A partnership between The Street Trust and We All Rise, a Black and women-led consulting firm, will bring 90 new electric bikes to the region.
Armed with a grant from Portland General Electric and the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality, The Street Trust says the program will be called Ride2Own and will be, ” a pioneering program aimed at enhancing e-bike safety, equity, and accessibility in Oregon.”
The Street Trust says the Ride2Own program will consist of deployments of 15 bikes in four different parts of town. The first phase will be a year-long pilot in the Portsmouth neighborhood in north Portland that will begin October 1st. The program will specifically target Portlanders with lower incomes who would other not have access to e-bikes. Everyone who takes part in the program will track their experience over a one-year period and will be able to keep the bike at the end of the pilot. The other parts of the region that will take part are Parkrose, Milwaukie, and Hillsboro.
Here’s more shared by The Street Trust in a statement Tuesday night:
“Ride2Own will go beyond most current eBike subsidy programs – delivering not only free eBikes, but also training , safety gear, maintenance/repairs, and community- building events. The program design and execution is advised by compensated community members and transportation experts across disciplines to support the integrity and accessibility of each pilot. Ride2Own’s overarching goal is to create positive, transformative experiences through eBiking and initiate a ripple effect that expands sustainable transportation options for residents and reduces the amount that people drive (VMT, vehicle miles traveled) across the region.”
“Through Ride2Own, we’re providing more than free e-bikes,” added The Street Trust Executive Director Sarah Iannarone, “We’re equipping, educating, and empowering community members who’ve been historically excluded from e-mobility.”
A media and launch event are set for the end of this month.
Part of Central City Concern’s crew of e-bike riders that use downtown bike lanes. (Photo: Jonathan Maus/BikePortland)
“We urge the city to use critical resources to continue to make our streets safer, not to undo safety projects.”
– Rachel Maas, Central City Concern
Central City Concern, a nonprofit social services provider and one of the largest property owners in Old Town, wants to make sure the protected bike lane on Broadway isn’t ripped out and replaced with a door-zone bike lane.
Rachel Maas, Central City Concern’s director of climate action, sent a letter to Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler and Transportation Commissioner Mingus Mapps, and Portland Bureau of Transportation Director Millicent Williams last week. The letter, dated September 20th, was written in response to plans uncovered by BikePortland that Williams and Mapps were working together to make major changes to the Broadway bike lane between NW Hoyt and SW Salmon.
“CCC supports and has greatly benefited from the current bike lane configuration that was completed just last year!” the letter reads. “Our Clean Start program with Downtown Clean & Safe, Outreach Team, as well as many of our staff, clients, and affordable housing residents travel and commute on bikes, trikes, and other mobility devices throughout Old Town and the downtown core.”
Maas goes on to explain how the previous, door-zone bike lane configuration was not safe and that the change to a parking-protected lane, “has ben a welcomed change in the neighborhood” that has, “increased safety, livability, and convenience to our staff and community members who live and work downtown.”
After we published our stories about their plans, PBOT Director Williams apologized. She now says the plans are on hold and that a public process to consider changes to the Broadway design are forthcoming. Mapps claims to have never signed-off on any changes and that he and Williams were simply responding to concerns raised by business owners along the corridor.
Maas also shared her organization plans to expand their e-bike fleet in the coming months, which will lead to more of their employees and clients using the bike lane. She encouraged Mapps, Williams, and Wheeler to not waste Portland’s global reputation as a climate-smart city.
“We urge the city to use critical resources to continue to make our streets safer, not to undo safety projects,” she wrote.
Scenes from the work session in council chambers this morning. Activists from BikeLoud wore red and held signs.
Sunday Parkways, Safe Routes to School, the 823-SAFE hotline, basic maintenance, 127 full-time jobs, landslide cleanup — yes landslides! — were are all put on the chopping block in City Council chambers this morning as the Portland Bureau of Transportation presented its budget at an annual work session.
Commissioner Mingus Mapps, PBOT Director Millicent Williams, and top-level staff painted a bleak picture for Mayor Ted Wheeler and the rest of council. It was the first major public step in the agency’s journey to cut nearly one-third of its discretionary budget — or find new revenue to prevent an unprecedented reshuffling that would be felt by PBOT and throughout city government.
But what was that about landslides?
“We are eliminating all landslide repairs and any major emergency repair work on structures,” said PBOT City Engineer Todd Liles as he laid out cuts under consideration by the Engineering Services group he manages.
“What does that mean?” Mayor Wheeler asked.
“They’ll sit there,” Liles replied. “We need to come up with some money to do that.”
“Sorry I asked,” replied the Mayor.
If you’re shocked at the level of cuts under consideration, consider this: PBOT’s budget looks big on paper when you see the $509 million top-line figure. But just $147 million of that is actually available to the bureau to use as discretionary (no strings attached) funding. And even within that $147 million slice of pie, about $48 million is tied up in debt service and other commitments.
That leaves just $99 million left to run the 800-person agency, implement programs, maintain the 5,000 lane miles of roads, 159 bridges, 60,000 street lights, and so on. This year, PBOT is being asked to cut $32 million from that $99 million in order to balance their books. That’s because of a perfect storm of factors that includes a loss of revenue from parking fees and gas taxes (pushed down further due to the pandemic) and a big increase in material and construction costs due to inflation — and it follows five years of difficult belt-tightening.
The budget is so bad that PBOT has been asked to rewrite their strategic plan, because they cannot fulfill their current plan with the funding they have.
Director Williams, who sat in front of a sign that read “Resign” that was held by someone protesting her involvement in the Broadway Bike Lane scandal, put the situation in simple terms: “We either cut $32 million from the $99 million available next year, or find a solution or combination of solutions, to fill the gap. If we must make a $32 million cut, you will not have the Portland Bureau of Transportation as you see today.”
After Williams laid out the problem for council members, managers of PBOT’s seven different groups shared the specific cuts and layoffs they would be forced to make.
But before I get into that, Williams was asked a notable question by Commissioner Rene Gonzalez.
“I ride my bike or take the train 90% of the time downtown,” Gonzalez said. “Are [car] drivers subsidizing me in our current revenue model? I pay for my bike in maintenance but I don’t pay a fee to to bike every day. My TriMet pass has been provided to me at less than I think the cost of my usage is in a year. So that’s the question: am I being subsidized by drivers?”
“Yes you are. Yes,” replied Director Williams.
“So what’s the solution? How do we better reflect the cost of supporting cyclists and those who use public transit?” Gonzalez asked.
Williams then said it’s a “complex conversation” and then listed a few ideas on how to adress it. “There are a number of ways that we could get to having the whole of community supporting the transportation network,” she said. “So there are more opportunities for us to explore and discuss that with you.”
More strategies for raising revenue were discussed later in the work session, but let’s get back to the cuts.
Below are the slides that went with each group director’s presentation about their planned cuts:
Slides shown by PBOT at the session.
As you can see, there are some very notable cuts and layoffs on the table. They include:
Removal of subsidies for street fairs, community events, farmers markets, etc…
Reduce funding for Portland Streetcar
Complete reduction of stairway and tunnel maintenance (will only do structural repairs)
Elimination of all landslide and other major emergency repair work
50% reduction in street paving
Less vegetation management (meaning more branches and bushes into the bike lanes)
Reduction of snow plowing and lane striping
Dozens of family-wage jobs
Laying off six parking enforcement officers
PBOT would no longer support its three modal committees (Bicycle, Pedestrian, Freight)
Time to respond to key project grants
Sunday Parkways and other popular programs
823-SAFE public safety requests and investigations
Fewer damaged, mid-block streetlights will be repaired
and so on and so forth.
No one on council wants to see these cuts happen. Since so much of PBOT’s work is connected to other bureaus, there would be ripple effects felt citywide. What can be done about it?
There was a lot of talk about how PBOT might tap into some of the $750 million Portland Clean Energy Fund Climate Investment Plan. That plan will be adopted by council at their meeting tomorrow and PBOT (along with other bureaus) are circling around it like vultures. PCEF is already going to fund PBOT’s Transportation Wallet program, but will PCEF’s advisory committee support a larger ask from PBOT? That remains to be seen.
The end of PBOT’s presentation to council was the big ask for new funding sources.
A big one PBOT is targeting is the Utility License Fee (ULF), which are fees collected by the city from utilities that use the right-of-way (a natural relationship to PBOT). Back in 1988, when transportation funding was separated from the city’s General Fund, PBOT was promised 28% of this fee as a replacement. But over the years, these funds were siphoned away into other bureaus. PBOT estimates they’ve lost $585 million since 1988 and they want some of this money back. In a slide shown by Director Williams, PBOT expects they could net $25 million per year if council restored the ULF to 1988 levels.
“This restoration could be directed by council now to avoid PBOT cuts,” Williams said. “But yes, there would be an impact on other bureaus.”
As expected, PBOT also made an ask to reduce other bureaus’ funding from the General Fund in order to pay for transportation. If all other bureaus reduced their General Fund budget by 1%, PBOT could receive $6.7 million. A 5% reduction would net PBOT $33.5 million.
Offloading certain annual expenses — like homeless camp cleanup ($1.3 million), Sellwood Bridge debt ($5.7 million) and derelict RV removal ($3 million) — could result in an additional $22 million for PBOT.
These are just some ideas PBOT floated at the work session. Now the real negotiations and debates will likely begin among Mayor Wheeler, Commissioner Mapps, and the rest of council to come up with a solution.
While Wheeler and Commissioner Gonzalez said they would absolutely not support using any Public Safety funding for PBOT, it sounded like there was a genuine interest from all five members of Council to collaborate on this crisis.
“What I can do in my role is to be transparent with you,” Commissioner Mapps said in his closing remarks. “And today is the beginning of that dialogue.”
Slide from briefing document created for Commissioner Mapps on August 21st.
Just three weeks after Portland City Commissioner Mingus Mapps hired Millicent Williams to lead his transportation bureau, she was already committed to major changes to a 16-block stretch of Northwest and Southwest Broadway through downtown.
In newly leaked emails from Portland Bureau of Transportation Director Millicent Williams to PBOT staff, we learn that she wanted to address Broadway as early as August 15th, a full month before an email she sent to staff turned into a public relations crisis for the bureau and forced Williams to apologize Thursday for “moving too fast.”
Unlike her contrite tone late last week, Williams was urgent and serious in her emails from mid-August.
August 15th email to PBOT staff from PBOT Director Millicent Williams.
In an August 15th email to a select group of PBOT staff, Williams wrote: “We need to meet about Broadway… I have thoughts about what we can do to both meet our goals and to be responsive to the concerns shared by the ‘downtown’ community.” She knew some of the invitees would have timing conflicts, but she expected them to attend. “Please do what you can to adjust your calendars,” she wrote.
There was one point in that initial email Director Williams made sure to underscore: “Please note that one of the options cannot be to leave things the way that they are, so I will disabuse you of the notion that doing nothing would be sufficient,” she wrote. And then one paragraph later, “Again, doing nothing is not an option.”
We still don’t know exactly why there was so much urgency around this specific bike lane. From a PBOT traffic flow and safety data standpoint, it does not raise any flags (ironically, the current parking-protected bike lane design was installed after years of study and careful planning as a way to reduce what was one of the most high-crash streets in the city). PBOT maintenance staff have said the bike lane is hard to maintain — but there are dozens of miles of similar bike lanes throughout the city that pose equally difficult maintenance challenges. What we do know is that several hotel and business owners have complained about the bike lane recently.
PBOT staff, led by Central City Capital Program Manager Gabriel Graff, noted the urgency in Williams’ email and responded immediately. He and other PBOT staff met with Williams to brainstorm possible changes one week later. Graff then used ideas from that August 21st meeting and rounded up at least 12 high-level PBOT staff to develop a matrix of 15 potential actions (see below) the bureau could take. On August 28th, he sent Director Williams an email that included a two-page list of those actions. The matrix included a relatively (for one week’s work) detailed analysis of each option based on seven factors. Graff also included input on whether or not staff could recommend each option.
The “recommended” (left) and “not recommended” options. Circled option on the right is the one Williams chose, allegedly with Mapps approval.
“I’d like to share the deck and the potential/proposed solutions with the Commissioner’s office for their review and consideration.”
– Millicent Williams, PBOT director, on September 6th
On September 6th, Williams replied to Graff and wrote, “If there are no objections, I’d like to share the deck and the potential/proposed solutions with the Commissioner’s office for their review and consideration.” Graff then wrote that he’d be happy to prepare a summary of the options. “Go for it,” Williams replied. “[Commissioner Mapps] and his team like to see background information.”
Two hours later, Graff came back with an additional five pages and the document was now named “Broadway briefing book for Commissioner Mapps.”
It’s clear from the name of the document and Williams’ emails that it was intended to be shown to Commissioner Mapps. In my interview with Mapps Thursday he said he talks with Williams several times a week, but that he hadn’t had a formal briefing on this project. “I’m waiting for the point where we sit down and talk about what our options are,” Mapps said. “And we haven’t done that yet.”
Two days after she received the briefing book from PBOT staff, Williams emailed the Broadway team again. “I realize that, in order for the Commissioner to be able to make a well-informed decision/recommendation, he (and I) will need a bit of clarity on a couple of things,” she wrote.
Based on the specific items Williams sought to clarify in that email, and on a summary of notes from the August 21st brainstorming meeting with PBOT staff, we now have a clearer understanding of the primary impetus for action on Broadway. On a slide titled, “Concerns noted in 8-21-23 staff briefing from Director Williams,” the document lists eight items:
Concerns regarding driver confusion, hard to move about
Drivers feeling stuck, not realizing they are waiting behind parked car in the pro-time lane
Concern regarding aesthetics of street, bike lane, parking signs
Concerns from hotels regarding loss of valet space, patron and cyclist conflicts
Consider reverting the bike facility to a traditional bike lane or moving to another street
Commissioner requests action
Note that none of those points include negative feedback about the design from bike lane users, nor is there anything on that list about making the lane better for bicycle riders. Every single concern brought to that meeting from Directors Williams (who was likely acting on behalf of her boss, Commissioner Mapps) comes from either a political, car driver, or business owner, point of view. This is despite public statements made (only after our first story broke) by PBOT and Mapps’ office that this whole thing was spurred by “mixed feedback from people biking.”
Williams’ September 6th email to Graff sought clarity on four points, all of which had to do with satisfying concerns from business owners on Broadway:
The platforms for the Heathman and the Vance will support the contiguous flow of all modes as they connect with (or are aligned with) the one in front of the Schnitzer. Got that. While I understand that the Benson is supportive of the platforms based on the need for an operational work-around, have we asked about whether or not their needs would be met if returned to the original curb-tight parking with loading and valet zones? Are there any other platforms planned between the Benson and the Heathman?
Can we deconflict the signage in front of the Schnitzer? I would ask that we use the special ‘5 minute’ parking signs and/or emphasize that the spaces in front of the platform are passenger loading and unloading zones. I propose that we discourage any ‘real’ parking there. I’m fine with a complete removal of any reference to actual parking and that it be designated as a passenger loading zone for the three spaces in front of the venue.
For the other two hotels (Heathman and Vance), can we do the same thing but allow for up to 15 minutes of parking for hotel guests who are loading and unloading. 5 minutes isn’t enough time.
If we returned the rest of Broadway (NW Hoyt to SW Salmon) to curb tight parking with a bike lane to the left of parking, what would that do to everything else? I’ve read your report and recommended solutions. Trying to envision how the two operational constructs would fit together.
Graff offered his most detailed and pointed response to that last point. “On the plus side, this would reduce ongoing maintenance costs of the parking signs and flexposts and may win us some points with some downtown business stakeholders and the hotels,” he wrote. But, he continued, “On the downside, it would be a step backward on safety for people walking and biking. While it may feel like an odd setup for visitors to downtown, the current configuration results in less exposure for pedestrians crossing the street and better visibility for people turning across the bike lane.”
“I would predict the politics of switching back to a traditional bike lane would be mixed but very unlikely to be a net win for the Commissioner or the Bureau. We’d get some support, but I would guess the response from safety and cycling advocates and progressive business interests would be outrage. Politically, I think it would be a challenging change for the Bureau to deliver.”
– Gabriel Graff, PBOT Central City Capital Program Manager
Graff’s opinion of the current Broadway design is based in large part on PBOT crash data. In a slide shared in the briefing book, PBOT shares that between 2015 and 2019, one out of every 42 bike crashes citywide happened in the one-mile stretch of Broadway that Mapps wants to change. But since PBOT changed the design (granted, traffic is down about 50% from pre-pandemic levels) crashes for all users have decreased by 42%. Crashes with people walking and bicycling are down 100% and 77% respectively.
And for his final bit of insight on the fourth option, Graff shared something that was extremely prescient:
“I would predict the politics of switching back to a traditional bike lane would be mixed but very unlikely to be a net win for the Commissioner or the Bureau. We’d get some support, but I would guess the response from safety and cycling advocates and progressive business interests would be outrage. Politically, I think it would be a challenging change for the Bureau to deliver.”
After reading his comments on September 8th, Director Williams claims she consulted with Commissioner Mapps. It’s unclear if that consultation actually happened and/or what level of detail Mapps and/or his staff were given about the Broadway plans before Williams moved forward with them. Mapps told me during our video call on September 21st that he hadn’t yet seen Williams’ set of proposals.
Mapps’ alleged ignorance about details of the Broadway plans is difficult to square with the facts. Given that he told Williams to work on the project and it had top priority in her mind, along with Williams’ statements about having Mapps’ support and Mapps’ claims that he talks regularly with her, it’s very likely Mapps has seen and reviewed a copy of this briefing book.
We also know he has heard a lot from business owners who don’t like the current design. The Portland Metro Chamber, who endorsed and donated to Mapps during his 2020 council campaign, opposed the Broadway bike lane (and related reduction of driving lanes from three to two) in 2018 on grounds that it would have “significant, unnecessary economic impacts on our downtown retail core.”
And on May 4th, during a meeting where PBOT reps, Commissioner Mapps and his staff pitched the Chamber on a new plan to raise funding for PBOT, former Chamber President and CEO of downtown commercial real estate firm Melvin Mark Companies, Jim Mark, railed against the Broadway bike lane. According to someone who was at the meeting but who has requested anonymity for fear of retaliation, Mark, unsolicited, shifted the focus of the conversation away from the revenue idea and “just went off on the bike lane.” According to our source, Mark lambasted PBOT for spending money on bike lanes and said the bike lanes are bad for business.
Then, within a just few weeks of hiring Director Williams, Mapps made it her top priority to change the bike lane to the old design.
And on the morning of September 14th, just six days after Graff’s warning that it would backfire on PBOT and would be a “step backward on safety for people walking and biking” Williams chose that option anyways and did so with what she claims was Mapps’ support.
As we reported last week, Williams emailed PBOT staff with clear marching orders: “After reviewing all of the information and consulting with the Commissioner, I would like to ask the team to do the following…” she wrote, and then shared 16 detailed steps to remove the protected lane and replace it with the old, door-zone bike lane between NW Hoyt and SW Broadway.
And in case you missed our update Friday, I received a more complete version of that initial September 14th email that included these questions which illustrate the pressure Williams felt she was under to get this done quickly:
How long will it take for us to do the work?
When can we start?
How will we publicize/communicate about what we are doing?
Is night work an option?
Another part of the email we didn’t have until Friday was the final paragraph where Williams wrote:
“I recognize that this might be a fairly bitter pill to swallow and that there might be some politically charged discussions and advocate engagement. Please allow the Commissioner and I to handle those conversations.”
While Mapps has repeatedly denied that anything had been finalized or that he had ever seen a set of options or supported any one of them, and despite public statements from his office and PBOT that “nothing is imminent” and that all talks “have been very preliminary,” his bureau director felt she had his full support to move forward with a major reconfiguration of a high-profile, downtown bike lane.
And Director Williams wasn’t the only person who was confused. Graff, PBOT’s central city project manager, was clearly under the impression that the change was to be made and that it came directly from Commissioner Mapps.
“I know there is a lot of effort and heart that has gone into recent work on Broadway and, as our director notes, this may be a ‘bitter pill to swallow,'” Graff emailed other PBOT staff on September 14th. “I am hoping to use this time to identify next steps and develop answers to the questions raised by this change… I am working on outlining a communications strategy for this new direction.”
Mapps also insisted in my interview with him Thursday that a public outreach process was always on the table. But we now know that the decision had already been made — completely devoid of transparent public comment or feedback. Not even PBOT’s own advisory committees were in the loop. And recall that Mapps said in the interview Thursday, “I feel fairly confident that they’ve done a good job of listening to people who are stakeholders in this space.”
Shortly after my interview with Mapps, where he repeatedly said he trusts Director Williams and that she’d done nothing wrong, Williams has made an apology. She even went so far as to tell members of PBOT’s budget committee, “I was not directed by the commissioner to do anything that I’ve done.” When asked for an on-the-record interview, PBOT has refused, saying Williams needs to focus on upcoming budget talks. On Friday, Commissioner Mapps cancelled a town hall meeting that was supposed to take place this evening.
Now that there’s been such an uproar, PBOT says a public process to consider changes on Broadway will be announced soon. Based on an update published to the project website last week, the option to revert the bike lane to its old, unprotected, door-zone configuration is still on the table.
Last week was one of the wildest I’ve ever had on this site. Among everything that happened, I was continually impressed with how our community responded: people showed up on a moment’s notice to testify at council, people wrote letters, they spoke out at meetings, organized events — and of course, many of you wrote comments.
So much of what we do here at BikePortland is made better by having a very open and accessible comment section. Out of the 422 (and counting) comments on our six Broadway bike lane stories last week, there were many that deserve to be singled out. But the one I’ve chosen for Comment of the Week stands apart. It’s a comment on my podcast interview with Mapps from reader MelK that I think nails some very important aspects of the controversy, and gets at the larger issue of how many politicians totally misread what we do here.
Read her comment below:
Towards the end of the interview, Mapps makes a comment about having to take into account all Portlanders’ concerns, while claiming that Jonathan only has to concern himself with BikePortland readers/cyclists. This is a false dichotomy. Yes, we read BikePortland, but many of us are here not because we identify as “cyclists,” but because we are regular Portlanders just trying to move through our city and want to do so safely. Aside from walking, biking is the cleanest, healthiest, most affordable, and most environmentally and socially just form of transportation. I am one of the “all Portlanders” that Mapps speaks of; it just so happens that my usual mode is the one that reflects the values I’m trying to impart to my kids and my community: one that emits no carbon dioxide or particulate pollution, one that causes far fewer fatalities and severe injuries than driving, one that improves my physical health, and one that ties me to my city and community. These are all things Commissioner Mapps claims he believes in and supports, and yet because I read BikePortland, I get lumped in as just a “cyclist.”
I don’t believe it’s a huge ask that our safety be prioritized over economic interests. When my husband and I put our 4- and 6-year-old on the back of our bikes to get them to and from school in the central city every day, it is imperative that we have protection. Automobile-related injuries and deaths are at an all-time high and it’s not easy to continue putting myself and my family in the “vulnerable road user” category. Yet we do it because we truly believe that biking is climate action, and as a parent I have to make the extremely difficult decision to weigh my kids’ long-term future against our short-term interests. The only way I know how to do that and not let the anxiety take over is to fight for safer and more equitable streets, which in turn will someday mean healthier and more resilient communities.
This should have been an easy one for Mapps. Getting complaints about a bike lane from wealthy business owners? Cool. Chat with them, make it clear that he can work with them if and only if any changes either maintain or add to the safety of his constituents, whose right to move themselves and their children from A to B safely is a priority. I was hoping for a PBOT commissioner and mayoral candidate who understands that, but Mapps clearly does not. Unfortunately, even if he appears to suddenly get it as we approach election day, we can no longer trust that he’s being honest and genuine about that.
Thank you MelK and all the others who contributed to an outstanding week of comments. You can read MelK’s comment in context here.
Welcome to the week. It’s going to get busy and interesting this week. Before the silliness starts, below are all the stories you need (from sources you can trust) to get up to speed.
Check your cranks!: After a whopping 4,519 reported incidents of crankset damage and several injuries, Shimano has issues a massive recall. Learn more here. (Bicycle Retailer)
School pick-up lines are a policy failure: The line of drivers just to pick kids up from school is “soul-sucking” and totally preventable. (The Atlantic)
Micro-mobility, mega impact: When people talk trash about e-scooters and/or bike share, keep in mind that those modes are an invaluable piece of the mobility puzzle for people with lower incomes. (Streetsblog USA)
Black people and bikes: Access to and love of bicycles contradicted popular ideas about the the lack of mobility for folks who lived in the nearly all-Black neighborhood of Newtown in Montgomery, Alabama in the mid 1960s. (African American Intellectual History Society)
DEA agent charged in Salem cyclist death: Samuel Landis is accused of criminally negligent homicide after he drove recklessly, hit and killed Marganne Allen, and then never stopped to see if she needed help. (Statesman Journal)
The Oregonian is trying: It’s nice to see Oregon’s newspaper of record saying thoughtful things about how they cover traffic crashes. Thanks to all the folks who contact them about it. Let’s see how it plays out in future coverage. (The Oregonian)
Environmental racism: When a major data analysis find that “More than 49 million Americans live within a mile of a highway and face startling health risks from traffic pollution,” it makes it all the more difficult to support any compromise for lane expansions. (ABC)
E-bike revolution strong as ever: A poll found that nearly half of Americans are in the market for a new e-bike, and corporate America is lining up for a piece of the pie. (Adweek)
xkcd on urban planning: About a dozen readers have sent me this strip on the “typical urban planning opinion progression” that reveals how many of us have become radicalized. (xkcd)
Victim blaming again: It’s almost as if police got to national conferences and trade tips on how best to absolve drivers in fatal bicycle crashes. This one in Texas (similar to one we’ve recently covered) says a highly-experienced bike rider just happened to “veer” in front of a truck before he was hit. (KPTV)
E-bikes can unite Oregon: What’s one transportation policy that could unite urban and rural Oregon? E-bike rebates! Imagine the flood of positive mobility impacts folks from rural folks (especially older ones) if they could hop on a motorized bicycle. (PBS)
Protected convenience stores: Here’s a stat that shows just one absurd consequence of America’s car-centric planning: “Over a 15-year period, 6,253 cars crashed into 7-Eleven storefronts in the U.S. – an average of 1.14 per day.” (ABC Philly)
Safe street tech: CycleRAP, A tool that anonymously captures road features and then runs it through a safety assessment is being piloted in at least one American city. Could it help advise planners on where and what to do to make cycling safer? (NY Times)
Washington County farm roads are medicine for the soul. (Photo: Jonathan Maus/BikePortland)
I don’t know about you, but I could sure use a weekend and some great bike rides with friends right about now.
Check out our picks below for the best things to do this weekend. Note: Times posted are usually meet-up times. For roll-out times, see link for more info.
Saturday, September 23rd
BikePOC PNW Adventure Ride – 9:00 am at Ed Grenfell Park (McMinnville) A bit of gravel and a lot of good times are promised on this BIPOC only ride and post-pedal lunch. Pre-registration is required. More info here.
The Disaster Ride – 10:00 am at Irving Park (NE) This 9-mile ride, led by the Portland Bureau of Transportation (PBOT), will help you get informed and inspired about how you can work with your community when disaster strikes. More info here.
Goodbye to Rev Nat’s Cider – 10:00 am at Moda Center Fountain (N) The amazing elixirs of Rev Nat will soon be a thing of the past. Don’t despair, be there! Join Scott B for a ride to the final closing party at Rev Nat’s. And drink a pint for me if you do! More info here.
Audreality WNBR Screening Party – 8:00 pm at Tinker Tavern (SE) The video YouTube doesn’t want you to see! Local filmmaker Audrey Rose Goldfarb made a great vid of the Naked Bike Ride, but it was too raunchy for YouTube so she’s have a party to show it all off. More info here.
Sunday, September 24th
Beaverton to Portland with the MAX – 9:00 am at Pip’s Doughnuts in Beaverton (Washington County) Ride Westside wants to show you the cool way to ride up-and-over the west hills. Do the inclines on the way out, then take the MAX on the way back. You’ll laugh, you’ll cry, you’ll learn. More info here.
Bike Swap Meet – 11:00 am to 2:00 pm at Rose City Food Park (NE) Everything you’d expect at a good, old-fashioned used parts and bikes swap. Plus excellent beer and food! $10 for a table. More info here.
Put Your Bike on the Bus – 11:00 am at Woodstock Farmers Market (SE) I know you’ve been eyeing that bus front bike rack and wondering if you could do it. Here’s your chance to practice and look like a pro when the bus pulls up. Hosted by The Street Trust. More info here.
Spicy Pumpkin Ridge and Farm Tour – 9:00 am in Hillsboro (Washington County) Get the first glimpses of fall on a group ride into the countryside on this 46-mile “brisk pace” ride that will be led by a Portland Bicycling Club member. More info here.
A big part of the Broadway bike lane scandal is how it all impacts rank-and-file Portland Bureau of Transportation staff. If what’s been happening makes your blood boil, imagine if you were a dedicated PBOT employee who is eager and able to carry out all the lofty plans and goals the agency works toward every day.
The self-inflicted wound carried out by their own leadership, hit the agency when it was already at a very low point. They’re facing a budget crisis, record traffic deaths, a steep drop in bike commuting (but I predict neighborhood traffic is way up!), leadership turnovers, uncertainty about charter reform, vast amounts of (frequently unwarranted) criticism from all corners of the city, and so on.
Having their own director, Millicent Williams, make the decisions she’s made since getting the job just two months ago, has been another gut-punch. But Director Williams wants to make things right — at least that’s what her contrite tone at Thursday evening’s PBOT Bureau Budget Advisory Committee expressed.
Right before that meeting, she sent an email to all PBOT staff. I’ve pasted the email (minus a few bits about specific projects that I’ve already covered) below:
Dear PBOTers,
This has been a hard week. I want to apologize to all of you, both in how I’ve communicated with you this week and the mistakes I made involving the Broadway bike lane downtown. I moved too fast on something and it cost us trust. I’ve heard directly how demoralizing the last two weeks have been for many of you, especially how this issue — and the public’s understandable reaction — has had a very real impact on you and the work you do every day to make our streets safer. For that, I am truly sorry.
For staff who feel out of the loop or are playing catch-up with news reports, we are talking about my decision to modify sections of the new parking-protected bike lane along Broadway downtown. Regarding my initial request for changes, I’ve heard your pushback and the public’s and have learned a great deal about how to avoid such quick decisions in the future.
Bottom line: we’re slowing down and evaluating the path forward.
It’s been over a year since we completed this project. This was what’s known as a Quick Build which, as the name implies, is cost-effective, but doesn’t always result in the best product. We continue to hear concerns from hotels and business owners and recognize we need to do something that will both keep people safe in the bike lane and make the bike lane and the entire street function better. Of note, we’ve gotten feedback not only from adjacent businesses but from our own street cleaning crews who find the current design hard to maneuver their equipment around.
In evaluating all options, we will consider investing more in this corridor to make it function the way our upcoming SW Fourth Avenue Improvement Project will.
…
Moving forward
In addition to this update, I want to reiterate how committed I am to the bureau’s goals around safety, climate, and mode-share and to working alongside you to build the safest network possible in our city. At the end of the day, I’m humbled by and immensely proud of the expertise and professionalism PBOT staff display every day. You help us stay true to our goals, and for that I am grateful. I will continue to listen to your guidance. In times like this, we’ll slow down. In others, we’ll try a different tack. Regardless, we’ll do this work together.
I own this most recent misstep. My sincere apology to the staff most impacted, both professionally and personally, as I know you were led to this work (as was I) to make a positive impact in our community.
Keep doing what you’re doing.
My door remains open for your feedback. Please talk to me if you have questions or concerns you would like addressed. This conversation will continue in our upcoming All-staff Meeting on Tuesday, Oct. 3.
Sincerely,
Millicent Williams (she/her) Director
If you’re wanting to hear from Director Williams directly, I’ve requested an interview with her. So far, PBOT says they are shifting to next week’s budget talks and she won’t be available until after that. We’ll see what happens.
The paused greenway project through Rose City Golf Course has been unpaused.
Reeling from the Broadway bike lane scandal, Portland Bureau of Transportation Director Millicent Williams has changed her mind about a key piece of the 70s greenway project. In statements made at the PBOT Bureau Budget Advisory Committee and in an all-staff email she sent Thursday, Williams acknowledged that it was her decision to pause the project — and now she has decided to unpause it.
“This is one part of the project I initially said to pause,” she wrote in the email. “No more pause. We will move ahead.”
To quickly rewind: PBOT planned to change the stretch of NE 72nd Avenue that bisects Rose City Golf Course from its current two-way configuration to a one-way for drivers. In order to create a more low-stress, family-friendly connection between NE Tillamook and Sacramento (both of which are bike routes), the redesign would turn it into one-way southbound for car drivers. The entire northbound lane would be reserved for biking, walking, rolling, and other non-car uses.
Some residents strongly opposed the plan, but after reviewing traffic data and their transportation policies and goals, PBOT opted to go through with the plan. They even sent out postcards to announce the start of construction. But then PBOT Director Williams put the project on ice. The rationale was that more community outreach needed to be done — in part because the initial round of engagement was done during Covid and (in Williams’ words yesterday), “When we were engaging on the project did not have the opportunity to connect some of the ways that we typically would, and so we want to get him to open community the opportunity to engage.”
Now the project will move forward.
“We decided today to move forward with the planned striping on NE 72nd Drive through Rose City Park,” Williams said in an email to PBOT staff Thursday afternoon. “This is one part of the project I initially said to pause. No more pause. We will move ahead on the striping.”
Williams said PBOT will move forward with the lane reconfiguration but that they still plan to do additional community outreach before all elements of the project are installed. “This is to do our due diligence because of the mixed feedback we’ve heard from the community about this segment of the greenway,” Williams wrote.
Portland Bureau of Transportation Director Millicent Williams just apologized for her role in the Broadway bike lane scandal.
Here’s the audio, followed by the full text of the statement she read at the start of today’s monthly PBOT Bureau Budget Advisory Committee:
“As you may have heard in the media last week. I sent an email directing staff to make modifications to the Broadway bike lane. That email understandably has led to a lot of concerns for people who are dedicated to making our streets safer, both PBOT staff and the general public, including, I’m certain, many of you.
I want to apologize to you. I moved too fast. I often do that… I moved too fast on this and have heard all of the many, many voices who’ve reached out and expressed their concern for slowing down now. Thank you for your feedback. And we’re going to evaluate our options.
It’s been over a year since we finished the project and we continue to hear concerns from hotels and business owners and recognize we need to make this bike lane and corridor better. The fact is that this bike lane was built as a Quick Build project, and as you all know, the budget for those projects are very limited and doesn’t always result in our best work.
There are several other items that informed the decision. But what you will likely hear, as we continue to discuss some of the things that I shared with the team, is that it’s not just about bike safety. It’s not just about all of the automobile drivers’ safety. It’s not just about pedestrian safety, but it’s also about our ability to maintain that road. And what we’ve heard from our maintenance crews is that it is incredibly challenging for us to maintain the road in a way that reflects the best of what PBOT has to offer.
And so we’re encouraging the team to go back and evaluate the opportunity to reimagine the corridor to make sure that it becomes the corridor that you would like for it to be and that we expect that you would want for it to be. So what this will look like is an opportunity for us to explore and we’ll be engaging the community to ensure that we are making the best — and the right steps — as we move this work forward.”
BBAC member Kara Helgren was the first person to respond to Williams. “Unfortunately Director Williams, I don’t feel that under your leadership, PBOT is really committed to finding safer ways for people to use streets,” Helgren said. Here’s more from Helgren’s comments:
Kara Helgren
“We’ve had so many deaths this year, and now there’s discussion about taking out a protected bike lane? I have ridden in that section of Broadway and I have been doored in that section of Broadway prior to this lane existing and it was incredibly dangerous. It feels like the input that’s being taken into consideration isn’t, you know, the riders or other users of the road, but these hotels who have complained. I’m not sure how giving huge carve-outs to hotels will make the general public in Portland safer.
It seems like there’s been a lot of bowing to pressure from some really adamant, anti-cyclist, anti-pedestrian voices when it comes to most of these projects. And I honestly would like a list of all of the projects that have been in the background that you’ve decided, maybe didn’t warrant as much input from the rest of us, because I would not be surprised if there were others that were just in the background that we’ll wake up one morning and there will magically be another bike lane removed or a Rose Lane painted over. I’m extremely frustrated with how PBOT has been so adamant that you have no budget — and you’re wanting to spend the budget on removing safety measures in light of the 40-plus deaths we’ve had on the road this year — to centering cars. I am just really, really frustrated and really angry about it.
I’m also really concerned about what looks like dishonesty coming out of either PBOT or out of Mr. Mapps’ office. I don’t know how easy it’s going to be to trust you that our input, when it comes to the budget, is going to be respected, or if there’s going to be money used to dismantle things and then PBOT will continuously tell us how poor they are.
It’s incredibly, incredibly frustrating and I feel like there’s been a lot of broken trust now between BBAC members, and PBOT, and especially you, Director Williams.”
In response to Helgren, Williams said, “I recognize the weight of the responsibility of the role and do not intend to use that opportunity to provide leadership irresponsibly.” She also said, “There are no other projects in the background… There are no other efforts to dismantle large swaths of any of the work that we’ve done… I have no intention of dismantling the work of the bureau.” (Rumors continue to swirl about removal of bus priority “Rose Lanes” on W Burnside, NE Couch, and SW Capitol Highway.)
Next up with a response Williams was BBAC member Ignacio Simon. Despite Williams’ contention a few minutes earlier when she told the committee, “There hasn’t been anything that’s been hidden,” Simon expressed that, “It is very clear that this whole thing with the bike lane on Broadway has been done behind closed doors.” Then Simon said he thinks Williams should resign:
Ignacio Simon
“I think the truth is that if it weren’t for the great journalism of some wonderful individuals in the Portland bike community, this would have proceeded and you would have had no qualms and doing it without any public input. I think that there’s also strong allegations that this specific removal was done to politically benefit Commissioner Mapps and I think that you should answer to that. Because again, your emails suggest this political motive. I think that you have, as a recent director who started about two months ago, you have broken the trust of a lot of members of the BBAC and the larger Portland community. I don’t see how you could possibly regain that trust.
I don’t believe you when you say that you don’t have any other intentions of doing things behind closed doors. I don’t believe that your apology is sincere. I wish I was in that room to be able to look you in the eyes and tell you that I think that you should resign.”
In response, Williams said, “I was not directed by the commissioner to do anything that I’ve done… I don’t consider myself to be political in the ways that you’re suggesting.”
One BBAC member, Mariah Dula, offered a different perspective:
“I’m a cyclist. I’m a driver. I’m a pedestrian. Broadway has never been a great solution for anyone. I think you’ve rightly identified that downtown is a changed environment the past few years, and I do want to see PBOT projects be responsive to that going forward — including the needs of businesses. It is hard to access hotels safely whether you’re a cyclist or driver.
I have a little bit of an alternate perspective. I live on a greenway. I bike a lot. But I personally prefer not to bike on Broadway. I don’t think it’s the best option, and I hope to see alternatives and move away from Broadway. So I look forward to continued engagement.”
Also at this meeting, Williams announced a major shift in her stance on the 70s greenway project and there were some other important exchanges about what the future could hold for Broadway. I’ll save those for separate stories. Stay tuned.
In this episode, I sat down for a video phone call with Portland Bureau of Transportation Commissioner Mingus Mapps.
His office set up this 30-minute interview to respond to our stories this week about Mapps’ involvement in a push from his PBOT Director Millicent Williams to make significant changes to the protected bike lane on NW/SW Broadway. Williams’ email to PBOT staff on September 14th made it clear she was ready to move forward — with what she claims was Mapps’ approval — on reversing the current Broadway bike lane design and replacing with a configuration that would be less safe for cycling.
Mapps’ policy advisor Adam Lyons (left) and Mapps on the call.
In the interview, Mapps repeatedly denies that he had any knowledge of a clear plan to move forward. He also characterizes Williams’ email as a message that was meant to start a conversation about possible design changes and that a public process would have always been part of the plan. That contention directly contradicts not only the words Williams uses in her email, it also makes it odd that Williams would make a full apology for her actions — which she just did at the PBOT Bureau Budget Advisory Committee.
More striping and signage to prevent drivers from parking in the bike lane are coming. (Photo: Jonathan Maus/BikePortland)
“When you make a u-turn out there it doesn’t work. You run into the new curb, and it’s kind of terrifying when you have to put your car in reverse.”
– Dan Ryan, Portland city commissioner
The Portland Bureau of Transportation will make significant changes to the center median on Southeast Division in response to numerous complaints from people who live and own businesses along the corridor.
The Outer Division Multimodal Safety Project was mostly completed last fall, but a strong chorus of opposition has been building since before the concrete was even dry that the nearly continuous center median between 80th and 148th avenues has made driving too inconvenient and made businesses too inaccessible. One business owner in particular, Roman Russian Market owner Fatima Magomadova, has testified about her concerns to city council several times. Magomadova’s market is on SE 109th and Division.
This morning PBOT announced that they will make a break in the median to allow left turns onto 109th, right in front of Magomadova’s market.
PBOT installs center medians in large part to reduce the risk of crashes from drivers turning left from a large arterial onto a smaller street (or commercial driveway). This change will result in more turns and research shows it could increase the risk of crashes.
In addition to the median break at 109th, PBOT will do several other bits of what they refer to as, “corrective work” that includes: changes to make u-turns easier in some locations; more “No Parking” signs and stronger striping in the bike lanes; and more raised, reflective pavement markers to indicate where lanes shift in key areas.
The changes to allow easier u-turns are also in response to numerous complaints that there isn’t enough room to make them. Among those making complaints are City Commissioner Dan Ryan.
At a City Council meeting yesterday, Ryan sharply questioned PBOT Commissioner Mingus Mapps about the Division project (even though Mapps had very little to do with this project, since it was conceived and completed before he ran the transportation bureau). At the meeting, Ryan made comments about an unrelated project on 82nd Avenue when he turned to Mapps and said he wanted, “to make sure that we don’t repeat any mistakes that we made on Southeast Division.”
“We’ve heard consistent complaints about all the upgrades there,” Ryan said. “I’ve experienced it myself. They [people who oppose the medians] didn’t make up any stories. When you make a u-turn out there it doesn’t work. You run into the new curb, and it’s kind of terrifying when you have to put your car in reverse. The cars are coming down fast. So that’s a little terrifying. That doesn’t help the safety. I’m sure there’s been accidents out in that area because of this. And we spent a lot of money on that.”
Oddly, despite being extremely relevant to Ryan’s comments at council yesterday, PBOT Commissioner Mingus Mapps didn’t mention these changes.
It’s good to see that PBOT will add more “No Parking” signs to the bike lane, since that’s been a consistent problem since the changes went in.
News of these modifications to the Division project come on the same day an anti-median protest is planned in the parking lot of Magomadova’s business on 109th. PDX Real, the group who has led the organization of the event, has passed out signs that say, “Remove the medians, PBOT!” Whether or not this one change will be enough to satisfy them remains to be seen.
PBOT says work on these changes is scheduled to begin Monday, September 25th.
