2024 Archives

E-bike bill likely to pass with big changes following compromise

This Specialized Haul ST is a Class 3 bike with a top speed of 28 mph. (Jonathan Maus/BikePortland)

Cycling and road safety advocates from across Oregon came together on a piece of electric bike legislation that is now poised to pass the House of Representatives. It’s likely passage is a major win for some e-bike advocates and represents a compromise they hope will lead to a more effective bill next year.

Last week BikePortland reported that a schism among bike advocates had developed over House Bill 4103. That bill was drafted by Bend lawmaker Emerson Levy (D-53) in response to a fatal collision last summer that took the life of a 15-year-old who was riding an e-bike. Levy’s bill sought to do four key things: bring Oregon in line with 41 other states that have adopted a three-class system for regulating e-bikes; make it legal for riders 15 and under to ride “Class 1” models (with a max speed of 20 mph and no throttle); prohibit people 15 and under from riding bikes equipped with throttles (Class 2) and that reach speeds of 28 mph (Class 3); and create a new misdemeanor traffic violation for parents of kids who didn’t comply with the new law.

The bill, known as “Trenton’s Law” was strongly supported by the parents of Trenton Burger, the boy who was killed by a driver while riding in Bend. Bend-based advocacy groups also supported the bill and were happy to see Class 1 bikes become legal for young riders and get more clarity and awareness around e-bikes in general. Since Burger’s death, pressure to do something about teens on throttle-equipped e-bikes has reached a fever pitch in small, high-income cities like Bend, Hood River, and Lake Oswego.

Megan Ramey, the Safe Routes to School manager for Hood River County who penned the “Dawn of the Throttle Kids” story for BikePortland in July 2022, testified at a public hearing for the bill on February 15th that one reason she supports HB 4103 is, “I can’t go a week without a friend, colleague or leader bringing up the ‘scofflaw e-bike teens.'” “The backlash is growing,” Ramey warned. “And it draws the positive energy out of Safe Routes to School.”

But despite liking some elements of the bill, other high profile advocates felt the changes went too far, too soon.

Last Wednesday, two days prior to a vote on the bill in the Joint Committee on Transportation, BikePortland reported that the two largest bike advocacy groups in America — People for Bikes and the League of American Bicyclists — had come out against the bill. Joining them in opposition were Portland-based nonprofits The Street Trust, BikeLoud PDX and No More Freeways.

One of the main sticking points for these groups was that HB 4103 would create a new law they felt was too “punitive” and would unfairly saddle some families with fines and potentially dangerous interactions with police. There were also concerns about language surrounding the maximum power output of e-bike motors, how the ban on Class 2 and 3 e-bikes might dampen adoption of cycling, the lack of a pedal requirement in the bill language, and the lack of a diversion program in lieu of the traffic fine.

“We’re particularly excited about the prospect of our state establishing what might be the nation’s first statewide task force on Electric Micromobility.”
– Sarah Iannarone, The Street Trust

These advocates argued that instead of rushing to pass significant changes this session, it would be smarter to create a statewide task force (as defined in HB 4067) where disagreements could be hammered out and then a new, more effective, bill could be introduced next session.

With the clock ticking on a very short session, and facing strong pressure from constituents to get results, Rep. Levy decided to compromise. HB 4103 was significantly amended prior to passage. The new “unsafe riding” traffic violation was taken out, but so too was the provision that would have made Class 1 e-bikes legal for everyone under 16.

The pared-down version of the bill includes only the three-class definitions and a change in the statutory definition of “bicycle” to include “is equipped with pedals” (a provision all parties agree is important to help regulate some e-bikes that don’t have them and should be considered mopeds or motorcycles).

Reached for comment Monday, Executive Director of The Street Trust Sarah Iannarone said she was optimistic about the compromise. She said it was only possible because of the leadership of Rep. Levy, (HB 4067 sponsor) Lake Oswego Rep. Daniel Nguyen (D-38), and the advocates who have worked on the bills — especially independent advocates RJ Sheperd and Cameron Bennett, John MacArthur from Portland State University, and Neil Baumsgard from The Environmental Center. Those advocates and others are members of the Electric Bikes For All group that has met regularly since 2019 (and is now led by The Street Trust). That group’s ability to quickly mobilize and educate the public and lawmakers with a position statement and petition was a key reason this compromise happened.

“While we’re glad to see Oregon develop a three-class system for e-bikes, we’re particularly excited about the prospect of our state establishing what might be the nation’s first statewide task force on Electric Micromobility to help engage stakeholders and develop policies to secure safe, equitable, affordable access to e-mobility for users regardless of where they live,” Iannarone said.

Now Iannarone and other e-bike advocates are pushing lawmakers to make sure HB 4067, the bill that will establish the Electric Micromobility Task Force, also passes this session. That bill passed the transportation committee Friday, but because it will cost the state an estimated an estimated $200,000, it is currently stuck in the Joint Committee on Ways & Means.

Driver kills man on a bicycle at southeast Portland homeless camp

“The speeds which people turn here is appalling.”
– Sarah Heckles, Hygiene 4 All

One man is dead and another man has been arrested after a collision between a driver and a bicycle rider around 3:00 am Sunday morning.

According to the Portland Police Bureau, 22-year-old Shane M. McKeever was either driving southbound on Southeast Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd and then turned left onto SE Belmont, or he approached from the west and crossed MLK. As he drove eastbound on Belmont, McKeever allegedly struck 49-year-old David Bentley. The Oregonian has reported that Bentley was sitting on his bike with his back to the road prior to the collision (a report by KOIN TV said Bentley was in the bike lane when it happened). One witness told The Oregonian that, “a car came flying through.” The impact reportedly threw Bentley’s body 40-50 feet in the air.

McKeever initially fled and police say someone shot at his vehicle. He tried to run, but was captured by locals who witnessed the crash. He is now charged with Manslaughter in the First Degree and Reckless Driving. (The Oregonian reports that McKeever is currently on probation for a fourth-degree assault conviction from 2022 in Benton County.)

Given the sharp corner, the damage to the car’s hood, and the estimated location of where this happened, McKeever must have been traveling at a high rate of speed. MLK Jr Blvd is a PBOT-managed highway (99E) with a 30 mph speed limit. Belmont, where the collision occurred, has a 20 mph speed limit. Photos from the scene show that an encampment of people living on and around the sidewalk was spilling precariously into the traffic lanes.

The cross-section on SE Belmont includes one general travel lane and one bike lane eastbound. The bike lane has a buffer stripe. According to Google Maps, it was installed sometime between late 2017 and mid-2018.

View onto SE Belmont from MLK. Image is from 2018. Collision happened at the corner on the center right.

Sarah Heckles is a volunteer with Hygiene 4 All, a homeless services provider based right around the corner, told BikePortland she lives nearby and often walks to work down this exact stretch of SE Belmont. Heckles knew Bentley, who was known on the street as “Dino.”

“When I work a shift at this location, I park in the lot where the suspect’s car was found and walk the same stretch where Dino was killed,” Heckles shared. “It’s super dangerous! I really dread walking this short stretch,” Here’s more from Heckles about the conditions:

“I often need to throw my hand up in the air to catch some attention from cars turning left off MLK to Belmont. The speeds which people turn here is appalling. It’s also a blind turn. It’s so dangerous and this is during the daytime typically. The entrance for our patrons is from MLK, so there is a lot of foot traffic when we are open.”

Heckles said she and her co-workers at Hygiene 4 All are “devastated” and are eager to push for safety improvements in the area.

Two years ago, Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler instituted a ban on street camping along high crash corridors. The move came after the dual crises of dangerous driving and homelessness combined to kill 19 homeless Portlanders in 2021. According to Multnomah County, people who live outside are 45 times more likely to be killed in a traffic crash than the general population.

The location where Bentley was hit and killed Sunday is a spot well-known for camping. In an older Google Streetview image you can see “No Camping” signs posted and a chain-link fence erected to prevent access under the viaducts. Campers have come anyways, and with the fence doing its job, their tents, possessions —and everyday lives — are pushed onto the sidewalk and street.

Portland State University researchers have studied this issue in recent years. A report they released in 2022 recommended a focus on safer infrastructure and more shelters to help prevent these tragedies from happening.

Bentley is the 14th fatal traffic crash victim so far this year.

Below: KOIN TV news story about the crash that aired late Sunday night:

UPDATE, 2/27: The Oregonian reports that the driver was in a stolen car and that he allegedly struck Bentley on purpose.

Comment of the Week: Safety in speed

This comment made me smile. Writing in response to our post about a survey, which noted that Portland struggles with increasing the number of women on bikes, Paige stood a truism about biking on its head.

So many people talk about how riding a bike brings you closer to your environment, whether it’s the cityscape or out in nature. Riding a bike has an immediacy which traveling in a car just doesn’t.

But as Paige noted, sometimes you don’t want to interact much with your immediate environment — and a bike helps with that too!

Here’s what Paige had to say:

I took the survey and I hope it helps! Sometimes when I’m commuting to or from work, I find myself riding with a group of women and I feel such a great sense of camaraderie. We’re out here. And it’s really fun!

Safe infrastructure will go a long way to getting people to just give it a try. When people have a successful first few trips in nice weather, that motivates them to keep at it in less ideal conditions. So make the route connections easy/logical, protect the bike lanes (not just paint!!), and keep the lanes clear. Red light/speed cameras – put them everywhere!! Ultimately we need a road culture overhaul, and that happens slowly.

The last thing I want to say about safety is that I volunteer at Lan Su Garden, so I’m often heading into Old Town by myself. Would I walk around down there by myself? Probably not unless I had to! But I have never, ever been harassed by a person on foot while I’m on my bike, anywhere, in any city where I’ve ridden a bike. People pretty much leave you alone when you’re on a bike! It’s great! It’s very much in contrast to my experience walking in any city. The last thing a man shouted at me while I was on my bike was, and I quote, “Hey, cool boots.”

I want some of those boots.

You can read Paige’s comment and what other ladies had to say about riding in Portland, under the original post.

Missing Link bike shop temporarily closed as owner faces spinal surgery

James Emond, the owner and dedicated heart of The Missing Link bike shop in the Woodstock Neighborhood is going through a major medical situation and folks are rallying support around him and his shop.

“Changes in the vertebrae in my neck have caused a narrowing of my spinal canal to the point where my spinal chord has been abraded,” Emond wrote last week on the shop’s Facebook page. “The overall feeling of this is a lot like what I imagine having a stroke would feel like-difficulty doing anything with my hands, trouble walking, balance issues, dropping things, difficult getting myself up from a seated position. I’m determined to get over this but I need help getting through the next couple months to keep myself and the shop afloat.”

According to a GoFundMe page set up by River Croney, a member of the shop’s riding club, “The good news is his brain is unaffected.”

“James isn’t just a shop owner; he’s a mentor, a friend, and an irreplaceable part of our cycling lives,” Croney wrote. Croney is a member of “Rolling Thunder,” the shop’s cycling club that competes at races throughout Oregon.

So far about $7,000 of a goal of $12,000 has been raised by customers, friends, and supporters of Emond and his shop.

The Missing Link was initially located on NE Sandy Blvd before it closed in 2012. Emond bought the shop from its original owner and moved it to SE Woodstock and 47th.

Emond is expected to make a recovery and could be back in the shop by June if everything goes OK. The shop is closed temporarily and Emond says his surgery is set for March 1st and “can’t come soon enough.”

Please consider a donation to keep the shop afloat and I’ll update this post when I learn more.

Job: DTC Ecommerce Customer Service Specialist – Castelli

Buffered Bike Lane with a bike symbol and arrow pointing forward

Job Title

DTC Ecommerce Customer Service Specialist

Company / Organization

Castelli

Job Description

Position Description:
Castelli strives to provide world-class customer service to build strong, long-lasting relationships with our customers, and the DTC CSS is the front-facing contact for our US DTC customers. The DTC CSS will help customers with questions about their orders, help resolve any issues, facilitate returns and exchanges, and answer questions about our products and the Castelli brand. The DTC CSS position is an in-office position at our headquarters in Portland, OR.

Duties and Responsibilities:
• Manage customer inquiries via email, phone, and chat in a timely manner, with accurate information, and provide our customers a positive and enjoyable experience
• Import, allocate and print DTC orders
• Monitor and report potential cases of fraud
• Ensure proper sales tax codes applied to orders
• Process customer warranty requests and returns
o Send warranty replacements for qualifying inquiries
o Process returns as they come in
• Build and ship replacement orders
• Notify customers for any Out-of-Stock orders, due to double-ordering or inventory errors
• Manage Pro-Industry orders; facilitate Industry orders with other outdoors brands
• Collaborate and communicate with DTC team on weekly and monthly progress
• Collaborate with marketing team on seasonal promotions, understand timing and activations of marketing calendar, and be able to communicate details to customers
• Working with development team to monitor and identify any manufacturing issues
• Work with UPS and FedEx to redirect missing/fraudulent/incorrect address orders
• Work with inline team to help facilitate shop order sales functions as needed

Personal Qualifications:
The ideal candidate has a passion for cycling and understands the importance of quality cycling apparel and can communicate its importance, has excellent customer service skills, and enjoys interacting with customers to create an enjoyable brand experience. This person is excited to work with our customers and get them excited about the brand.

Education & Work Experience Qualifications:
• 2 years customer service experience
• Attention to detail with a desire to learn and proactively improve CS processes
• Excellent customer service and communication skills: verbal and written
• Ability to manage time and prioritize multiple tasks
• A team player who is willing to be flexible and help in other areas as needed
• Knowledge of the cycling, sports and/or outdoor industries a plus
• Preferred but not required: Experience working in customer service role for an e-commerce-based business, experience with Hubspot
• Position is in-office at Portland headquarters

About Castelli:
Castelli is a premium cycling apparel manufacturer with world headquarters in Italy and US headquarters in Portland, Oregon. We have a history of product innovation and performance that goes back over 100 years, and our products have been used by Tour de France winners, World Champions and Olympic Gold Medalists.
Our office and warehouse are in the Hollywood/Laurelhurst district of NE Portland and close to MAX and bike routes.

Full-time positions offer competitive wages, health care, 401k, paid time-off, and a generous product allowance.

The Castelli team strives to create an inclusive workplace that promotes and values diversity. Companies that are diverse in age, gender identity, race, sexual orientation, physical or mental ability, ethnicity, and perspective are proven to be better companies. More importantly, creating an environment where everyone, from any background, can do their best work is the right thing to do. We welcome all applicants.

How to Apply

Please send resume and cover letter to careers@castelli-us.com

Monday Roundup: Depaving, school streets, murder and more

Welcome to the week. It’s going to be a great! Let’s get started.

Here are the most notable items our community came across in the past seven days:

Cougar attack: Friends riding bikes together on a trail near Fall City, Washington heroically fought off a cougar that attacked a 60-year old woman. Cyclists used their bike to pin down the cougar until wildlife officials arrived. (KOMO)

Less pavement, more life: Portland’s very own Depave leads this article that profiles the growing worldwide trend of removing pavement and replacing it with plants in a bid to improve lives and battle climate change. (BBC)

Silly Americans: Was fun to see headlines about how a massive Taylor Swift concert in Melbourne, Australia could be held at a stadium without acres of car parking lots next to it. Turns out, public transit is a thing. (Independent)

Consequences, finally: An intoxicated woman who was driving 81 mph on a 45 mph roadway in Los Angeles and hit and killed two young boys was found guilty of murder and will face 34 years to life in prison. (The Guardian)

Dubliners want fewer cars: Ireland’s largest city will enact a bold plan to significantly reduce driving in its city center and many of its residents support the plan. (Bloomberg)

TriMet traffic toll: Left turning buses, homeless Portlanders, and careless bus operators are among the reasons why our local transit agency experienced it’s deadliest year in almost a decade in 2023. (The Oregonian)

London’s success: I think the rise of cycling in London and how that makes it a larger target for politicians and public opinion helps explain part of the bikelash Portland faced in the mid-late aughts. (Bloomberg)

Bike vacations for the 1%: If you’ve got a lot of cash and want to ride and hang out with professional cycling stars, there’s a tour company that can make your dreams come true. (Robb Report)

Video of the Week: Banning drivers from streets in front of schools should be a top priority for every city. Watch this Streetfilms from Paris and you’ll see why:

Thanks to everyone who sent in links this week. The Monday Roundup is a community effort, so please feel free to send us any great stories you come across.

Podcast: In the Shed With City Council Candidate Nat West

There’s a new candidate for Portland City Council’s District 2 (N/NE) and you might have already heard his name. Or should say, seen his name on the side of cider cans in stores and gatherings throughout our city. After 12 years building his Reverend Nat’s Hard Cider business from his basement to his garage in the Woodlawn neighborhood, and then to stores and refrigerators all across the globe, Nat West wants to make change at City Hall.

West rolled over to The Shed a few hours ago on his beefy Radwagon cargo bike and we had a wide-ranging conversation that gives you an excellent introduction to this interesting candidate. I wasn’t around when former pub owner Bud Clark made a surprising run for mayor and became a local folk hero, but I’ve started to think of West as this election’s Bud Clark. Don’t expect him to do a bunch of media interviews, to sound like a politician when he speaks, or to attend all the obligatory campaign events. He won’t run a typical campaign and he plans to spend his time meeting people at small gatherings and happy hours around the city — as well as continue his new day job as a TriMet bus driver.

In our interview today (listen below), after sharing a list of the bikes he’s owned throughout his life and the story about how he started his cider business by collecting apples from trees citywide by bike, West told me how the 2020 George Floyd protests and a public fight with the City of Portland lit his fire for political activism.

West was on the front lines of the protests and he and his teenage kid suffered serious injuries from munitions fired by federal police officers. I asked West how the protests have impacted his positions on issues like policing and racism, and if he has any regrets about showing up on the streets week after week (he doesn’t). Other topics we covered include:

How he’ll balance activism and idealism with pragmatism and progress once in office.
Why there’s a link to his Strava account on his campaign website.
What specific things he wants to do to help small business owners.
Why he thinks PBOT should focus more on maintenance and less on “shiny new infrastructure” (and I challenged him for perpetuating that false, either/or dichotomy on his campaign website.
His ideas for reforming the Portland Police Bureau.
And of course we talk about cider and much more!

Here are a few excerpts:

On early days of his cider fascination:

“I was collecting apples by bike with my kid. I collected apples all over the city of Portland… Before the business started, when I was making cider at home, I made a flyer that said, ‘Can we have your apples? And it was a picture of my kid and me and a little description about how we would take care of the people’s backyard apple trees in exchange for collecting the fruit. And we like rode our bikes all around north and northeast. And every time we saw an apple tree we’d leave a flyer. And I got like two people to reply saying, ‘Yeah, come get your apples!'”

On what would get more people to ride bikes:

“I think when you’re thinking about how to increase bike mode share, there’s a ton of overlap between making the roads safer for freight drivers, making the roads safer for bus drivers, bus riders, making it faster for bus people, and then ultimately getting car trips down, getting cars off the road…. this thing about freight, how freight is always aligned with cars, that’s so wrong! Freight should be aligned with bikes and transit, because our goal is to get cars off the road, really.”

On forces that oppose his vision:

“I drive through that [I-5 Rose Quarter] interchange… I have had a crash there once, a bunch of years ago. I drive through that thing all the time; every day, probably, for the last, like, 20 years… I do not think it needs to be widened. I’ve gone through it in the rush hours. I’ve sat in that thing for 20 minutes to go a mile. I don’t think it should be widened. I think there’s an agreement that we have to make as car drivers that sometimes we’re going to sit on a road for 20 minutes because we’ve chosen to drive there.”

On how to balance his activist impulse with the pragmatism it takes to succeed in Portland politics:

“Small business people have to always create a vision. They have to have vision. They have to their vision to the employees, to their customers, to other business partners. The vision needs to be clear and needs to be achievable, but it also needs to be bold, otherwise people are going to be like, ‘Why would I engage with this if it’s just, if the vision is get a paycheck and go home by five every day?’ That’s not exciting. It’s not motivating. So, I think I’ve really learned that you have to simultaneously full of big ideas and motivating people.

Then once you’re done with the rally, you file payroll taxes and empty the trash. Like I said, 99% of small business is boring stuff. I don’t think that they are at odds at all. Creating a vision is critical, but right now I think the city of Portland suffers from a lack of both vision and execution.”

On his role in the 2020 protests:

“When [the protests of] 2020 rolls around, I stuck my neck out, I saw something that was so clearly incorrect. Did we solve systemic racism in America? No. But we raised the issue… What were our goals in 2020? Our goals in 2020 weren’t abolishing the police department, that wasn’t the goal. The goal was to raise issues so we can continue to have conversations about this and ultimately see solutions down the line. So it’s just been really motivating to me to know that…

I’m not scared of fights at all. I’m not scared of sticking my white skin in a place where It’s much better to have a white guy saying these things than it is to have a Black guy saying these things. I’m really comfortable with that. I welcome those opportunities to really make change and to listen to the people around me and amplify their voices.”

Are you an anti-police candidate?

“No. I’m largely anti-police on the response that we’ve been getting out of them. There is a place for policing in America for sure. Does it have a horrible history? Yeah. Are there problems pretty much everywhere you look at it? Yeah. But we can’t get rid of the police. You have to be able to call the police when ‘machete guy’ is dealing with it, or when you have an active situation…

We have cops who violate laws and keep their job because the PPA [Portland Police Association union] is too powerful… I also will point out that I don’t think we should do any defunding. I think the defund movement was great to bring attention to the matter. I would like to see the money being spent differently. And one thing I’m really excited about is getting more mental health support for police officers. More cops die of suicide than they do in the line of duty. It’s one of the worst jobs in America for suicide.”

On the haters:

“And that’s kind of honestly why I think I’m running, because I know that I can do a good job, I know a lot of people, I have a unique perspective on things. Am I really, really excited to continue to get hate from people who don’t like me or don’t like the city and want to shit on the city, so they’re going to shit on me?

No, I’m not excited about that, but I’m going to do it anyway, because it needs to get done.”

Thanks to Brock Dittus of Sprocket Podcast fame for our fantastic theme music.

Listen in the player above or wherever you get your podcasts. I also shared the video below on Instagram just now. It has a few excerpts from the first half of the interview (because my video camera died 30 minutes in! ugh!).

View this post on Instagram

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