Video: Portland Bike Path Conditions Report

Just how bad are Portland’s marquee bike paths these days? Are they safe for everyone to ride? Is the hysteria over homeless campers living on them accurate or overblown?

These are questions I’ve thought about a lot, so I wanted to get out there and see for myself. And I figured bringing a video camera along might help other people answer them as well.

On Saturday I set off on the classic Portland path loop: Marine Drive, I-205, Springwater, Esplanade — I did about 32 miles from Peninsula Park and back. I also looked at NE 33rd Ave to check on the huge community of RV dwellers that have amassed on both sides of the street.

To back up a bit, Portland has struggled with the issue of people living on and adjacent to bike paths ever since massive camps emerged on the Springwater Corridor in 2015. While it feels like we’ve made significant progress in how we address this issue, it remains unresolved.

The intersection with cycling is very clear. Many reasonable people have told me they don’t feel safe using paths like the Springwater, or paths along I-205, Marine Drive, the Columbia Slough, Peninsula Crossing Trail, and so on. There have been scary confrontations, thefts, and assaults. In 2017 Metro planners were forced to scrap a path project when fears about homeless camping came to the fore.

In 2019, I was shocked at the conditions of both the I-205 path and the people living along it.

But I also know the issue is often unfairly used as political cudgel by some people. There’s an entire phalanx of folks who are so committed to convincing us “Portland is a lawless wasteland” they will say anything to perpetuate that narrative. So instead of arguing online, I wanted to ground-truth conditions for myself.

As you can see and hear in the video, what I encountered was a very mixed bag. Overall, my experience was much better than some of the “Portland is dying” folks are desperate for you to believe. I never once felt scared and was not approached or threatened by anyone. The vast majority of my time in the saddle was beautiful and the paths were free and clear of anyone — campers or otherwise. (Note: I am very aware that my experiences are not the same as everyone. Your mileage may vary!)

There wasn’t that much trash to be seen (keep in mind my bar is unfortunately still quite low for what’s an acceptable condition on these paths), and the presence of campers and their tents and belongings was relatively minimal compared to a few years ago. Overall, I was happy to see fewer people living outside, but we have a lot of work to do to take care of the ones still out there.

One of my biggest takeaways was a validation of my fear that the negative reputation of these trails has scared people from using them. For a nice, sunny, summer day, it was very lonely as a bike rider out there. Yes, it was pretty hot and I was out there in the hottest part of the day; but there should have been a lot more people out riding.

Through all of Portland’s ups and (mostly) downs in the past decade or so, I’ve never stopped riding these paths — and after doing this ride on Saturday, I now feel better about encouraging others to give them a try.

Here’s what I’ve heard about the video from our YouTube channel subscribers:

“I feel a little better about those paths now that you have done this. That camp under Division is very unsettling and should be moved. I feel like it is time for me to ride some of this again.”

“If there were a group ride (like a small Pedalpalooza ride) on the MUP, it would spark interest in riders to go out and take a look. Perhaps that comfort of being with others, would help calm some of the fears and concerns of the paths.”

“I used to live in Lents near that bike path, its always sad to see the conditions there but I never felt like it was unsafe for me to travel along the path during the day.”

Have a look at the video and tell me if the conditions are worse or better than you expected. And I’d love to know how you are feeling about riding these paths: Have you erased them from your route catalogue? Are you sworn off of them for good? Or are you ready to give them another chance?

I plan to do another video of the same loop in a few months to compare conditions. If there’s a specific location you want me to check out, please let me know. For a rosy look at one particular section of the Marine Drive Bike Path, check out this video I shared on Instagram earlier this week.

Get ready for your 15 minutes of fame at Bike Happy Hour this week

The scene last week. Did I mention we have misters now?!! (Photos: Jonathan Maus/BikePortland)

Rupert Wild wants to tell your bike story.

It’s Tuesday, which means it’s Bike Happy Hour eve! I can’t wait to see you on the Gorges Beer Co. patio tomorrow (Wednesday, 7/26 from 3-6:00 pm). Here’s what to expect at this weeks gathering…

We’ll have not one, but two film crews at the event. I respect peoples’ right to privacy and I never like to just stick a camera in someone’s face unless they are cool with it, so I want to share more about what’s going on…

Rupert Wild (in photo) is a professional filmmaker who moved to Portland from Amsterdam two years ago. He’s working on a documentary based on interviews of people and their experiences of bicycling and being around bikes in Portland — specifically using our network of neighborhood greenways. He’s already done several interviews (some of which are with Happy Hour regulars!) and they are posted on his YouTube channel.

Rupert will be set up in the lower seating area at Gorges all night. He wants to share a wide variety of voices in his project and would love to interview you. If you’d like to sit down for a chat (interviews take 5 to 20 minutes on average), head over and meet him. If you’re shy, find me and I’ll help make the introduction.

The other person who will be filming is Jessa Butler from Freethink, a media outlet that thinks, “the daily news should inspire people to build a better world.” She’s working on a docuseries and the person she’s following just happens to be coming to Happy Hour. Jessa will be focused on her project, so she won’t be asking random people to be on camera. You might not even notice she’s there, but I wanted to let you know just in case.

I think it’s exciting these folks want to document at Happy Hour! Please come find me if you have questions or concerns about either of these projects.

Also tomorrow, we’ll have another free prize raffle. I’ve got a bit more of the SKS accessories to give away and one lucky winner will go home with our Grand Prize, a print of our amazing, 1896 Portland Bike Map!

Remember to bring a swimsuit if you want to jump into the Willamette because we’ll have another Bike to Swim ride leaving for Duckwork Wednesdays around 6:00 pm. Find ride leader Joe — the guy with the pool noodles attached to his bike — if you’d like to join.

And finally, I was going to do some 18th BikePortland birthday stuff, but I didn’t have time to organize anything. The thing is, July 29th, 2005 is the day I officially launched BikePortland.org! I’ll raise a glass and make a toast. If you have any BikePortland memories to share, feel free to step up!

That’s all for now. See you Wednesday!

Commissioner Rubio wants to cut bike parking requirements to boost housing production

A bike room from an apartment building in north Portland. (Photo: Michael Andersen)

Portland City Commissioner Carmen Rubio is expected to slash bicycle parking regulations in a bid to bring down the cost of housing production. Rubio’s proposal will come at a City Council work session being held this morning.

As we reported back in March, Rubio, the commissioner-in-charge of the Bureau of Development Services and the Portland Housing Bureau, is facing pressure to increase the pace of new housing construction to make housing more attainable to more people and meet goals set by Oregon Governor Tina Kotek. After surveying developers and other people involved in the housing permit process back in February, Rubio’s office found that a raft of new bicycle parking requirements in city code passed in 2019 were among the top things driving housing production delays and costs. Over a third of the 600 survey respondents chose bike parking requirements as a top-five issue standing in the way of more quickly producing housing.

In documents shared by Rubio’s office in advance of today’s work session (below), they say six specific regulations can increase the cost of build housing in Portland by as much as 15% — or roughly $60,000 per unit. Those regulations include: System Development Charges (SDCs) 3-7% of project cost; ground floor active use, 1-4% of project cost; tree mitigation fees; public infrastructure; design review, 1% of project cost; and bike parking, which they say can account for 3-6% of project cost for apartments.

Slide from Commissioner Rubio “Housing Production Work Session”

Those 2019 bicycle parking regulations were passed in a bid to encourage more Portlanders to choose bicycles over cars. They included stronger security measures, racks that fit a wider variety of bikes (like cargo bikes and recumbents), an increased minimum space requirement, and more.

According to Transportation Commissioner Mingus Mapps’ Senior Policy Advisory Shannon Carney, the fact that bike parking policy is considered a big driver in the cost of housing is “unfortunate.” Carney told BikePortland via email this morning that Mapps will have a lot of questions for Rubio and her staff at the work session today.

According to Michael Andersen, a senior housing and transportation researcher at Sightline, Portland’s bike parking code could stand to be adjusted and it wouldn’t have a huge impact on how many people decide to ride. “Right now (I am told) new apartment buildings are dedicating quite a lot of internal space to bike parking rooms that are going half-empty and/or gathering little-used junker bikes. That’s of little use to anyone,” Andersen wrote in an email to BikePortland last month.

He also said the city can’t simply eliminate mandatory bike parking, because recently passed state law requires it. Oregon law says all cities in metro areas must have at least one, “convenient, covered, secure, and well-lit” bike parking space per home in a new building. Portland code requires 1.1 bike spaces per unit in most of the city and 1.5 per unit in the central city.

“The city can scale back its mandates to 1 per unit and remove rules that the bike parking be indoors, or that it have e-bike charging or cargo bike space or a certain amount of horizontal bike parking. It can stretch the definition of ‘convenient’ to include hooks in rooms,” Andersen added. “I think Portland’s in-unit bike parking design standards are a good example of how a seemingly innocuous requirement can have unanticipated costs.”

Andersen said Portland’s current requirement that in-unit bike parking be located inside a closet or alcove within 15 feet of the door, “can add significant complexity to an architectural design.” “Each additional regulatory requirement has near-zero cost in many cases, but also slightly increases the chance that you have one of these small changes that ripples through the rest of the design and drives costs up a lot.”

The good news for bicycling is that, according to Andersen, many Portland developers — especially in areas with a lot of demand for cycling — have a strong financial incentive to provide quality bike parking regardless of what city code requires. “That’s because auto parking is enormously expensive, and they can bring homes to market at hundreds of dollars less per month if they can make their buildings convenient for people to live in without a car.”

Carney with Mapps’ office says they will have some counter-proposals ready. “Commissioner Mapps is also planning to offer some solutions that don’t include rolling the city’s bike parking policies back to 1998,” Carney shared.

Stay tuned for a recap of today’s work session.

UPDATE: Here’s the recap of the work session.

Job: Development Manager – Community Cycling Center

Buffered Bike Lane with a bike symbol and arrow pointing forward

Job Title

Development Manager

Company / Organization

Community Cycling Center

Job Description

Organizational Overview

We love Portland and bikes. So we put our two loves together 29 years ago, creating a nonprofit organization on a mission to broaden access to bicycling and its benefits.  Our goal is to help create a healthy, sustainable Portland for all community members. Our vision is to help build a vibrant community where people of all backgrounds use bicycles to stay healthy and connected. We believe that all Portlanders—regardless of income or background—should have the opportunity to experience the joy, freedom and health benefits of bicycling. This is the motivation behind everything we do.

In addition to delivering dynamic programs that benefit underserved communities, we operate a full-service bike shop in NE Portland that is staffed by experienced mechanics from diverse cycling backgrounds. We also collaborate with community partners to generate pathways to numerous supports to meet the needs of the people we serve.

The Community Cycling Center is an equal opportunity employer and strongly values diversity, equity and inclusion. Individuals with diverse backgrounds, abilities and experiences are encouraged to apply.

Job Summary

The Development Manager at the Community Cycling Center plays an integral role in ensuring the financial health of a multi-faceted, community-based nonprofit organization and storefront business operation.The Development Manager will report to the Development Director and will support prospecting, cultivating, soliciting, and stewarding individual and corporate revenue streams.They will manage development events, and support strategic long-range planning efforts.

We expect the Development Manager to individually bring in a minimum of $150,000 across all revenue streams they manage during their first 365 days.

This is a primarily remote position with in-person work required to support fundraising and donor cultivation activities throughout the year.

Essential Functions

Please note that the percentage indicators below represent an estimate of how much time each week will be spent fulfilling these functions. In terms of importance, all areas are valued equally. In all aspects of this position, we expect you to lead with racial and restorative justice with all of your work, and actively practice Community Centric Fundraising methodologies.

Events (30%)

• Actively work to bring people together around a common language and understanding of diversity, equity, and inclusion through our events. Strive to support and uplift all people within the communities we serve, inclusive of a diversity of ethnicities, national origins, genders, gender identities, sexual orientations, classes, disabilities, geographic areas, ages, and other factors that contribute to a vibrant and thriving community.
• Manage, coordinate, and execute existing development events including Holiday Bike Drive, Transportation Trivia, Pedalpalooza events, corporate team-building, weeklong fee for service at Cycle Oregon, and more.
• Collaborate with the Volunteer & Events Manager and Program staff around development-specific events.
• Track ROI on all development-specific events, and demonstrate adaptability to improve results.
• Manage internal event management systems for development.
• Envision, propose, and execute new revenue generating events with an emphasis on donor cultivation.

Corporate Giving (30%)
• Prospect and solicit new funders to build out the corporate partner list. Manage pre-committed corporate partners.
• Move corporate funders in the $500 level to $1,000+ up the donor pyramid
• Manage all corporate sponsorship benefits, including private team building experiences.
• Maintain genuine relations with corporate partners through creative, persistent and friendly touchpoints.
• Collaborate with the Communications & Marketing Coordinator to manage a robust social media, marketing and media relations calendar specific to events and corporate fundraising campaigns.
• Lead all in-kind donation needs.

Individual Giving (30%)

• Prospect and solicit new individual supporters to build out the independent supporter list. Manage pre-committed corporate supporters.
• Move supporters in the $100 – $1,000 annual range up the donor pyramid.
• Manage and support solicitation campaigns for individual supporters including but limited to writing winter mailers, newsletters and LinkedIn articles.
• Maintain genuine relations with supporters through creative, persistent and friendly touchpoints.

Administrative and General (10%)

• Collaborate with the Development Director and Executive Director to implement, and monitor the annual fund development plan, outlining goals, activities, and timeline for completion with which you are tasked.
• Support the financial reconciliation process as needed.
• Work with the Bike Shop team to identify and improve development and fundraising opportunities.
• Regularly track and analyze donor data throughout the year. Lead donor strategy with most current analysis.
• Actively use the Community Cycling Center’s Salesforce database to ensure constituent records are maintained accurately. Input and track specific cultivation, solicitation, and stewardship actions related to major donors and campaign sponsors in a timely manner.
• Work with support staff to ensure acknowledgment letters are sent in a timely fashion.
• Provide support to the Board of Directors and Development Director in planning, developing, and achieving Board-led fundraising activities.

Qualifications & Characteristics

Required

• Resident of Portland, Oregon area or plans to relocate
• A deep appreciation for the mission and values of the Community Cycling Center, as well as a thorough understanding of the unique and complex community development and social justice issues facing Portland residents.
• Practices Community-Centric Fundraising.
• At least 2 years of successful and progressively responsible nonprofit fundraising experience.
• Demonstrated success in identifying, cultivating, soliciting, and stewarding major gifts with a proven track record of procuring donations of $500+
• Experience in social media marketing, MailChimp, WordPress, Canva and soliciting new media relation opportunities.
• Demonstrated ability to work independently and responsibly, and to also collaborate effectively.
• Innovative, values-driven, self-directed and action-oriented personality.
• Culturally sensitive communication skills.
• Strong project management, administrative, and organizational skills.
• Demonstrated ability to work independently and responsibly, and also to collaborate effectively.
• High level of proficiency using Microsoft Office, Google Suite, Salesforce, and project management platforms.

Preferred

• Knowledge and/or personal experience of how Portlanders use bicycles to meet their daily needs.
Experience using Salesforce.
• Exhibit an established network with individual and corporate funders in the Portland region.
• Knowledge and/or personal experience of how Portlanders use bicycles to meet their daily needs.
• Coursework or training in DEI, fundraising, marketing, event planning, and/or other related fields.
• Fluency in one or more languages spoken in Portland’s marginalized communities (e.g., Spanish, Vietnamese, Somali).
• Lived experience as a member of a marginalized community.

How to Apply

Please submit a cover letter and resume by email with “Development Manager” as the subject line to jobs@communitycyclingcenter.org

This announcement was originally posted on July 24th, 2023

Applicants are encouraged to apply prior to the application deadline, as applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis. The application deadline for this position is 5:00pm PST on August 7, 2023.

15 Portlanders sign on as plaintiffs in ‘Bicycle Bill’ lawsuit

Portland-based advocacy group BikeLoud PDX has amended their lawsuit against the City of Portland and the revised complaint was filed at the Multnomah County Courthouse Friday.

The lawsuit alleges that the City of Portland has “systematically failed to comply” with the 1971 Oregon law known as the “Bicycle Bill” (ORS 366.514) which requires cities to build cycling and pedestrian infrastructure whenever a road is reconstructed.

Circuit Court Judge Christopher Ramras dismissed the case after its first hearing back in May, but he told BikeLoud’s legal team that they could amend their complaint and refile. Specifically, Judge Ramras agreed with attorneys for the City of Portland that having BikeLoud as the sole plaintiff was problematic because the nonprofit organization, on its own, doesn’t have adequate “standing” — that is, a right to sue. Their argument was that an advocacy group is, “a pretty general and abstract [legal] interest,” and that, “There’s no special injury [legal term for harm] affecting BikeLoud’s members differently than other citizens.”

So the BikeLoud legal team — which consists of Scott Kocher of Forum Law Group and three lawyers from Thomas, Coon, Newton & Frost (both firms are BikePortland advertisers) — has added 15 Portlanders to the lawsuit.

“There are real people behind these concerns and it’s not just an abstract, generalized need for safer infrastructure.”
– Scott Kocher, lawyer for BikeLoud

The list of plaintiffs now includes: Kathryn Gavula, Petra Whitacre, Edward Gorman, Douglas Eichelberger, Allan Rudwick, Taizz Medalia, Robert Burchett, Ted Whitney, Steven Acker, Lynda Bishop, Shambra Jennings, Daniel Fuller, Mark Ontiveros, Max Woodbury, and Karen Frost.

Each one of them, BikeLoud argues in court filings, “have been adversely affected by defendant’s failure to comply with ORS 366.514 in a way that the great majority of Portland residents who do not regularly ride bicycles for transportation are not.”

Plaintiff Kathryn Gavula commutes by bike several days a week from the Mt. Tabor area to her job in Northwest Portland and bikes her three children to school in east Portland. Her route, the lawsuit says, “or routes that she would ride on a regular basis if bicycle facilities allowing safe passage existed,” include the Hoyt Yards area of the Pearl District, SE Hawthorne, and SE 82nd Ave.

The owner of West End Bikes in downtown Portland, Mark Ontiveros, is another one of the plaintiffs. “Mr. Ontiveros has compelling interests in having adequate bicycle facilities throughout Portland,” the suit alleges. “If people in Portland do not have safe and attractive places to ride bicycles, he will not have customers coming into the bicycle shop where he works.”

Max Woodbury, a 51-year-old who uses a handcycle after he became a quadriplegic following a work accident in 1996. “Among the many Portland streets upon which Mr. Woodbury depends for his mobility, he regularly uses SE Hawthorne Boulevard and SE Division Street from SE 10th to SE Cesar Chavez Blvd for restaurants and grocery and other shopping,” the suit states. “He is adversely affected by the lack of bicycle facilities at those locations.”

Another notable plaintiff is Karen Frost, the first executive director of the Bicycle Transportation Alliance (now The Street Trust), the bike advocacy group that filed the original Bicycle Bill lawsuit in 1994. “Ms. Frost has not owned a car in 23 years and uses two bikes with trailers for all errands including grocery shopping, trips to the hardware store, and transporting large product purchases,” reads the amended lawsuit. “She has regular need to use Hawthorne Boulevard and the Hoyt Yards area, among other locations subject to the present lawsuit.”

“We’re hopeful that adding these individuals will make it clear there are real people behind these concerns and it’s not just an abstract, generalized need for safer infrastructure,” Kocher shared with BikePortland today.

Kocher says it could take a few months for Judge Ramras to review the amended complaint. If the judge agrees with BikeLoud, the case will move forward into the next phase of discovery and both sides will get to make their arguments. If the judge isn’t persuaded, the case would get kicked down to the Oregon Court of Appeals where it would take about two years before getting heard.

That might sound like a defeat, but BikeLoud would still have hope. After losing at district court, the BTA eventually won their case two years later at the Court of Appeals and the City of Portland was forced to recognize the Bicycle Bill and stripe bike lanes in front of Moda Center.

If BikeLoud’s case sees a similar fate, the City would be on the hook for much more than one block of bike lanes: The suit includes 21 specific locations that encompass hundreds of city blocks.

Read the amended complaint here.

Comment of the Week: Police slow down, staff shortage both to blame for enforcement woes

Some BikePortland posts spark really strong comment threads, and that was the case with Friday’s post about the statement from Commissioner Mapps’s office on recent traffic deaths.

Speaking on behalf of Commissioner Mapps, Senior Policy Advisor Shannon Carney responded to a BikePortland query with a statement which led with the need for more enforcement:

Commissioner Mapps feels that beyond PBOT’s efforts to increase speed cameras, the most effective immediate intervention is enforcement, penalties and public awareness regarding breaking traffic laws. It is also a necessity to expand PPB’s recently reinstated traffic unit as soon as possible. Finally, it’s critical to raise the community’s awareness of enforcement, which is something Commissioner Mapps plans to do through his own efforts.

Skirmishes over enforcement issues occur regularly in the BikePortland comments sections, and the back and forth has become predictable.

That’s one reason that Franci’s comment stood out. In response to the usual police “slow down” vs. “staff shortage” argument Franci wrote something I hadn’t heard before. “It’s both.” I did some very rudimentary fact checking and came across this historical timeline on the Portland Police Bureau web page, which confirmed what Franci wrote—that there had indeed been a hiring push in the late 1990s.

So in the interest of moving the conversation forward, or at least changing it a little, here is Franci’s comment:

I work daily w/PPB officers. It’s both.

The staffing situation was entirely predictable. 25-30 years ago, PPB was also short on officers. They went on a big hiring spree to fill the ranks. Those officers are now hitting 25 years and eligibility for retirement. Many of those officers have retired from PPB and gone on to work for other agencies while collecting a very generous pension on top of their current paychecks. This was happening prior to 2020 and BLM and Covid. The remaining officers resent the people of Portland and see us as the enemy for the most part. They are angry that they aren’t getting the help they expect and need. On that point, I don’t entirely blame them. PPB leadership has done this to themselves. They set up the officer shortage by, once again, not looking forward and anticipating the wave of retirements. That existing shortage was exacerbated by the events of 2020. The attitude displayed by the agency made them appear to be a very toxic place to work.

Short of wiping the slate clean by firing everyone from the chief on down and starting from scratch, I don’t know what the solution is.

Thank you Franci! You can read Franci’s comment and all the others under the original post.

Monday Roundup: Ugly bike infra, bus stop bollards, ‘traffication’ and more

Welcome to the week. Here are the most notable stories our writers and readers have come across in the past seven days…

Wait, before we start, how about a round of applause for Cyclepath Bike Shop (NE MLK Jr. Blvd and Brazee) for being a financial supporter of BikePortland?! Thanks Cyclepath!

Distracted driving sentence: A Florida man got a 30-year jail sentence for using his phone while driving after it resulted in the death of a young boy; but is it a ‘win’ for traffic safety advocates and will it serve as an example to others? (Streetsblog USA)

Bike boom status: Bike share is plugging along in major U.S. cities and the Covid-era bike boom is proving to have some staying power. (Bloomberg)

Cycling and politics: Fascinating to see how a rightward shift in government in Berlin has impacted the progress of bike advocates and their efforts to re-allocate road space away from car drivers. (The Times UK)

Bus stop bollards: This article is from 2019 but after my op-ed on the killing of Jeanie Diaz last week where I called for protected bus stops, I thought it was notable that a transit provider in Las Vegas installed large steel bollards at 20 bus stops as part of a pedestrian safety pilot program. (RTC Southern Nevada)

Bikes belong: This story validates my belief that until safe cycling networks exist, all state should change vehicle laws to make it clear that bicycle riders are allowed to use sidewalks and crosswalks (except in some very specific situations and locations). (Mother Jones)

Insult to injury: A bike rider in Eugene was given two citations — one for riding the wrong way on a one-way street, another for failure to obey a traffic device — after they were involved in a collision with a dump truck. (KATU)

Time to get tough: I love the framing and thinking behind this op-ed and feel it could easily apply to the automotive industry, where it’s time to take off the kid gloves and force companies to be responsible for the impacts of their products. (L.A. Times)

Framing safety: We’ve reached the point in our traffic culture dystopia where people who choose sensibly-sized cars are being fear-mongered by automotive media because of people who choose absurdly-sized ones. (The Drive)

School cycling safety: This team of advocates in Calgary came together to write reports about the safety of bike routes for 10 different schools to raise awareness of various infrastructure issues. (Calgary Herald)

Congestion pricing lawsuit: You can bet that local DOT officials are following this fight between New York and New Jersey, where the former wants to move ahead with traffic fees and the latter says it’s unfair and the sky will fall if they do. (Bloomberg)

Traffication: Latest episode of The War on Cars podcast examines yet another front in the war cars and their drivers are waging against the planet: the threat they pose to wildlife. (The War on Cars)

Ugly infra: This story from Denver resonates with me because some of the plastic post projects PBOT is installing are indeed quite ugly and I could see a Portland neighborhood playing the same card. (Westword)

Next level security: A new outfit in the UK will act as your private bike theft recovery security force, as long as you have a GPS tracker installed. This reminds me of Portland’s Timberwolves Cycle Recovery group. (Cycling Electric)

Thanks to everyone who shared links this week!

Commissioner Mapps’ office makes statement on traffic deaths

Memorial for Jeanie Diaz on SE Cesar Chavez Blvd. (Photo: Jonathan Maus/BikePortland)

Transportation Commissioner Mingus Mapps believes the route to safer streets should begin with, “enforcement, penalties and public awareness regarding breaking traffic laws.”

As Portlanders reel from a spate of violent crashes that have claimed 11 lives so far this month (the most on record), I reached out to his office yesterday to see if he had anything to share with the community.

Today I heard back from his Senior Policy Advisor Shannon Carney.

Here’s what she said on Mapps behalf:

Hi Jonathan,

Shannon Carney (Photo: City of Portland)

Thanks for the prompt. We were having conversations with PBOT even before this particular tragedy on what our office can do to alter the course of traffic violence trends as of late. Speed and impairment were factors in this fatality, unfortunately, we’re seeing from the data that this is increasingly the case here in Portland.

Given that, Commissioner Mapps feels that beyond PBOT’s efforts to increase speed cameras, the most effective immediate intervention is enforcement, penalties and public awareness regarding breaking traffic laws. It is also a necessity to expand PPB’s recently reinstated traffic unit as soon as possible. Finally, it’s critical to raise the community’s awareness of enforcement, which is something Commissioner Mapps plans to do through his own efforts.

Related, the bureau has also been able to work through many of the challenges to expanding the speed camera program, and we expect to add 19 new speed cameras throughout the city by the end of the calendar year. We will work with the bureau to see if speed cameras are a possible treatment for Chavez.

You asked about that stretch of road specifically. Per bureau protocols, PBOT’s traffic engineers and Vision Zero team have been out to assess the site of the traffic fatality. We don’t know yet their recommendations, but it’s safe to say that a reconstruction of the corridor would be significant project in the order of $50 million.

As you’ve noted in some of your posts, there’s a connection between the infrastructure investments that help make the traffic system safer here in Portland and the bureau’s funding situation. One example is PBOT’s quick build program, which is a key source for safety improvements in places that don’t have a large capital project planned. That program has been cut by nearly $1.5 million over the last several budget cycles due to its reliance on PBOT’s discretionary revenues.

If the bureau is forced to take the full $32 million cut in FY 23-24 that is currently projected, it may lack even the funds to match federal grants from programs like Safe Streets for All that can really move the needle on safety for corridors like Chavez. That would be a travesty given the unprecedented amount of funding available under the Biden Administration. It is Commissioner Mapps’ hope that over the next few months, Council will rise to the moment and ensure PBOT has the funds to address the hazardous conditions on Portland streets.

Best,

Shannon
Shannon Carney
Senior Policy Advisor
Office of Commissioner Mingus Mapps

Group works to repeal Oregon’s mandatory bike lane use law

Potholes and puddles are common in many Portland bike lanes. (Photo: Jonathan Maus/BikePortland)

The Oregon law that requires bicycle riders to use a bike lane when one is present has been a thorn in the saddle of advocates for a long time. Now a group has come together to repeal the law and they’ve made significant progress toward their goal.

ORS 814.420 “Failure to use a bicycle lane or path” says that when a road is striped with a bike lane, a person on a bicycle must use it. There are a list of exceptions, such as to avoid a hazard or to make a left turn; but most people — including many police officers — aren’t aware of them.

The ignorance of these exceptions and confusion around this law (also known as a “mandatory sidepath law”) mixed with a bit of anti-cyclist bias, can lead to road rage from drivers and/or unfair treatment by police. According to the League of American Bicyclists, the law “does nothing to benefit bicyclists and should be fought at every level.” The League specifically called out ORS 814.420 in 2014 as one of the reasons our Bike Friendly State ranking dropped a few notches. In 2010, the nonprofit Street Trust had a repeal of the law on their legislative agenda.

Since then, we’ve seen how the law can harm Oregonians.

Vivek Jeevan, Safe Lane Coalition. (Photo: Jonathan Maus/BikePortland)

In 2013 we shared the story of a Medford man who was stopped by a police officer and cited for violation of the law. The rider said he was avoiding glass and other debris. A judge ultimately dismissed the case.

And this past December, a Portland woman was given a citation for not using the bike lane on SW 2nd Avenue. Despite her daily use of the route and knowledge of the bike lane’s hazards, the existence of exceptions in the law, and the fact that she was no threat to any other road users, the police officer still wrote her up.

That woman has since become a key volunteer with a group calling themselves the Safe Lane Coalition. They’ve begun a process to repeal the law at the Oregon Legislature and they plan to introduce the measure in the 2024 legislative session.

The group had their first meeting in the BikePortland Shed back in March and has met monthly since then. It is led by Vivek Jeevan, an active volunteer with BikeLoud PDX and a League of American Bicyclists certified safety education instructor. Before moving to Portland, Jeevan founded a nonprofit in Corvallis dedicated to traffic law education with a focus on vulnerable road users.

The Safe Lane Coalition has also enlisted the help of several lawyers, a former legislative director of The Street Trust (Doug Parrow, who wrote the bicycle safe passing bill that became law this past session), and has already received commitments of support from two Oregon lawmakers. One of them, House Representative Tom Andersen (D-Salem) plans to be chief sponsor of the forthcoming bill.

For the past three months, Jeevan and other Safe Lane Coalition volunteers have been working to polish verbiage, create a new website, and reach out to other bike groups across the state to grow the coalition.

As a traffic law educator, Jeevan feels Oregonians would be better off if this law was repealed. “Having a law that mandates bicyclists use facilities prevents cyclists from using their reasonable judgment to go around hazards,” he told BikePortland in an interview last month. “We should not be forcing cyclists into bad positions.”

And when bicycle riders do leave a bike lane for a legitimate reason, Jeevan says it’s often as car drivers or even police officers as antagonistic. Jeevan himself was pulled over for it. “I was planning to make a left turn and was merging over, and the officer didn’t like seeing a bicyclist in the traffic lane,” he recalled to me about the incident, saying that unnecessary police interactions and selective enforcement are a major source of concern.

And don’t think folks like Jeevan and the other advocates working on this are anti-bike lanes.

“It’s not that we don’t like bike lanes. We’re all working to build great bike infrastructure,” he said. “We just need the clear ability to go around hazards when they come up.”

Stay tuned for more on this effort.

As traffic deaths pile up, frustration at PBOT boils over

“The problem isn’t our desire or ability to make the changes needed to make our streets safer… we simply don’t have the money to make the changes to our streets that we need.”
– Tara Wasiak, PBOT interim director

Eight people died in traffic crashes in Portland in the past seven days. So far this month, our streets have claimed 11 lives — the highest monthly total since records were kept — and we still have 10 days left in the month.

The killing of Jeanie Diaz by a drunk driver on Southeast Cesar Chavez Blvd Saturday is still in the headlines, yet five more people have lost their lives in crashes since. I woke up this morning to police statements about three fatalities since I went to bed last night.*

(*Update, 12:17 pm: Portland Police say a third person has died in the collision on SE Powell Blvd last night. Two of the victims were just 18 years old.)

Even before these last three deaths, at a meeting of the Portland Bureau of Transportation Bureau Budget Advisory Committee (BBAC) Thursday evening, frustration over the seemingly unending traffic toll boiled over with one member lashing out at the leader of PBOT.

Meanwhile, there’s simmering frustration and a sense of helplessness from Portlanders about what can be done to stem this tragic tide, local transportation advocacy groups have been all but silent, enforcement of traffic laws is a joke, Transportation Commissioner Mingus Mapps has chosen to spend his time meddling around with charter reform, our vision zero plan hasn’t done enough, and PBOT says they just don’t have the funding to make necessary changes fast enough.

It makes me wonder: Who will lead Portland out of this darkness and what is their vision for doing so?

“Putting up flashing signs that say ‘Drive Carefully’ is hardly a solution and I find it rather insulting.”
– Ignacio Simon, PBOT Bureau Budget Advisory Committee member

PBOT Interim Director Tara Wasiak (at her final meeting in that role as Millicent Williams is set to begin as PBOT Director Monday) acknowledged the recent deaths at the outset of the BBAC meeting. “We continue to have a tragic summer of traffic violence on our streets,” she said. And then Wasiak went to the same PBOT talking point we heard earlier this week. “Speeding and driving while under the influence continue to be two of the main factors and many of the crashes happening in the city.”

Wasiak then framed PBOT’s response in budgetary terms (she was a budget meeting after all). “As our budget problems grow, our ability to respond and make real concrete changes to our streets is diminished,” Wasiak said. “The problem isn’t our desire or ability to make the changes needed to make our streets safer, safer. The problem is that as as revenue declines, city council forces us to cut our budget we simply don’t have the money to make the changes to our streets that we need.”

BBAC member Ignacio Simon responded by lambasting Wasiak’s agency. “What have we seen since [making the Vision Zero pledge in] 2015 in terms of traffic violence and traffic fatalities?” he asked. And then before she could finish answering, he interjected, “The answer is we’ve seen a sharp increase., and putting up flashing signs that say ‘Drive Carefully’ is hardly a solution and I find it rather insulting.”

“What’s even the point of signing up to a vision zero pledge?!” he then asked. “I mean, what are you guys actually doing in terms of making our roads safer, especially for pedestrians?… I am ashamed in my fellow citizens in the city, who are not outraged that we’re seeing this level of traffic violence on our streets. I am ashamed. I am outraged. And I’m going to keep being outraged at you because you as a bureau are responsible for these things. And you will never stop being responsible for them until you start to take these things seriously.”

PBOT staff kept their cool and other members of the committee pointed out how PBOT is at the whim of political winds and City Hall is where Simon should point his passion.

Following these exchanges, committee members went through the brutal exercise of prioritizing which PBOT programs should be cut given the budget reductions the bureau faces.

In 2015 when the City of Portland adopted the vision zero stance that, “No loss of life is acceptable,” advocates pushed to include an amendment that would have set a firm date to reach zero deaths. But no one on City Council at the time, including former PBOT Commissioner Steve Novick, were comfortable with that strong of a commitment. They said the city lacked the necessary funding to reach zero deaths, and that there was too much political risk if they fell short.

Former Oregon Walks leader Noel Mickelberry was prescient when she testified at that 2015 meeting. “These deaths are going to continue to happen as long as we have streets that allow for it,” she said.

And in the same meeting, before voting to adopt the vision zero proclamation, the late Commissioner Nick Fish said, “I don’t want people to declare failure when you make progress.”

Almost nine years later and unfortunately Mickelberry’s statement is the one that has held up.

UPDATE, 2:30 pm: Commissioner Mapps’ office has shared a lengthy statement with BikePortland about the traffic death toll. Read it here.

Weekend Event Guide: Zombie mob, fiesta, levees, and more

Shine up your rig and get out there! (Photo: Jonathan Maus/BikePortland)

Welcome to the weekend! Here’s our weekly selection of rides and events worth your time. Please note, it’s Pedalpalooza time! That means there are tons of rides every day. See them all here. (Also note that rides usually leave 30 minutes after the posted meet-up time.)

This week’s guide is sponsored by Portland Design Works and their cool new Rattlesnek Kej.

Friday, July 21st

Fiesta on Bikes Ride – 6:30 pm at Colonel Summers Park (SE)
This ride sounds so fun! Great Spanish music by a pro DJ, burritos, paletas, tamales! Perfect way to end the week. 21+ More info here.

Naked Zombie Ride – 7:30 pm at Colonel Summers Park (SE)
A zombie flash mob will be assembled (some clothed, others not) and you’ll ride around growling and clawing at unsuspecting Portlanders. Fake blood provided. More info here.

Saturday, July 22nd

Ride to Defeat ALS – All day in Mt. Angel
Get out of town for new views on this benefit ride that is fully supported with multiple mileage options available. Expect yummy hand pies and strawberry shortcake on course. Free registration if you mention Pedalpalooza! More info here.

Bike The Levees / Marine Drive Edition – 9:30 am at Aloft Hotel (NE)
Join Columbia Slough Watershed council for a 7+ mile jaunt along Marine Drive where you’ll learn all about the science and soil that holds back water from the might Columbia River. Free but registration required. More info here.

Rookie Ride – 9:30 at Sellwood Park (SE)
This is a Portland Bicycling Club ride geared toward folks new to group rides or folks who just dusted off an old bike and want to get back into the swing of things. More info here.

The Electric Ride – 9:45 am at Irving Park (NE)
If you’re an electrification advocate, this ride is a golden opportunity to learn more about how some Portlanders are going all-in on electric power. Ride leaders will stop at three homes where you’ll learn about solar power, rainwater catchment, green HVAC systems, and more. All bikes welcome! Bring a post-ride picnic. More info here.

PDX Unity Ride – 3:30 pm at Salmon St Springs (SW)
Led by a queer and trans-friendly cycling collective, this ride is a welcoming and safe space for all LGBTQ+ folks. They’ll take you on a classic Portland Willamette River loop with opportunities for swimming. More info here.

Ride Westside to Beaverton Night Market – 4:00 pm at Beaverton Central MAX Station
An 8-mile loop around Beaverton with this wonderful group of advocates and bike lovers that ends at the Night Market. More info here.

Sunday, July 23rd

SW Neighborhood Bike Fair – 9:00 am to 12:00 pm at Mittelman Jewish Community Center (SW)
If you or someone you know needs encouragement or help learning to ride or building confidence on their bike, don’t miss this City of Portland-hosted event. Lots of free activities including riding lessons for all ages and information about e-bikes. More info here.

Community Cycling Sunday Gravel Grinder – 9:30 am at Patagonia Store (W Burnside)
The crew from Patagonia welcome you on a 17-mile unpaved exploration of Forest Park with the promise of pastries and coffee at the end. More info here.

Idaho Ride – 6:00 pm at Overlook Park (N)
Expats unite! If you love Idaho or moved here and need some of that sweet spud-lovin’, get ready to meet your kinfolk. All expats welcome, but bonus points for potato or Idaho-inspired garb. Expect stops for tots. More info here.

FTA grants TriMet $630,000 for 82nd Ave transit plans

The plan to upgrade TriMet’s Line 72 bus on the busy 82nd Avenue corridor just got another injection of resources. Today, members of the Oregon Congressional delegation announced a $630,000 grant for the 82nd Avenue transit project.

The grant comes from the Federal Transit Administration’s Areas of Persistent Poverty Program that supports President Biden’s efforts to, “mobilize American ingenuity to build modern infrastructure… by supporting increased transit access for environmental justice (EJ) populations…” The funding won’t build anything, since it’s only eligible for use in the planning process, but project development (aka making something more shovel-ready) is a key step toward getting real improvements on the ground.

The grant continues momentum around the transformation of 82nd Avenue from an orphan highway managed by the State of Oregon, to more of a main street that’s now in the hands of the City of Portland. To date, $185 million has been committed to the seven-mile stretch of 82nd from Lombard down to Clackamas Town Center.

What the ultimate bus line will look like is being hashed out right now. At the minimum we’ll see something similar to the new FX line on Division; but there’s hope of something even better. As I reported from an 82nd Avenue project workshop late last month, TriMet planners are taking feedback and sketching out ideas for what might be possible.

Given the vast, bipartisan political support for this project (unlike a freeway expansion or a bike-related project, it has zero detractors, no opposition, and people are falling over themselves to say nice things about it), we could see something big materialize if everything falls into place.

In a statement today, Congressman Earl Blumenauer said, “This is just the beginning. The case for investment is ripe.” And even Congresswoman Lori Chavez-DeRember, a Republican, said, “Families living here rely on the bus system to travel to work, school, and other destinations at a low cost. I’m glad the FTA has awarded this grant.”

The award comes just a week after U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg got a first-hand tour of 82nd Avenue. According to a recap of that visit by the Portland Mercury, Buttigieg said, “I’m very impressed…We see the opportunities around active transportation and recognize the complex trade-offs that are involved.”

I’ve asked TriMet for the grant application to learn all the details, but according to the FTA website, the money will be used to:

“… design infrastructure enhancements for high capacity transit service on the 82nd Avenue Corridor between Clackamas Town Center and NE Killingsworth Street. This project will look to improve safety, access, mobility, and equity and remove barriers to opportunity by identifying bus rapid transit improvements and analyzing the use of zero- emission buses.”

Now is the time to engage on this project. The Asian Pacific American Network of Oregon (APANO) and Metro are hosting another workshop tonight (Thursday, July 20th) from 5:00 to 7:00 pm at APANO headquarters (8188 SE Division Street).