Together plan for revised bus service, also looked at these issues:
https://trimet.org/forward/pdf/TriMet%20Forward%20Together%20Transit%20Existing%20Conditions.pdf
That report has maps of residential density, job density, how many jobs you can reach by transit in 45 minutes (by residential location). I love looking at maps, some of you may too, and it is good to know that TriMet also considers jobs and density when designing service.
Thanks for the link. Always interesting to look back on old articles and note the extreme ideological shift of this blog in the past 3-5 years.
I’d move to Hillsboro, or get a new job. Not sure why you didn’t present those options.
Must be nice to have that big trust fund just tucked away and ready to go. (Sarcasm)
Not everyone is able to move or get a new job, especially in this housing market and especially with the latest interest rates. To a lot of people there’s no point in presenting those options since its just magical thinking.
“Not sure why you didn’t present those options.”
Moving may not be an option of their partner works in Gresham or they have kids in local schools. Changing jobs may not be an option if they have specialized skills or seniority that would be painful (and expensive) to lose.
So maybe they aren’t options.
“The City is pushing living wage blue collar/trade/manufacturing jobs outside of the City core… ”
Is it the City? It’s pretty clear that ground level light industry can’t afford the rent in NW Portland, so when the lease is up they move a long way away. If the proprietor owns the building they sell, take the payday, and either retire or–move a long way away.
Right now Portland doesn’t need a bunch more 6 story buildings where a 1 bedroom costs $2000 a month. Maybe it needs an industrial policy and some business generators. Is there anything besides retail that can go on the ground floor of a building?
This is a really good point to bring up. I have been mostly lucky to have a consistent worksite over the years, which allowed me to plan my living arrangements around a reasonable cycling distance. Jobs aren’t usually like that, for most people, and there has been lots of job growth in Portland’s suburbs.
I kinda wish there was a way for people to get around quickly from east to west, etc. Unfortunately Trimet doesn’t currently offer that, and cars obviously have negative consequences. An e-bike takes the edge off for me, but my commute is still only 7.5 miles, doesn’t cross a mountain range, and is mostly low-stress streets or paths.
Cars are honestly *part* of the solution. We need better regulation for safety and ecological impact of cars, but I see no world in which single occupancy vehicles don’t absorb some of the cross-town traffic.
Maybe part of the solution is making *short* driving commutes harder and making long driving commutes tolerable. – Congestion pricing for downtown
– Increase parking fees downtown
– Actually connect US 26 to US 26 (the downtown zigzag is the absolute worst)
– More multi- family housing *everywhere*
– Improve Trimet timing and speed (that’s the point of the Division project!)
I wonder how Mr. Philbricks’ employer (MTRWestern in North Portland) is thinking about him Tweeting using a photo with a business logo’d uniform on?!. May be MTR Western wants more contracts from the City and Trimet? https://mtrwestern.com
Let MTR Western know your opinion on traffic safety and large vehicle operator behavior:
info@mtrwestern.com
https://www.yelp.com/writeareview/biz/yewbzPN6HApRN0ZEzJXRGA?return_url=%2Fbiz%2FyewbzPN6HApRN0ZEzJXRGA&source=biz_details_war_button
Are you you trying to get him in trouble with his work because he is planning a protest that as posters have pointed out will probably be indistinguishable from a regular Friday night?? That’s pretty low!!
MTR in turn is owned by Seattle Hospitality Group https://www.shgllc.com/
Wondering why this post is okay given your deletion of my comments about the driver who acknowledged killing Adam
Joy with his car.
Hi joan,
I feel like this is a lot different. First, there was no death and possible crime involved. Also, Philbrick has posted video of himself in his bus and wearing his uniform online, so it’s not as though he’s trying to hide his identity. I also happen to know Racer X personally and he does not have ill intentions with his comment. I know you too and I’m not saying you had bad intentions with your comment – just sharing some of the thinking I do to make these decisions.
Pray tell, what’s the justification for posting this guy’s employer’s contact info if not to try and get him fired?
Jonathan, you’ve gaslighted yourself.
Yeah that’s true. No reason to pull the guy’s employer into this. I will edit that out. Thanks.
update: On 2nd thought, I don’t think we will edit Racer X’s comment at this time. Philbrick has voluntarily brought his employer into this himself. I think it’s valid for the public to be able to give them feedback based on what Philbrick is doing in the public realm.
Hi Joan,
I made the call to exclude the driver’s personal information in your comment about the Adam Joy crash, and I also approved Racer X’s comment above. Let me try to explain my reasoning.
First off, both decisions were intentional. I most certainly thought about the difference between RacerX exposing Philbrick’s employer, and editing out similar information from your post.
The difference for me came down to the fact that Philbrick is on internet, he is already using that medium to publicize his political activities. He was using Twitter. The whole point of Twitter is that it invites pile-ons and storms. He chose that, it’s his element, he understands those terms of engagement.
The situation with the driver who killed Adam Joy is different. We have a system for resolving traffic incidents. It has problems and doesn’t work as well as I would like, but it presumes innocence.
You wrote at the time that you didn’t know why BP was “protecting” the driver, and went on to say that you weren’t “suggesting folks harass the guy.” Well, then what was BP protecting him from?
Hey Jonathan, your comment section is once again doxxing a private citizen.
Just FYI
I disagree Jeff. Unless I’m missing something, Randy Philbrick has already outed himself by posting videos online and calling himself the founder of this group.
His Linkedin resume is silent on what his actual public safety training training has been per current / past state certifications other than a CDL Class B (school bus driver etc.). I will assume he has substantial on the job experience seeing what drivers can do when they hit / run over vulnerable roadway users…both as an EMT/ volunteer and HGV operator.
Are you cyber stalking him now?? Seriously?!?
What’s wrong with trying to find out more about someone? Once this person took the step of hosting an event like this, I think the community has a right to know who they are.
Posting his employer’s contact info is a prompt to try and get him fired.
Get real.
Not much more than posting his opinions online in his uniform while sitting in his employer’s vehicle IMO.
I’m just going to conflate the passive aggressive “I’m just throwing this out there nonsense” of “trying to get someone fired” and the cyber stalking into one and say it’s just petty, childish and embarrassing to see grown adults piling onto such a thing. Have you forgotten the fun incident when you hounded that bike rider thinking he was an undercover police officer since they were both Asian?
https://www.wweek.com/portland/blog-29975-bikeportland-alleges-wrong-asian-man-is-undercover-cop.html
I remember following that story on your site and this seems really close to that self righteous frenzy that afflicts this site from time to time. Forgive me if I am leery of the judgement of your IMO when you defend this kind of thing. Leave it up by all means (its your site), but do you really think doubling down on defending it is a good idea? People here want to hurt the persons livelihood because he has a different opinion than they do.
Who knows?!…his employer may have given him time off to work on the issue [and lobby on the topic].
[It is pretty simple social media 101:…don’t wear your work uniform / don’t use a photo taken on work time / don’t take a photo inside someone else’s business property especially if you choose do anything political without your employer’s awareness or CYA.]
Congratulations on being the only person to never look somebody up on the internet. As a society we are constantly cyberstalking. Click click click!
Jakeco969…that is a pretty low bar for “cyber stalking”.
I always try to research comments a person makes in public when they state that they have authority on a technical topic, professional training or other informed experience – before I formulate my reply in writing…versus just guessing.
If he were to verbally state such information in a public presentation, it would be a question I would ask of him (or hope that BikePortland would). But since its in social media looking someone up on Linkedin to read what they have posted in public about themselves seems pretty fair versus third hand digital information.
Blocking Division is an odd choice in East Portland – 122nd is main street out there, not Division – and blocking the street will be much more disruptive for inner portland and Gresham-based traffic who will in any case have east-west alternatives along Powell, Stark, Glisan, and so on. Bicyclists can use the lanes on Powell and/or the 4M. Both the Division bus and the Blue Line terminate at the same location. The whole thing is ironic on so many levels – congestion, travel modes, land use – that in some ways it may end up being a bit of a publicity stunt for Trimet without them having to pay for it or even endorse it.
Dude, I am so tired of the psychotic response to the Division safety project. It is so easy to drive on, just go the speed limit and pay attention. This is such disgusting and entitled behavior.
Don’t worry, this is Portland land of “mostly peaceful” protests. Lol.
Yep. Note the calls for vandalism / physical confrontation and doxxing of the protest organizer above. Apparently that’s allowed if it’s “our” side.
I wonder if you’re confusing Bike Portland with another web site, or maybe you’re referencing previous comments that Jonathan may have removed. It seems like you may be trying to create a narrative where you’re some kind of victim of a slight visible only to a few people.
You’re posting the same things over and over and every time your comments are either ignored or rebuffed. I’m not certain you’re going to sway any opinions in Bike Portland from reality into your alternate reality. I realize you’ve never heard of LinkedIn and probably don’t know how to use a search engine (how you found Bike Portland is a mystery for another time, as is how LinkedIn still exists). It is, however, common to take a moment to look up people for all sorts of innocuous reasons like before a job interview or information about a public figure.
Doxing refers to publishing private information such as social security number or unpublished contact information, for example. The guy planning to block a city street posted a photo of himself and his name on Twitter, which is a publicly accessible social media platform. In the photo his face is clearly visible and he’s wearing his employer’s logo on his chest. That’s not doxing. Whether he made or posted the photo while driving the large vehicle where he is seated, which is a whole heap of other problems, is unclear.
Perhaps you get your information from Russian disinformation outlets or some ranty people from YouTube. I’m not sure if you and the few ideologically related commenters understand that Bike Portland reports on bike culture, bike infrastructure and bike-related things in Portland. This isn’t an outlet where you’ll find much support for suburbia and car-centric planning.
It’s also not an outlet — or community — where actual doxing and threats or glorification of violence are tolerated.
[Edited to remove a typo]
People in East Portland. Our streets are dangerous and people are dying give us more infrastructure…. No not like that! I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again this is an education problem. People don’t understand what it means to make a road safer e.g. more difficult to drive fast and erratically, so when PBOT does make a road safer they throw a tantrum about being slightly inconvenienced.
Then again some people don’t actually care about road safety and just want to drive fast I’m guessing Mr. Philbrick is that type. The “This issue doesn’t affect me personally so I don’t want it addressed if it inconveniences me in any way” type. Of course like most of those folks he’ll sing a different tune if it does have a personal affect on him. If he really cared about equity he’d block the car lanes too.
So it’s okay to protest via the flattening of SUV tyres but it’s not ok to block bike/bus lanes? What types of protests are ok and what are not? Only ones that are considered “correct”? Who decides this?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tyre_Extinguishers
One can be in favor of civil disobedience as a concept, without being in favor of all actual instances of it.
I’m OK with the right of someone to protest in this manner even though I vehemently disagree with their goals/aims/politics. I would also support an assertive counterprotest, if one were to develop. The commons cease to be public space if acceptable use is determined in an authoritarian manner.
Then again, I also think that when protestors burn the occasional motorvehicle in France the lack of legal repercussion is admirable. Genuine democracy is messy. Perhaps, some day democracy will come to the USA.
I’m glad we don’t have a democracy in the USA and I hope it never devolves into that.
I believe you!
Seeing vehicles on fire does not seem a hallmark of a healthy democracy.
Says who? I don’t see anything here stating that.
Original title: “Despite Panic, Deflating SUV Tires is a Smart Protest Tactic”
https://bikeportland.org/2022/11/09/opinion-despite-panic-deflating-suv-tires-is-a-smart-protest-tactic-366833
Thanks!
Now can you link me to where it’s not OK to block bus/bike lanes as a protest?
Never before has the German term “backpfeifengesicht” come to my mind so quickly…
Where are all the folks who defend protesters breaking the law to make their point? Doesn’t this constitute a low level form of the civil disobedience that people celebrate as part of democracy in other contexts?
I personally think this will amount to a big zero, so it’s interesting how others are reacting. On the other hand, he’s got eveyone talking about it… so he’s off to a good start!
When “corkers” block traffic, BikePortland cheers.
2 fridays ago, I got swarmed by a group ride of vespas. It was pretty nasty- they were spewing large clouds of exhaust, driving dangerously close to me, passing me on both sides- no thansk! Then they proceeded to cork the intersection so they could ride together. I found it entitled and annoying to have have to sit through 1-2 minutes of noisy, smelly crappy vespas just so they could take over the street for their unsanctioned ride. Pretty minor, but still an unwelcome inconevience on my way home from work. I get why cars would be annoyed by corking, I think it should (mostly) not be used.
Motocyclists, just like bicyclists, are safer in groups. You should always try to avoid being caught in the middle of a group. If you’re caught in a group always let them try to regroup. If the group is split they’ll likely stop in your way up ahead to wait for the rest of the group. Your inconvenience is dwarfed by their need for safety.
Cars are never annoyed by corking.
That’s fine advice to “avoid being caught in the middle of a group”, but what is their responsibility? I was riding down a quiet street, they overtook quickly and dangerously- I couldn’t easily pull over because they were passing on my right and left and riding very poorly in front of me. I owned a motorcycle for years and know the basics- these riders were not sober and not skilled, and their machines were barely running. Also, I don’t buy that their safety trumps the rules of the road. They can wait at a red light. I do not support corking for motorcycle pleasure rides.
Twist n’ Play Scooter Club. They have posted instagram videos of themselves riding the Springwater and 205 paths, even riding over graves in Lone Fir Cemetery.
The same mob attitude happens on group bike rides. Tons of reckless behavior every week on the Thursday Night Rides, including drug and alcohol use, provocation of motorists, even sexual harassment (including unwanted touching) of ride participants.
All of this is swept under the rug and called “fun”.
“When “corkers” block traffic, BikePortland cheers.”
As do I; corking is not a protest, but rather a practical solution to managing large bike rides.
Corking can be a protest or it can be a mob thinking itself more important than others around them, but both come at the expense of others freedom of movement. Ones freedom to swing ones arm ends where another’s nose begins.
That’s a pretty grand statement to trot out in defense of your freedom to drive in the middle of a bike parade.
Just chill, enjoy the spectacle, and if you’re on the way to the hospital, folks will certainly let you through.
A parade is a licensed, sanctioned event. A lot of bike corkers are just people out on a group ride who want to stick together and create their own rules to be a be able to do that. I 100% support parades being able to close streets, but just because a bike ride is advertised on the internet does not make it a parade. Scooters/motorcycles are even worse, since they have gas engines, they can and should be able to behave like the rest of the traffic they are and follow all the rules of the road.
Freedom of movement also ends at your mode of choice. You can’t fly a helicopter down a street or drive a tank. Just like you don’t have the right to endanger other people with your unnecessarily large vehicle. You’re welcome to get out of your car and walk corkers won’t stop you. Corking is both safer for cyclists and faster for drivers. If the WNBR didn’t cork the streets would be shut down to drivers for most of the night.
I’m defending this protest!
Mostly because it’s not going to affect anything, since people will be driving around them without much effort. But I’d still support it if they were shutting the entire street down.
However, I’m much more in favor of a people protest and not a vehicle protest.
People drive cars, and many of the same people drive bikes.
Unless self-driving cars are doing the blocking, I don’t see the difference.
It will be interesting to see if it IS much of a protest. If only 3 or 4 cars show up, maybe there is not as much dissatisfaction with Outer Division as Philbrick through. If the bus and bike lanes are filled with parked cars from 82nd to 162nd, it is probably worth a public re-engagement. I hope PBOT sends some representatives out to hear what people have to say.
I don’t celebrate civil disobedience in the abstract, I celebrate civil disobedience that is actually on the right side. This kind of baby thought is so infuriating. I also celebrate democracy, and I do not celebrate when people vote for the obvious bad politicians. There is no contradiction or hypocrisy here.
I actually agree with a lot of the issues brought up. Recent changes to division, and the changes to glisan that closed an entire lane have created a ton of issues. The roads are a nightmare and I steer clear of them whenever possible. However, this protest is a terrible idea in my opinion. You’re going to see an issue, and to fight the issue you’re going to protest in a way that makes all the issues worse? No. I don’t support that. There are enough problems in that area. The last time I was driving down division I watched a dozen or more vehicles unable to maintain their lane due to the sharp lane variations to accommodate the medians. Not that it can’t be done while maintaining your lane. These people just weren’t able to or didn’t care. You want to protest something, protest the monkeys behind the steering wheel. And do so from the sidewalk like civilized people.
All such protests which seek to annoy and inconvenience the public are ill conceived in my opinion, regardless of which particular interest group they promote. (No moral judgment here, simply expressing my opinion.) It is however amusing to me when proponents of such tactics for causes they happen to support are offended when someone with a different perspective turns the tables on them. After all, What’s sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander. Let’s all seek to behave better towards one another.
If there’s one thing that makes me think twice about getting involved in Portland “bike activism” it’s the tone deaf hypocrisy that pervades everyone’s attitude and actions.
Bringing more attention to this “protest” seems to be what this article is doing. What’s the intended result? A counter-protest? An angry mob?
Hi Jaene,
This post is an effort to make people aware of what I deem a newsworthy event. That is it. Read the post and make your opinion based on the post itself — rather than what you are reading in the comments. Thanks.
“What’s the intended result? A counter-protest? An angry mob?”
If you see a mob forming, please please please post a photograph. I’ll never believe it otherwise. This protest will pass unnoticed by most people traveling by.
We wouldn’t be a country without annoying, inconvenient, and violent protests. Change doesn’t happen by standing quietly on the sidewalk.
Just me iwould be spitting throwing coffee at cars as I ride by for blocking my lane also iwould kick cars that block me. I’ve done it before n I’d don’t all again.
This is giving equal rights to unequal modes.
One person is breaking laws created to keep people safe from dangerous vehicles.
The other person is breaking laws created by dangerous vehicle operators to keep people out of their way.
Check out how much interaction he gets on his tweets
Probably more after this article.
I live near this area and frequently bike through there. Every time I’m forced to bike with car traffic to get around cars blocking the bike lane. This protest will probably look like any other day.
This would have been a total nothingburger of an event but now it’s The Worst Thing Ever.
Mission accomplished?
Planning Departments, starting with Metro are waging a “war on cars”.
If Portland hates Freeways so much, the city should close down all the on and off ramps inside the City. Have one each just inside the City Limits.
Call me a radical, but let Portland traffic use City Streets to commute on, and leave the Interstate Highway System for what it is designed for. I-5 thru the Rose Quarter has the same capacity as when it was built in the 60’s. I believe the population of Portland & Oregon has increased since then.
This is silly. Now, if he had blocked the car lanes, then people might actually notice his little pity party. Cars blocking bike lanes is just another day in the city
As with most demonstrations that block traffic or block transportation:
To the extent that people notice this, they are more likely to be annoyed and unsympathetic than to be persuaded to join the cause.
Since I disagree with the intent of the protest, and I think it’ll only cause annoyance, I guess I’m in favor?
This is what we’re up against. Every Day. Privileged drivers, pissed off that it’s no longer all about them, and the fact that actually being told you don’t own the road and no, you actually don’t have a ‘right” to drive whenever and where ever you damn well please. They’re incredulous to the point of pulling clown stunts like this. Driving is that important to some people.
I wish large / heavy commercial vehicle operators could see that both of our ‘interest groups’ are on the same page / same team for trying to make our shared streets safer….safer from out dated roadway designs, safer from yayhoos doing motorized street takeovers, safer from drivers opening car doors into vehicle lanes…commercial vehicle operators seem to have come to this conclusion in Europe. Perhaps the same will be true here. [I once thought only the Canadian AAA club cared about vulnerable roadway users vs the USA AAA club caring only about their paid members…but there has been progress at AAA.]
But stating that having a Oregon CDL – Class B ‘is enough’ may be missing a point. Sadly the Oregon Commercial Drivers Manual is still pretty “weak’ in explaining the “why’ we need protected bike lanes etc. – It should have a section on urban treatments AND that these treatments / removing parking friction should make the professional lives of large vehicle operators safer. Its street diagrams look to be from 1990 or before. [The Oregon CDM does a great job of discussing how to keep the roads safer through traditional methods: good vehicle maintenance, etc.]
Oregon Commercial Driver Manual 2022-3
https://www.oregon.gov/odot/forms/dmv/36.pdf
Take a look…perhaps pedestrians / cyclists need to get on the state DOT review committee for the next revision of this manual?
It is an argument in bad faith to equate sitting in a parked car with marching in protest. The very idea of sitting in a parked car to represent the betterment of public health is completely wrong. The corruption of using inclusivity as an argument to uphold the status quo stands out the most though.
Dear Mr Philbrick,
It seems you have been asleep for many years and may have missed the memo. Around the globe municipalities are restructuring their roadways in order to accommodate the inevitable future. Single occupancy, fossil fueled vehicle travel is on the way out.
Combining the fact that fewer and fewer young people are choosing to drive with the ever increasing cost of vehicle ownership as well as awareness of the growing environmental peril associated with cars (I own one) the writing is clearly written on the proverbial wall.
The auto era is winding down Randy, you can shout and protest but that is wasted energy on your part.
Get out of your bus and walk or cycle you’ll be amazed how good it feels.
.
“Single occupancy, fossil fueled vehicle travel is on the way out.”
Soon to be replaced by single occupancy electrically powered vehicle travel. The future is nearly here.
Gotta keep that maximum consumption lifestyle going! Limited time offer, while resources last.
Oh for the love of.
On one hand I’m for peaceful protest. On the other hand, this is extremely unlikely to inconvenience/prompt reaction from anyone with the power to change bike lane structure.