2023 Archives

Job: Retail Manager – Community Cycling Center

Buffered Bike Lane with a bike symbol and arrow pointing forward

Job Title

Retail Manager

Company / Organization

Community Cycling Center

Job Description

ABOUT THE COMMUNITY CYCLING CENTER
We love Portland and bikes. So, we put our two loves together over 25 years ago, creating a nonprofit organization on a mission to broaden access to bicycling and its benefits. 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 highly experienced mechanics from diverse cycling backgrounds. Our programs and shop services combined help riders build their skills and confidence; empower young people to ride to school and adults to ride to work; offer educational opportunities for teens to earn school credit; and support everyone in riding for health and recreation. We also collaborate with numerous community partners to generate pathways to employment and engagement within the growing bicycle movement by training new educators, leaders, advocates and mechanics. Our goal is to help create a healthy, sustainable Portland for all community members.
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.

GENERAL POSITION SUMMARY
The Retail Manager is responsible planning, organizing, and supporting the retail operations of the Community Cycling Center’s Bike Shop. With the support of the Shop Leadership Team, the Retail Manager will lead shop staff in the delivery of excellent customer service and will guide the Shop’s promotions and marketing. This position will require a team-focused approach, the capacity to anticipate demands, and the ability to provide coaching and feedback to ensure staff is supported in the delivery of objectives. Experience in a high-volume bike shop environment and the ability to innovate and develop systems will be expected of this position.

ESSENTIAL JOB FUNCTIONS MANAGEMENT OF STAFF & SHOP OPERATIONS (30%)
• Supervise, and provide training to staff working in your department
• Collaborate with Shop Leadership Team to hire, train, and evaluate staff
• Maintain and develop the shop floor and storefront to ensure a welcoming shopping environment
• Provide program representation on the shop floor through the use of displays and other written materials
• Work with Shop Leadership Team to develop and ensure adherence to policies and procedures

RETAIL MANAGEMENT (70%)
• Lead by example by delivering excellent customer service on the sales floor 16-24 hr/wk
• Work with the Inventory Coordinators to maintain appropriate inventory levels of new and used products
• Anticipate demand and seasonal changes to keep up with changes to the market
• Analyze sales trends to determine adequate stocking levels and product selection
• Partner with the Communication & Marketing Coordinator to develop creative promotions

REQUIRED SKILLS & QUALIFICATIONS
• Managerial experience, including supervising and supporting staff
• Strong interpersonal communication skills
• Strong organizational skills including the ability to manage multiple assignments simultaneously
• Ability to meet project deadlines and account for detailed objectives
• Success in creating inclusive work environments where people from diverse backgrounds feel safe

PREFERRED SKILLS & QUALIFICATIONS
• Minimum of 2 years of experience in bike shop management
• Fluency in Spanish
• Fluency in spreadsheet software and comfort navigating inventory management systems
• Basic knowledge of Adobe, InDesign, QuickBooks, and/or the Lightspeed POS system

REPORTS TO: Bike Shop Director
PAY: $24.00 per hour
SCHEDULE: Permanent position, 40 hours per week, workdays may vary, includes some evenings and weekends
BENEFITS: Health, dental, vision, life and more w/ approx. value of $4,800/yr; access to 401k; 19 days/yr PTO for FT, annual Used Parts Allowance, cost +10% on new parts

How to Apply

Please send your resume, cover letter, and (3) references to Jobs@CommunityCyclingCenter.org. No phone calls, please

Portlanders speak out against I-5 expansion at ‘People’s Public Hearing’

When up against a state agency with vast resources and a track record of misleading tactics that is desperate to push a controversial project forward, activists sometimes have to get creative. That was the case last night when the nonprofit No More Freeways held a “People’s Public Hearing” on the Oregon Department of Transportation’s I-5 Rose Quarter project.

For over five years now, No More Freeways (NMF) has been locked in a battle with ODOT to stop the agency from expanding I-5 through Portland’s lower Albina neighborhood. When ODOT released the first federally required Environmental Assessment for this project in 2019, NMF used a mix of old and new-fashioned community organizing to collect over 2,000 (yes, thousand) official comments into the project — 91% of which were in opposition. These comments matter because they are entered into the official record by the Federal Highway Administration, which has ultimate control of the project’s destiny.

Paul Rippey played his hit single, “Induced Demand”

A focus of NMF’s work is to force ODOT to complete an Environmental Impact Statement — part of the federal review process which would be a more robust analysis of the project’s impacts than the Environmental Assessments that’s been done thus far. ODOT says an EA is sufficient and the Oregon Transportation Commission agreed with them and approved the project. In April 2021 NMF, along with Neighbors for Clean Air and the Eliot Neighborhood Association filed a lawsuit against the US Department of Transportation in hopes they would tell ODOT to halt the project. (Note that NMF and their partners are in favor of the highway lid and neighborhood street improvements. They just don’t believe a freeway expansion is necessary.)

ODOT has thus far managed to keep their ball moving down the field, thanks to a huge assist from former Oregon Governor Kate Brown. The Governor’s compromise — which included a large lid over the highway that could one day be developed on — triggered enough changes to the project to require a Supplemental Environmental Assessment (SEA).

Tonight (Wednesday, January 4th) is the final day for the public to submit comment on the SEA.

NMF was highly skeptical when ODOT scheduled the SEA comment period over the holiday, knowing it would suppress public engagement. The nonprofit group asked for a public hearing, but ODOT said no. So NMF held their own.

Over 40 people filed into the cafeteria of Harriet Tubman Middle School Tuesday night, just a few hundred feet from the hum of traffic on I-5. Several dozen of them walked up to the mic, started into a camera that was livestreaming the event to YouTube, and spoke their comments directly to ODOT. While unsanctioned and unofficial, the novel format was surprisingly empowering. People from many viewpoints shared strong testimony and seemed to relish the opportunity — even if ODOT staff weren’t seated across from them.

Here’s what some of them said:

Taylor Walker, 16 years old:

“What’s even worse is that time and time again, after we’ve gone to countless meetings for city council members, Metro and the Oregon Transportation Commission, after I and 1000s of my classmates took to the streets and protested and shouted at the adults in charge of the city to change and stand up against climate change. They keep making stupid decisions like the rose quarter expansion project. I’m 16 years old now. Climate scientists say our fate will be largely sealed by 2030. In 2030, I will be 23 years old. The kids that go here now will only be 19. What kind of life is that for us? Are we really willing to give up and succumb to this future? I’m not. It is time to fight. We cannot let this expansion pass.”

Nakisha Nathan, Neighbors for Clean Air:

“ODOT has failed to adequately address the increase in air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions that will result with the addition of over a million additional vehicle miles of travitt travel that will come from aspects of this design… This project is a disaster for air pollution in a community trying to heal from repeated harms caused by ODOT and institutional systemic racism.”

Joe Cortright, economist and co-founder of No More Freeways:

“This is a giant freeway, don’t listen to talk about so-called auxiliary lanes, it will increase traffic and greenhouse pollution according to the best available scientific information. Congestion won’t go down because of induced demand. It isn’t really needed because traffic in this area has stabilized and if anything declined, this is a hugely expensive project that they don’t have the money to pay for. And if they implement tolling, we really don’t even need to expand the freeway here.”

Alan Rudwick, Eliot Neighborhood:

“This neighborhood wants to be an urban neighborhood. It’s an inner area close to downtown, it has great access to lots of things. And this project has been hanging over the area for the last 13-14 years, delaying development. I’ve seen multiple projects proposed and get shelved. And a big part of it is, ‘Well what’s gonna happen over there with the freeway?’ So hurry up, kill it already so we can get on with building ourselves back up and realizing the vision that people have for greatness here.”

Michelle DuBarry, Families for Safe Streets:

“[My one year old son Seamus] was one of hundreds of people who have been killed and injured on ODOT roads. So when I hear the agency asking taxpayers to foot the bill for a $1.5 billion highway expansion, their claims about safety ring pretty hollow. Families for Safe Streets does not accept the deaths and injuries of our loved ones, the poisoning of the air or the destruction of our planet as acceptable trade offs for faster freight transport, or convenience of motorists.”

William Henderson, business owner:

For a state agency, who supposed to be working for us to be rushing through a project, trying to hit a arbitrary 2023 construction deadline they’ve set for themselves so that other folks can rush through our neighborhood. That is not what Portland’s about. That’s not why I started a business here. I don’t think it’s what makes Portland great. And I think we can do better.

Ukiah Halloran–Steiner, Sunrise Rural Oregon/Youth Vs. ODOT:

“I’m just a 17 year old girl, but I’ve done my research and I’m asking ODOT to do theirs. Hey ODOT, conduct an environmental impact statement on this unstrategic, polluting, dangerous money-sucking freeway expansion before it’s too late!”

Joan Petit, mother of two Black children and Tubman parent:

“And now ODOT wants to double down on the harm to this community with an unnecessary freeway expansion. Even worse, they are calling it restorative justice, as if paying Black contractors to further destroy their communities and to hurt Black children is anything other than cynical exploitation. Is the health and well being of my children irrelevant to ODO? Are their lungs just collateral damage? Shame on ODOT for their cynical marketing, for their branding and rebranding. For their lies. For only seeing cars and trucks on the highway. For not really seeing the kids in this neighborhood in this school, who are as deserving of clean air and good schools as every other child in the state.”

Tegan Valo, B-Line Urban Delivery:

“I categorically reject any narrative that pits the needs of pedestrians, cyclists, the environment and the citizens who live here against the needs of freight, trucking the economy. Those needs are not mutually exclusive… our electric freight tricycles prevented over 500,000 pounds of CO2 from entering the atmosphere and reduced over 320,000 traffic miles that would have been done by traditional vehicles.”

If you haven’t commented yet, you have until midnight tonight (1/4). Make it happen on ODOT’s project website or via NMF’s handy comment generator. You can watch the livestream of the event here.

UPDATED: Watch our video below of the testimony from Portland folk musician Paul Rippey:

Job: Assistant Shop Manager & Master Mechanic – bike works by p:ear

Job Title

Assistant Shop Manager & Master Mechanic

Company / Organization

bike works by p:ear

Job Description

POSITION DESCRIPTION
Position: Assistant Shop Manager & Master Mechanic
1 FTE: Tuesday-Saturday. Requires occasional evenings and Sundays
Reports To: p:ear Works Director
Compensation: $50,000 – Benefits include 4 weeks paid vacation, health, dental, 2% Simple IRA match, short-term disability, 8 paid sick days
Bike Mechanic Job Description
You are a dynamic individual and master bicycle mechanic, who will help support our social purpose enterprise community bike shop in East Portland. bike works supports Portland’s Eastside communities, providing low cost, low barrier access to bike education, repair and sales of refurbished bicycles and parts. This position will support the Shop Coordinator, assist with daily shop operations and help mentor p:ear youth bike mechanic interns at the shop.
Required Qualifications & Competencies
• Committed to personal growth with a high degree of humor + emotional intelligence
• Dedicated to ending youth homelessness
• Must be a positive and strong role model, have a collaborative, team-oriented
work style, and strong strategic and problem-solving skills
• Must be committed to non-violence, trauma informed care + compassionate
responses
• Must have awareness of one’s own identity, an understanding of differences, and
an excitement about building relationships cross-culturally
• Strong commitment to advancing equity and inclusion and creating and
maintaining a diverse environment
• Ability to learn & build on the varying cultural & community norms of p:ear youth
• Self-initiating, independent and highly motivated
• Strong leadership skills and capacity to work in a deadline-oriented, chaotic
environment
• Commitment to advancing equity and creating and maintaining an inclusive
environment that is welcoming for all
• Commitment to non-violence and compassionate responses
• Bike shop mechanic experience – minimum of 5 years in a professional setting
• Excellent customer service and communication skills
• Able to work independently, problem solve and complete tasks with minimal
oversight

• Bilingual a plus
Essential Duties & Responsibilities
• Proficiently execute assembly, repairs and maintenance for all types of bicycles, particularly used and older bicycles
• Assist in daily shop operations: ordering, inventory, forecasting, bike repair
• Exemplifies compassion and understanding around the barriers of homelessness
and underrepresented populations in the community – see above
• Maintain an organized and efficient work environment
• Represent bike works and p:ear and its mission to positively and professionally
identify barriers and recommend solutions to better serve the community
• Attend p:ear fundraisers & community building activities
Mechanics
o Properly assess and determine bike repairs and recommend customer options o Repair and refurbish bicycles to be sold in the shop, as well as to be donated o Track all parts and new & used for each repair or build
o Maintain a neat and organized workspace
o Maintain a high level of professionalism
o Perform quality control checks on bikes repaired and/or built
Shop Operations
o Assist Shop Coordinator with a variety of tasks, including maintaining an inventory of new and used parts, placing orders with distributors as needed, maintaining shop tools and restocking as necessary
o Assist customers in the shop with purchases and bicycle repairs during sales o Strong proficiency with bicycle tech
Community Programming Liaison
• Safety check all Everybody Bikes! complete bicycle prior to distribution
• Build and sustain relationships with the Rosewood Initiative community
• Represent p:ear and its mission positively and professionally
• Participate in Sunday Parkways, Free Bikes 4 Kids monthly wrenching, as well
as the occasional community bike/ride events
Physical Demands
• Able to sit or stand and walk throughout the scheduled work shift
• Ability to lift and/or move up to 75 lbs

bike works by p:ear
Bike Works by p:ear promotes the bicycle as a vehicle for social change to leverage possible opportunities for homeless youth and build resilient and diverse communities. p:ear’s social enterprise bike shop works to make bicycling accessible and affordable to Portland’s east side community. Our full service bike shop provides an array of services, from minor adjustments and tune-ups, to full bike overhauls.
p:ear’s Bike Mechanic School serves as a conduit from which our shop’s intern mechanics became educated and trained in the art of bike mechanics. Under your guidance p:ear youth interns will continue to build their mechanical hard skills as well as develop the soft skills of customer service, time management, problem solving and independence to name a few.
The Rosewood Initiative
The Rosewood Initiative connects and empowers Rosewood neighbors to build a safe, prosperous, vibrant and inclusive community. The Rosewood Community Center is a
p:ear Bike Works Agreements
Lastly, we expect the following agreements to be used with regard to every youth intern, customer and individual regardless of race, religion, color, creed, national origin, age, disabling condition, political affiliation or sexual orientation.
Agreements*
Agreements are more than a vehicle to keep conversations safe and focused. When used to their potential, agreements are an actual tool. Agreements are a tool that supports both individuals and organizations in understanding “how” to engage in productive efforts to advance equity and inclusion. We expect all employees, interns and volunteers to honor the following agreements:
 Stay Engaged  Speak Your Truth Responsibly Listen to Understand  Be Willing to Do Things Differently / Experience Discomfort
 Expect and Accept Non-Closure Confidentiality
*Adopted from the Center for Equity and Inclusion
hub where neighbors can help the community as they improve their own lives. Neighbors
come here to interact with one another, work on projects and feel safe. Rosewood builds
capacity in the neighborhood by helping people learn useful skills and by connecting
friends, partners and resources. The Bicycle Shop Manager position is a partnership
between p:ear and The Rosewood Initiative. This person will be expected to follow all
organizational policies and procedures of both organizations.

Work Environment
This job operates in an often chaotic, loud environment. This role routinely uses standard (kitchen and) office equipment such as stoves, commercial dishwashers, microwaves, refrigerators, freezers, computers, phones, photocopiers, filing cabinets and fax machines.
Physical Demands
The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job.
While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly required to talk or hear. The employee is frequently required to stand; walk; use hands to finger, handle or feel; and reach with hands and arms.
Travel
No travel expected for this position.
AAP/EEO Statement
It is the policy of p:ear to provide equal employment opportunity (EEO) to all persons regardless of age, color, national origin, citizenship status, physical or mental disability, race, religion, creed, gender, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity and/or expression, genetic information, marital status, status with regard to public assistance, veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state or local law. In addition, p:ear will provide reasonable accommodations for qualified individuals with disabilities.
Other Duties
Please note this job description is not designed to cover or contain a comprehensive listing of activities, duties or responsibilities that are required of the employee for this job. Duties, responsibilities and activities may change at any time with or without notice.

How to Apply

To apply: Please submit a resume along with answers to the following questions (in lieu of a cover letter). The below questions along with a resume can be emailed as PDFs to info@bikeworkspdx.org or mailed to contact information below. No phone calls. Successful applicants will be contacted for an initial screening. bike works is located at 14127 SE Stark St, Portland, OR 97233
1. How will you utilize p:ear’s equity statement (see below) to inform your role as the bike works Assistant Shop Manager and Master Mechanic?
2. As the assistant shop manager and master mechanic, how will you share your love and knowledge of bikes to connect and build strong partnerships and relationships within a diverse community?
p:ear
Attn: Nathan Engkjer 338 NW 6th Ave. Portland, OR 97209
p:ear Equity Statement:
p:ear builds positive relationships with homeless and transitional youth through education, art and recreation to affirm personal worth and create more meaningful and healthier lives.
At p:ear, we respect and celebrate the diversity, creativity, and strength of our community. To foster individuality and truly give space to the value that each person brings — from the youth we serve daily to our staff, board, and volunteers — we must continuously work at creating an environment that is equitable and inclusive.
Our organization was built on a foundation of compassion and love, but we know we must confront the systems of oppression that are embedded throughout our community and ingrained in ourselves. This means seeing and understanding systems of oppression in our everyday lives.
Ongoing work toward building an equitable and inclusive organization is a priority at p:ear. We are committed to examining our weaknesses as well as our privileges, and to examining the institutional and individual behaviors and attitudes that may perpetuate the very inequities we wish to change.
We are committed to creating a culture of inclusion, self-reflection, and personal growth. We are committed to using our time and resources — including our social capital — to combat these systems of oppression and create more opportunity. This means applying an equity lens to our decision-making processes, using our Equity Plan as an ongoing organizational guide, and updating that plan as we continue to learn and grow. This work
will create more opportunities for individuals to thrive — from the youth we serve to our staff, board, and volunteers.
p:ear respects and celebrates the diversity, creativity and strength of the p:ear community. Equity and inclusion are a priority across all parts of our organization. We are committed to using our time and resources to help identify and eliminate disparities based on identity and to promote equitable access to our programs so we can all live in the world we want for our young people.

Traffic calming installed outside violence-plagued high school

N Commercial Ave outside Jefferson High School. More photos below. (Photos: Jonathan Maus/BikePortland)

The City of Portland has installed a novel set of traffic calming tools on North Commercial Avenue outside of Jefferson High School. The move comes in response to a spate of violence on the street that involved students.

In October we reported on an alleged hit-and-run at Commercial and Killingsworth that left a student injured and in the hospital. Later that same week, on October 18th, two students were injured in a shooting on the same street right outside the school. Then on November 14th, another student was injured in a shooting. In all three of these cases, the aggressors were driving a car on Commercial Avenue.

In what appears to be an attempt to calm violence by drivers, the Portland Bureau of Transportation has installed five sets of plastic curbs and wands between North Killingsworth and Alberta streets. They are rectangular in shape and vary in size. In three locations on the south end of the block, they are installed on both sides of the streets and create such a narrow opening that drivers can pass in only one direction at a time. The idea is that the fear of hitting these flexible plastic posts and curbs will make it less likely that drivers will speed to and from the school’s main entrance.

Stepping back a bit, this is another example of Portland using street designs to tamp down vehicle-based violence. Last summer Mayor Ted Wheeler announced a Safer Summer PDX program that included $2.4 million for, “place-based investments… to address environmental factors conducive to gun violence.” Wheeler’s emergency declaration on gun violence stated, “We will be expanding place-based interventions in neighborhoods that are caught in the crossfire of gun violence… interventions could include increased lighting, traffic diversion…”

Wheeler’s embrace of traffic-related interventions was in many ways a validation of former Commissioner Jo Ann Hardesty’s efforts to find alternatives to armed police officers. Back in September, Hardesty helped usher in this new era of enforcement with the opening of a large public plaza in the Mt. Scott-Arleta neighborhood that was built on a former slip lane that had a notorious history of vehicle-based violence.

In a statement shared Friday, January 6th PBOT said the request to do the project came from Portland Public Schools. “These street improvements are a step towards centering the safety of Jefferson students and community,” said PPS Superintendent Guadalupe Guerrero. “I’m grateful that the Portland Bureau of Transportation listened to our students and worked with us to develop a solution that helps address a community need.” They also shared the graphic below:

A map that shows the locations of the newly installed reflective posts on North Commercial Avenue, adjacent to Jefferson High School, between North Killingsworth and Alberta streets. (Source: PBOT)

Briefly biking in London: a few thoughts and photos

Scenes from biking around London earlier today. (Photos: Taylor Griggs/BikePortland)

— This post is part of Taylor Griggs’ trip through Europe. See all stories here.

To be honest with you, I’ve never given a whole lot of thought to visiting London. I like coffee more than tea, I’ve never owned anything with Union Jack iconography and I am really not enticed by Royal weddings. But I added it to my European itinerary anyway, mainly because I found a cheap flight from Newark to Heathrow. And since I have long been intrigued by the idea of taking a high speed train under the English Channel from the United Kingdom to the European continent, it seemed like a quick layover in London would be a good chance to check that out.

As it turns out, I love London, and I wish I’d allotted for more than five hours to explore the city. I think my enthusiasm can be attributed in part to my low expectations, particularly regarding the city’s bike infrastructure: I went in knowing essentially nothing about London’s layout and whether or not it would be feasible for me to bike around at all during my brief visit.

In fact, I was blown away by the bike infrastructure in central London. I rented a Lime e-bike for a bit and was thrilled by the bikeways and all the people I saw riding bikes around the city. I found the design so easy and accommodating that I barely noticed the backwards traffic pattern (I still think it’s weird, though, and will be glad to return to the right side of the street).

Here are a few of the main things I noticed while biking around London:

Sophisticated wayfinding

London’s bike networks (called cycleways) are each numbered. Street signs show where the cycleways can take you, and painted signs on the bikeways make it easy to keep track of where you are. (These are a few ideas Portland bike advocates and wayfinding enthusiasts want to see on our own greenways!)

Lots of couriers

My observations about bike couriers and freight deserve their own post. But for now, just note that bike delivery is a thriving industry in London. And notably, the bike couriers seem to be treated with respect by the city’s designers, people riding regular bikes and even people driving cars/bigger freight vehicles. In New York, which was absolutely rich with bike and moped couriers, I noticed a lot more intermodal conflict.

Rental bikes galore

It’s clear that Lyft and Uber have taken over the e-bike rental market in cities around the world. However, London does things differently than what I’ve seen elsewhere (notably, Portland and New York). Even though Uber/Lime still operates a service in London, the city also appears to utilize a public bike share service as well, renting regular and electric bikes for more affordable prices than what the private companies charge. These bikes are part of London’s public transportation system and are marketed as such.

And as far as I could tell, the existence of this public service doesn’t mean the Lime bikes are left to rust. When I tried to rent an electric Citibike (operated by Lyft, same as Portland’s Biketown) in Brooklyn on Monday, so many of them were out of battery that I just gave up and rented a normal one. The Lime bike I rented in London was charged and worked on the first try. Plus, they have bigger baskets in the front and a place to hold your phone while you ride, which I am a huge fan of.

No unlicensed ice cream trading

’nuff said. (Just kidding. I have no idea what this means and I frankly don’t want to find out — some things should remain a mystery.)

Overall, I was highly impressed: I think London has some very special qualities that Portland would be wise to emulate in our planning. London hasn’t always been known as a cycling mecca in the past (and I’m sure there are areas outside of the central city that aren’t quite so easy to navigate), but I thought there were a lot of things to give them kudos for.

Portland’s bicycle and pedestrian advisory committees raise grave warnings about I-5 Rose Quarter project

Intersection of N Wheeler, Ramsay and Williams is a major sticking point.

Despite the City of Portland’s attempts to calm them down, the city’s bicycle and pedestrian advisory committees remain deeply concerned about the I-5 Rose Quarter Project.

The controversial, $1.4 billion Oregon Department of Transportation project that seeks to widen I-5 through Portland’s central city and build a large cover over freeway traffic in order to “reconnect” the Albina neighborhood that was devastated by its construction decades ago. ODOT opened a second public comment period in mid-November as part of their federally obligated environmental review process. Many local advocacy groups and committees have written letters outlining their feedback and concerns about the revised design proposal. What is clear — and what will become even more clear at a People’s Public Hearing being hosted by nonprofit No More Freeways in north Portland tonight — is that despite a compromise forged by Governor Tina Kotek and a recent return to the project by the Portland Bureau of Transportation, the project remains very unpopular with many Portlanders who care about the safety of people who walk and bike.

On December 27th, members of the PBOT Bicycle Advisory Committee (BAC) sent a letter to City Council members that will act as its official comment on the project. “We are deeply concerned that this project fails to meet a wide variety of city, county, regional, and statewide goals,” their letter states. “While the buildable highway cover is a laudable step toward restorative justice,” the letter continues, “the project would still add several lane miles of highway, compromise one of the most heavily used bikeways in the city, expand I-5’s footprint, and increase emissions including greenhouse gasses (GHG) in a marginalized community previously impacted by highway construction.”

(Source: ODOT, with additions from PBOT Bicycle Advisory Committee)

The BAC is especially worried about the proposed location of the I-5 southbound off-ramp that will dump thousands of drivers onto North Williams Avenue. They say that decision, which ODOT admits will increase stress for bicycle riders and walkers if built as proposed, “Presents significant safety issues for the most vulnerable roadway users and is inconsistent with the City’s design standards.” The also says they feel putting the Green Loop alignment on Broadway and Weidler is unacceptable and they want the project to add back the formerly proposed Clackamas Crossing Bridge(see above) that would have created a carfree crossing over I-5 south of Weidler between from the Lloyd to the Rose Quarter.

The city’s Pedestrian Advisory Committee PAC is so opposed to the project they want PBOT to withdraw their support completely. Their official letter hasn’t been finalized yet, but a draft version states,

“We call on PBOT to withdraw support of the Hybrid 3 concept, which would introduce a highway off-ramp into an area with heavy foot traffic, remove crosswalks, and generally worsen conditions for active modes. The current proposal goes in the wrong direction on climate, the wrong direction on safety, and the wrong direction on our modal goals, while providing little promise of accountability and follow-through for the few positive claims it can make.”

Their letter with that language was approved by the committee, but when it was submitted to PBOT, the city’s liaison to the project, Sharon Daleo, urged them to revise it. According to an email exchange with PAC members, Daleo said she hoped the PAC could change the wording of the letter so it was more supportive and “less inflammatory” of the project.

Daleo and PBOT are finding out how hard it is to walk the fine line between honoring their constituents concerns and serving their partners at ODOT. Former PBOT Commissioner Chloe Eudaly wasn’t willing to do that, so she walked away entirely from the project and made the unprecedented move of pulling all City of Portland staff off the project. Commissioner Jo Ann Hardesty reversed that position and PBOT now finds themselves in this unenviable position.

For Pedestrian Advisory Committee members, the project isn’t worth the cost of PBOT staff time that they feel would be better spent elsewhere.

“These negative impacts to pedestrian safety and comfort are notable even before considering how much ODOT is leaning on the City of Portland to contribute staff time and funding toward surface street changes and other support when those resources are urgently needed to mitigate deadly conditions in hundreds of other locations citywide,” their letter states. “We urge PBOT to withdraw its support.”

So far, the PAC hasn’t re-submitted a revised letter. The public comment period ends tomorrow, January 4th.

— The People’s Public Hearing begins at 6:00 pm tonight (Tuesday, January 3rd) at Harriet Tubman Middle School. You can watch a livestream and/or a recap here.

Commissioner Mingus Mapps is now in charge of Portland transportation

This morning Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler made it official: Commissioner Mingus Mapps will take over control of the transportation bureau. Mapps inherits the duty from former Commissioner Jo Ann Hardesty.

The move to put Mapps in charge of PBOT (which won’t come a big surprise to BikePortland readers since we predicted it back in November) could be another sign that bicycling is on its way back to the front-and-center of local politics — a position it hasn’t enjoyed since about 2014 when our bike-to-work rate peaked at 7.2%. Portland has not had a PBOT commissioner who’s been both a strong champion for cycling and a regular rider themselves since 2012.

Mapps’ predecessor Hardesty, who oversaw the bureau from 2020 to 2022, didn’t own a bicycle. Former Commissioner Chloe Eudaly (2018-2020), who preceded Hardesty, was a regular bike rider too, but focused her two years at the helm on bus priority lanes instead of cycling. Before Eudaly there was Dan Saltzman (2017) and Steve Novick (2013-2016) — neither of whom ever rode bikes in the city. Former Mayor Sam Adams, who was in charge of PBOT from 2005 to 2012, was the last City Hall denizen who made cycling a focus of both his political and personal life.

In interviews with BikePortland, Mapps has said he’s a reluctant car driver who prefers to bike and take the bus. He also regularly rides around his southeast Portland neighborhood with his two young sons.

During his campaign in May 2020 Mapps told BikePortland he’s been a daily bike commuter since the 1980s. In that same interview he said he wanted to, “Help solve the paradox of declining bike commuting in Portland,” by implementing the city’s Bike Plan for 2030 and by working harder to, “Renew Portland’s cycling culture, with an emphasis on inclusion, equity, public health, public education, and fun.” And in an interview following his victory over Chloe Eudaly in November 2012, Mapps said he planned to ride his bike to City Hall everyday once it reopened post-Covid. “I’m an advocate for the bike community that’s for sure,” he said. “I think you have a healthier, happier city when you have more people cycling… The question is, how long do we take to get from here to there?”

A major issue looming over cycling for many Portlanders is the scofflaw, reckless behavior of many drivers and the dangers it poses to us all. A major difference between Mapps and Hardesty that could impact how people drive is their different approach to police reform and their role in enforcing traffic laws. Hardesty was the Portland Police Bureau’s strongest critic on City Council and famously attempted to reduce $18 million from their budget. That and other positions and statements about police, coupled with PBOT leadership that also distanced itself from the PPB, created a situation where the bureau in charge of the streets had an almost nonexist and arguably dysfunctional relationship with the bureau in charge of enforcing laws on them. This has led to a sense of lawlessness on our roads and a culture at the City of Portland where officials say they care about traffic safety, but the statistics say otherwise.

With Mapps at the helm — and with nearly three years since racial justice and police brutality protests upended Portland politics — that relationship between PBOT and the PPB is likely to thaw.

The Portland Police Association (the union that represents officers) endorsed Mapps and donated $15,000 to his election campaign. With Mapps, we have someone who is aware of the pitfalls of policing, but who is more than willing to work with them. As a Black man, Mapps told me in a past interview that he avoids driving because, “When I get behind the wheel of a car, I have fewer civil rights than everyone else.” Mapps agreed that the PPB needs real reform and he even went so far as to say if the conduct of some officers is, “a product of systemic racism, we need to fix it.” He would have voted against Hardesty’s police budget cut, but sees a future where PPB is smaller and much of low-level traffic enforcement is out of their hands.

In addition to managing transportation and being the de facto boss of PBOT Director Chris Warner (who’s now on his third commissioner), Mapps will also become the city’s representative on key regional and project-specific advisory bodies like Metro’s Joint Policy Advisory Committee on Transportation and the Interstate Bridge Replacement Program. He’s likely going to continue Hardesty’s efforts to strengthen the City of Portland’s support of State of Oregon’s controversial attempt to widen I-5 through the Rose Quarter.

Overall, Mapps being in charge of PBOT should help put transportation front and center at City Hall in a way we haven’t seen for many years. And Mapps won’t be alone: Former PBOT Director Tom Miller is working for new Commissioner Rene Gonzalez and former PBOT Commissioner Sam Adams in a top staffer in the Mayor’s office. If these three wanted to hatch a major transportation reform, they already have all the votes they’d need.

During my interview with Mapps in November 2020 I asked him about cycling’s decline in Portland. “[Former Portland Mayor] Sam [Adams] and I talked several times and he’s really proud of his bike legacy, which has kind of fallen off the map,” Mapps said. “So he’s been kind of poking and prodding me on that.”

Those pokes and prods might feel a bit different now the Mapps can actually do something about it.

— See the full list of bureau assignments here.

Dispatch: The unique utility and daunting challenges of biking in New York City

New infrastructure in Brooklyn’s Dumbo neighborhood is some of the best in the city. (Photos: Taylor Griggs/BikePortland)

I have spent the last few days in New York City before I take off on my trip to Europe this evening. I’ve spent a decent amount of time here in the past, and have always used the subway to get around (as well as a lot of walking). On previous visits — before I was as inclined to notice bikes and active transportation infrastructure everywhere — I didn’t realize how important bikes were to the transportation system here. I mean, who needs a bike when you have the subway?

But I’ve realized I was mistaken. In many ways, New York’s dense and well-used public transportation system makes the unique benefits of bikes even more obvious.

I was intrigued last year when new NYC Mayor Eric Adams detailed a plan to expand the city’s bike infrastructure network after he started his term last year — even pledging to become the “bike mayor”. But local journalists and transportation advocates have noted that this hasn’t gone quite as planned. Less than half of the miles of protected bike lanes Adams said would be constructed in 2022 actually came to fruition. As I biked around Brooklyn and lower Manhattan, this was evident.

A street in Brooklyn that Google Maps recommends as a bike route. No bike lane in sight, but at least the parked cars get buffered protection!

This isn’t to say New York’s transportation department is a standout for falling short on active transportation promises. After all, advocates from BikeLoud are suing the Portland Bureau of Transportation for exactly that in our city. But I think the culture around biking in New York makes these failures all the more apparent.

Personally, I was surprised by the complete disrespect I saw drivers demonstrate for people using the existing bike lanes. I don’t think I was able to use a non-physically protected lane for an entire block without having to move out onto the street or sidewalk because of bike lane blockages. Public school buses and delivery trucks use the bike lanes as loading zones and other drivers just seem to use them as extra on-street parking space.

A few examples of cars parked in Brooklyn’s buffered bike lanes.

As far as I noticed, many people driving cars do not feel it’s their responsibility to pay attention for other road users. Again, this isn’t specific to this city, but because the streets are so narrow and crowded here and the pace of life so hurried, people biking really need to advocate for themselves in a way I am not used to.

Most New Yorkers don’t own cars, which is a good thing. But 8.5 million people live in this city, so there are still a lot of personal vehicles on the street. And even if an inadequate bike network isn’t forcing people into cars quite to the extent it might in other cities with less robust public transit, it still demonstrates a disregard for the many, many people who use active transportation to get around here. And I’m sure there are quite a few people who live here who would get rid of their cars if they felt comfortable biking around the city! At least they might be less inclined to defer to a cab or Lyft for going out on a crisp evening.

A nice (if rather narrow) separated bike lane in Brooklyn.

Plus, there are problems with the subway and bus systems that would make biking a really great option for more people to use if it was safe to do so. During the pandemic, many people in NYC (and other places) took up biking for leisure and as a way to travel while maintaining social distancing. But public transit in New York City wasn’t perfect even before the pandemic. Especially outside hyper-dense Manhattan, there are lots of gaps in the network that make going by subway inefficient.

My friend who lives in Brooklyn told me he bikes to work in a different part of the borough because of how expedient it makes his commute. If he were to take the subway or bus, it would take about half an hour longer than it does to zip through the streets by bike. He also said he feels relatively safe biking around the city because car traffic is usually so congested and slow during commuter hours. For this Portlander, though, it was daunting.

Still, I had an invigorating time biking around New York — I could look around at all there is to see here while still going fast enough to get places at a reasonable speed. And I know my perspective is limited since I stuck to a relatively small area of the city — I wish I had been able to spend more time biking and seeing more of the sights. I hope to explore more during my next visit, and I hope to see more of Adams’ promised protected bike lanes.

Monday Roundup: cycling’s alcohol problem, bike bus book, a crystal ball, and more

Welcome to the week. And welcome to the new year!

Here are the most notable stories our writers and readers came across in the past week or so…

Cycling’s drinking problem: The prevalence of beer and alcohol in the cycling world is unhealthy and unnecessary says this excellent piece from America’s largest cycling publication. (Bicycling)

Transportation crystal ball: If you’re a big picture person who’s curious what a diverse range of experts thinks about where mobility trends are headed in 2023, you’ll appreciate this story. (The Verge)

Read it to the kids: Now there’s a children’s book to go along with the bike bus movement. (Manchester Ink Link)

The snowball’s chance: Essential reading on the Interstate Bridge Replacement project that makes it clear the project has a worrying amount of both momentum and uncertainty. (The Urbanist)

It’s the infrastructure, stupid!: Denver has stoked its rise of e-bike users so well that it’s now faced with the (welcome) challenge of making sure road designs keep them safe. (Electrek)

Good summar-e: This long-form piece touches on many aspects of the e-bike world from a New York City point of view. (New Yorker)

Portland influence: Yes we’ve lost a lot of our mojo in the past decade, but it speaks to the magic of Portland that this roundup of America’s top citizen activists is dominated by locals. (Streetsblog USA)

Like we’ve been saying: It’s wonderful to see a national media outlet come to the conclusion we’ve been trumpeting on here for many years now: That we’d be better off as a country if we focused more on EV-bikes instead of EV-cars. (NPR)

About those batteries: An electric battery from a Rad Power Bike that was plugged into a wall outlet blew up in Eugene. (KEZI)

“Pedal faster”: The editorial board of one of the nation’s most influential media companies has come to the conclusion that Washington D.C.’s transportation leaders need to build more and talk less when it comes to the implementation of quality bike infrastructure. (Washington Post)

Thanks to everyone who shared links this week.

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Traffic calming installed outside violence-plagued high school

Briefly biking in London: a few thoughts and photos

Sophisticated wayfinding

Lots of couriers

Rental bikes galore

No unlicensed ice cream trading

Portland’s bicycle and pedestrian advisory committees raise grave warnings about I-5 Rose Quarter project

Commissioner Mingus Mapps is now in charge of Portland transportation

Dispatch: The unique utility and daunting challenges of biking in New York City

Monday Roundup: cycling’s alcohol problem, bike bus book, a crystal ball, and more

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