Walk N Roll Program Representative – Education & Events
Company / Organization
Intercity Transit
Job Description
Intercity Transit’s Walk N Roll education program increases independence, improves safety, and inspires a healthy lifestyle by making walking, biking, rolling and riding public transit more accessible to people of all races, ages, incomes and abilities.
If you have:
• Experience leading and administering programming.
• Experience planning community events.
• Experience teaching or presenting.
• Bicycle safety and handling skills.
• Experience working with youth.
• Ability to work with people of all races, ages, genders, abilities, and backgrounds.
Then this position is for you!
The Walk N Roll Program Representative (Education & Events) will be responsible for providing bicycle, transit, and pedestrian education, events, and encouragement activities for youth and adults in Thurston County. This position will collaborate with other Walk N Roll staff, volunteers, community partners, and marketing staff. The work schedule for this position is Monday – Friday with frequent evening and weekend hours.
As a Walk N Roll Program Representative, you will:
• Coordinates, plans and implements the annual Bicycle Community Challenge (BCC) and related bicycle events that encourage people to get around by bike.
• Works with schools to organize walk and bike to school and related events.
• Provides transit education to schools and youth organizations.
• Takes the Mobile Traffic Garden to schools, summer camps, and events to teach youth bicycle and pedestrian safety skills.
• Works with K-12 students, adult community members, school staff, local businesses, parents, volunteers, and community partners.
• Draft and distribute materials to publicize Walk N Roll Education programs, including flyers, social media, newsletters and program web pages.
• Develop and maintain a strong relationship with school administrators, staff and teachers.
• Drive van and trailer to transport bicycles and program materials.
• Perform other duties as assigned.
Are you the one we are looking for?
• Associate’s degree and or specialized certificate training in marketing, communications, event planning, recreation, bicycle mechanics or riding safety, education, or related field AND at least one year in either education or event planning or an equivalent combination of education and experience sufficient to successfully perform the essential duties of the job
• Must promote/emulate safe biking practices.
• Ability to hook-up and drive a van and trailer or willingness to learn.
• Ability to obtain a Washington State driver’s license by the date of hire.
• Must be willing to submit to a criminal background investigation, the results of which must meet the agency’s hiring criteria.
• Knowledge of bicycle safety principles; modern office procedures, methods, and equipment; volunteer recruitment and coordination; youth development and education.
• Skill in safe, legal, and competent cycling skills; public speaking and presenting; ability to work with the public, youth, educators, and a wide-range of stakeholders; using computers and related software applications; ability to safely operate program van and trailer; prioritizing work and performing multiple tasks; establishing and abiding by project timelines; compiling and distributing data, materials, and information.
This position has physical requirements including climbing, balancing, stooping, kneeling, crouching, reaching, standing, walking, driving, pushing, pulling, lifting, fingering, grasping, feeling, talking, hearing, seeing and repetitive motions. Semi–Physical Work: Exerting up to 30 pounds of force frequently to lift, carry, push, and pull or otherwise move objects. Requires walking up to 2 (two) miles and biking of 5-20 miles on occasion.
What’s in it for you?
• Receive a competitive salary of $31.69 – $42.82 an hour.
• Be a part of an essential service to the community.
• Work with an exceptional team in an agency of professionals, who love what they do, and support a work/life balance.
• Comprehensive medical, dental, and vision coverage for employees and eligible dependents.
• PERS Retirement Plans (through Washington State Public Employee’s Retirement System) along with voluntary deferred compensation plans (401k and 457) with employer match up to 8.5%.
• 23.75 to 36 vacation days per year depending upon length of service.
• 12 days of sick leave per year depending upon date of eligibility.
• Paid Bereavement leave for qualifying family members.
How to Apply
Ready to jump on board?
We would love for you to apply! Please submit a complete electronic application online at www.intercitytransit.com/employment. Your application package must include a letter of interest and resume that clearly explains how you meet the qualifications of the position. Be advised, we will not consider incomplete applications. Intercity Transit’s preferred method of communication is via email, so an accurate and active email address is essential.
Completed applications must be received by 5:00pm on Sunday, October 19, 2025.
Intercity Transit is proud to be an equal employment opportunity employer and strives to provide a culturally diverse workforce. Intercity Transit does not discriminate in employment or service on the basis of race, creed, color, origin, age, sex, religion, marital status, sexual orientation, veteran status, or disability.
We also take pride in being a drug free workplace. Note that Intercity Transit is subject to requirements of the Federal Drug-Free Workplace Act and FR Part 40 & Part 655, which prohibits the use of marijuana at any time while employed by Intercity Transit.
I hope you can come out to Rainbow Road Plaza on Wednesday for Bike Happy Hour. During open mic at 5:30 we’ll talk about parks and have special guests from the Intertwine Alliance and the Portland Parks Foundation. Why? Because parks and paths are the backbone of Portland’s cycling community — and there just happens to be a renewal of the City of Portland Parks Levy on the ballot next month.
The Intertwine is a nonprofit coalition with over 100 partner organizations (including BikeLoud PDX, DePave, Friends of Gateway Green, NW Trail Alliance, Salmonberry Trail Foundation, and many more!) from Oregon and Washington who are committed to building a world-class system of parks and trails. They reached out to me a few months ago to see if they could host one of their “Intertwine Connect” quarterly get togethers at Bike Happy Hour and it seemed like a natural fit.
I recall back in 2009 when the Intertwine launched with great fanfare and was spearheaded by former Metro President David Bragdon. Coming off a very inspiring Policymakers Ride where we learned about new parks and trails in east Multnomah County, I’m eager to hear the latest on the Intertwine’s efforts and learn more from Portland Parks about how bicycling figures into their vision.
I think parks need to be more responsive to community needs and we need to think outside the box by considering building linear parks, building more carfree trails and paths that connect parks to one another, and that every park must come with ample, year-round public restrooms! Parks matter more now than ever as places where we can gather with our communities, experience nature in the city, stretch out and be active — all with no price of admission.
Riding under gargantuan silver linden trees at Peninsula Park. (Photo: Jonathan Maus/BikePortland)
What do you think?
If you care about parks and want to hear more about exciting new trail and path projects, don’t miss Bike Happy Hour this week. And if you’d like to do some homework, learn more about Measure 26-260 at PortlandersForParks.org.
As per usual, I’ll show up at 3:00 for more chill conversations (or heated ones, if the topic warrants it); then I’ll order some appetizers (probably mostly french fries) at 4:00, then we’ll hop on the mics at 5:30 for announcements and the chat about parks.
I can’t wait to see you there and hear what’s on your mind.
A scene from the 2024 World Naked Bike Ride. (Photo: Jonathan Maus/BikePortland)
A naked bike ride being billed as a protest to Trump’s illegal invasion of Portland has been scheduled for Sunday, October 12th at 2:30 pm.
The “Emergency World Naked Bike Ride” is being organized by the group that created a second naked bike ride in 2024 when Portland’s original version took the year off. The two rides have very similar names (World Naked Bike Ride Portland and Portland World Naked Bike Ride) which has caused some confusion. The riding club behind the ride, Naked Hearts PDX, has led hundreds of group rides and is known for the heart-shaped speaker box and sound system pulled behind a cargo trailer.
The organizers who are behind this “emergency” ride say there’s is distinct from the other one in its commitment to direct action. Their first ride in September 2024 included a die-in in front of the headquarters of Zenith Energy in the Northwest Industrial District.
“We ride to protest the militarization of our City,” organizers wrote on Instagram this morning. “This is a very peaceful form of protest. Joy is a form of protest. Being together with mutual respect and kindness is a form of protest… The vulnerability of bodies could not be more explicit than seeing our neighbors kidnapped off our streets while at the same time those who protest at the Ice Facility are dealing with being brutalized.”
The group’s first post on October 1st went viral and was covered in headlines all over the world, including a mention on NPR’s weekend radio show, “Wait Wait Don’t Tell Me.”
Everyone is welcome on the ride, whether you choose to go fully nude or not.
Hi friends. Welcome to the week. I hope everyone is doing okay amid talk of federal troops and the latest onslaught of unhinged behavior from Trump and his cronies. Meanwhile, we have a city to run and work to do. Let’s get right to it by making sure we’re up to date with the most notable stories and other content from around the web in the past week.
E-bike lending library: I’ve heard through the grapevine that folks in our region are working on having e-bikes available on loan from libraries. This example from Oakland is a similar model. (Oaklandside)
Strongly worded letters: Interesting research in D.C. led to a firm identifying high-risk drivers and sending them a notice about how they’re more prone to crashes; and surprisingly (sarcasm), it didn’t have an impact. (WUSA)
Nature is soft: Interesting new study found that while mountain biking leads to more crashes overall, the severity of road cycling crashes is worse. That makes sense to me since there’s often more to break your fall and speeds are generally lower when you’re riding in the woods. (News Medical)
Seattle’s bus lane fight: In a story that echoes some of the recent infrastructure removal fights we’ve had in Portland, Seattle’s DOT was forced to reconsider plans to remove a bus lane after it sparked an outcry. (The Urbanist)
GPS wars: Strava has sued Garmin in a dispute over patents, saying that the device maker doesn’t have the right to market and sell technology related to segments and heatmaps. (DC Rainmaker)
The fast e-bike problem, part one: The tension around people riding e-bikes too fast around others is becoming a major story all across the country, as evidenced by this article about how folks are managing the issue in Manhattan’s Central Park. (NY Times)
The fast e-bike problem, part two: Then there’s this common scenario, when the term “e-bikes” is used in the headline, but the problem laid out in the story is really about e-motos. Regardless, people riding like jerks were a problem before e-bikes came around, but the added speed and ease to reach it is tipping this into bad territory fast. (Washington Post)
AI and the green wave: The idea of a “green wave” for cyclists — where signals turn green for riders — has been around for a long time and is even employed in downtown Portland; but this is the first I’ve heard where the signals use AI to make it happen. (Fast Company)
Who doesn’t have a car? A very helpful data dashboard and map delves into the demographics of the millions of Americans who cannot or choose not to drive. “Our findings show that this group—often overlooked in planning and policy decisions—is both large and diverse.” (Natural Resources Defense Council)
Some of the riders on the ride last Saturday. (Reader photo)
Last Saturday the Westside Critical Mass ride was pulled over by Hillsboro Police Department officers. The group of about 15-20 riders was headed westbound on East Main Street between NE 6th and 7th. Participants in the ride believe the stop was unnecessary and have filed a complaint with Hillsboro PD.
To learn more, I spoke with Washington County cycling advocate the Westside Critical Mass organizer Rob Lewis (watch a video of our conversation below). Lewis volunteers with Ride Westside and he’s the founder of the Westside Bike Happy Hour. Lewis wasn’t on the ride, but as a leader in that community he’s spoken to a number of folks who were there.
“From what I hear, the police were a bit aggressive and came in kind of hotheaded,” Lewis shared with me Thursday. Thankfully, he added, the ride leaders handled the interaction well and were able to deescalate the situation. How? They were calm and prepared.
“The ride leaders politely explained that the group was riding lawfully. They referenced the legal rules (ORS 814.430), which they carry as a sticker on their bike just for quick reference,” Lewis explained. “They were able to pretty much flip the script on the cops and they actually collected the business cards of two officers involved and then filed a complaint with the Hillsboro PD.”
I also heard from a rider named Don, who was on the ride and interacted with the officers. He told me the officers behavior was, “Pretty condescending.” “I could tell his only motivation was to extract us from the roadway — he was very adamant that we pull off the road. He had the typical holier than thou attitude and told us we were not allowed to block traffic, which I told him was incorrect.” Don told the officers they had no right to stop the group.
Don told me he worried the officer might escalate the situation and could tell he “didn’t appreciate my attitude” so Don stayed quiet after the initial exchange and eventually the officer let them go.
Approximate location where police forced riders off the road.Photos from previous Westside Critical Mass ride. (Photos: Westside Critical Mass)
Westside Critical Mass began this year and was on its fifth ride. Initial turnout was about 50 people, but the ride last Saturday was less than half that size. Lewis says the group was near the end of a 10-mile route from Beaverton to Hillsboro. E Main St, where they were pulled over, is a relatively small road with two general travel lanes and parking lanes on each side. There’s no bike lane, so there’s no other place where the riders could have gone. It’s a very clear-cut example of when it’s perfectly legal for bicycle riders to use the full lane.
Lewis believes the officers just wanted to harass the group. “As soon as the cops realized they were in over their head and the riders knew the law better than themselves, their tone changed,” he shared. “They were immediately like, ‘Oh, well we’re here to make sure you guys are riding safely and, you know, we’re looking out for you.'”
“We just want to show the show that the West Side community is full of cyclists and that we deserve safe infrastructure.”
– Rob Lewis, Ride Westside
Unlike the huge crowds and tense police interactions that characterized Portland’s Critical Mass back in its heyday, the Westside Critical Mass has always had more of a fun, party vibe (its official name is the Westside Critical Mass Party Ride). Lewis said a mix of folks show up: They’ve had high schoolers, folks in their 50s and 60s, and a wide range of bikes — from singlespeeds to family cargo bikes. The goal of the ride is as much about building community and spreading the joy of cycling as it is about pushing for political change. They usually meet at a bike shop where the owner hands out free coffee and donuts.
“We just want to show the show that the West Side community is full of cyclists and that we deserve safe infrastructure,” Lewis said.
As for the police, Don said he spoke to a HPD sergeant (who “seemed receptive”) and let them know more education of officers is needed.
Westside Critical Mass is about having a good time riding bikes. The ride follows a loud speaker playing music carried in a cargo trailer. Don is glad the encounter with police didn’t turn out worse. But, he added, “The whole encounter put a damper on the enjoyment that the group has felt up until that point.”
— Get plugged into all things cycling in Washington County at Westside Bike Happy. It meets at BG’s Food Cartel just steps from the Beaverton Central MAX stop every second and fourth Monday. Next gathering is October 13th. Find more details on the Shift Calendar listing.
N Williams Ave last fall. (Photo: Jonathan Maus/BikePortland)
Happy Friday everyone! Here are my picks for the weekend…
Saturday, October 4th
Forest Park Intro Ride – 9:30 am at Vera Katz on the Esplanade (SE) Join the fun-loving riders of Cycle Cats for a challenging but totally doable loop up into Forest Park and then home through St. Johns. More info here.
Marine Drive Cleanup – 10:00 am at Home Depot (NE) Join Mark from SOLVE for a trash pickup party that will buff out our beloved path. Cargo bikes for hauling bags are encouraged but not required. More info here.
Bike to Hike at Forest Park – 10:00 am at Ladd’s Circle Park (SE) Join advocates from BikeLoud PDX on one of their rides to mark Week Without Driving and learn just how easy it is to bike to Forest Park. More info here.
Pumpkin Patch Ride – 11:00 am at Golden Pliers Bike Shop (NE) Bike a family-friend, nine-mile loop from north Portland to a sweet little family farm that has a corn maze and snack stand. Come home with pumpkins! More info here.
NE Broadway Sidewalk Celebration – 12:00 noon to 6:00 pm along NE Broadway between 7th and 26th (NE) Businesses along NE Broadway want to celebrate their new bike lanes, sidewalks, smooth pavement, and safer crossings with a day of shopping and walking. More info here.
Sunday, October 5th
The Costs of Car Ownership Ride – 10:00 am at Oregon Park (NE) The one and only Shawne Martinez (aka Tigard Stripes) will lead this as part of BikeLoud PDX’s series of Week Without Driving ride and promises you’l’ll, “Get a first-hand look at what it takes to own a new private automobile.” More info here.
East Portland Cemeteries Tour – 10:30 am at Parkrose Sumner Transit Center (NE) Just in time for Halloween month, local cycling historian Shawn Granton will lead a tour that will pique and/or satisfy your curiosity about “obscure burial grounds” along the I-205 corridor. More info here.
Big Tree Bike Ride – 4:00 pm at Colonel Summers Park (SE) Specifically “not an educational ride,” leaders of this excursion just like big trees. “Not only will we bike past some big trees, we will also see wide trees, weird trees, stinky trees, and perhaps some shrubs!” they say. 13 miles. More info here.
— Did I miss your event? Please let me know by filling out our contact form, or just email me at maus.jonathan@gmail.com.
Holly Brown (bandanna), M, and Dina in front of the crowd last night. Sorry, I forgot to get good photos of them!
Last night at Bike Happy Hour we were joined by three people who’ve been on the front lines of fighting against ICE and protecting immigrants and migrants from deportation.
For activists Holly Brown, M, and Dina, it was their second time joining us at the Rainbow Road Plaza. And unlike the first time, they didn’t use megaphones to yell at Mayor Keith Wilson and Happy Hour attendees who were eager to hear from him. Instead, they used my microphone. We talked about what happened at the Mayor Wilson event, how bikes can help fight the Trump Administration’s aggressive and unlawful use of federal forces in Portland, and we learned more about the work and motivations of this trio of activists.
My first order of business was to ask if anyone had questions or feelings to share about what happened at the Mayor Wilson interview. I know some folks on hand wanted to just move on (I could see the grimaces and head shaking!), but I felt like it was important to close the loop on that episode.
Aaron Kuehn stepped up to the mic to say the way protestors acted at the interview event, “Prevented there being a productive, almost once in a lifetime opportunity to have that kind of accessibility to an elected leader.” “Almost everybody I’ve heard from and who’s talked about this said they felt really bad, that that was a miscalculation in terms of tactics, and that we felt like we lost an opportunity.”
Dina, an organizer and church group volunteer who protests at the ICE facility almost nightly and who’s been attacked by an ICE officer, replied to Kuehn. “I hear you when you say it was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, and that is a really big shame on the Mayor,” Dina said. “You are his electorate, if he’s not giving you opportunities to speak to him I think that means that guy shouldn’t be in that job position, because that is the entirety of the job. When you are an elected representative, if you’re not talking to your constituents, there’s a problem there.”
Dina explained that the reason they showed up and shouted at the Mayor was, “Because we cannot get these people to sit down with us. The only time they try to talk to us is when we are going and making them look bad somewhere. That’s the only time any of them will give us the time of day.”
“I’m not trying to sit here and belittle your points,” Dina continued. “But I’m saying that the frustrations you’re experiencing… it’s not because of us and what we did. It’s because the Mayor is choosing to make all of those choices. To not talk to his people who elected him.”
Another Bike Happy Hour regular named Fred who was at the Mayor Wilson event, spoke next: “The sad part about this is that we agree with what you’re saying; but at the same time, we also are people that ride our bikes regularly in town and would be really nice to have had a chance to talk to the Mayor. Now he doesn’t want to come back to talk to us because we can’t control the meeting to keep that from happening again.”
“I bike all the time and bike issues are very important to me,” Brown (who was one of the most vocal protestors at the Mayor event) responded. “I definitely understand. I am sorry that that did not turn out the way that it was planned.” Brown explained that the reason they showed up was because they were monitoring the Mayor’s schedule and there are very few events where they could have access to him. “Our focus was solely on the Mayor,” Brown said. “We did not come with any animosity towards people here.”
Brown wanted to emphasize that the situation at ICE and what Trump and his cronies are doing, “Is extremely serious.” “They’re deporting entire families and people are having serious side effects because of all the chemicals in the South Waterfront area. So the fact that he hasn’t talked to us about it is honestly very disturbing.”
M, an activist with family in Los Angeles who fears deportation every day, said, “At any point, the Mayor could spoken up, he could have addressed us and then continued his conversation with you guys. But that is not what he decided to do… What he did, it was cowardly.”
To shift the conversation to how bicycle riders can help fight ICE and Trump’s troops, I recounted how Portlanders created a “bike swarm” to aid protestors during the Occupy and George Floyd protests and read a passage from the excellent book, In the City of Bikes (Harper, 2013). The book traces the history of cycling in Amsterdam and author Pete Jordan documents how Holland established a Cyclists Regiment of nearly 3,000 cyclists during World War II as Nazi Germany marched toward Amsterdam. “Their motto: ‘Swift and Nimble — Composed and Dignified.’ These troops drilled and conducted maneuvers on their bikes,” Jordan wrote.
“Bikes are actually a perfect tool to fight fascism,” M shared. They described the “Barrio Walks” program they volunteer with through Portland Contra De Los Deportaciones (Portland Against Deportations). “We get into the communities that are being affected. We hand out, ‘know your rights’ information. We give them resources,” M shared. “You could also do that on a bike. You could get together with some bike buds, pick a neighborhood, and go and do that exact same thing. It’s important right now because a lot of folks are too scared to leave their house.”
M also suggested that cyclists could organize mutual aid food distribution and do community patrols. “If you’ve noticed increased ICE activity in certain neighborhoods, get on your bikes and patrol the neighborhood, get whistles, look out for ICE, and call the PIRC [Portland Immigrant Rights Coalition] hotline.”
“There are no wrong answers when it comes to advocacy. There’s a lot of different things that you can do,” Dina added.
The overall message from all three was to just do something, anything, to push back against Trump and anti-protestor narratives from elected officials and the media — both of whom Dina believes are lying to us.
“They’re not telling you how bad it is and how dangerous this moment in history is right now,” Dina said. “And I don’t want to fearmonger, I believe we can come out of this; but only if we unite as a whole city, only if everyone comes out and everyone says we treat each other as humans.”
The discussion ended on an impassioned plea from M, which you can listen to and/or read below:
“We’re city of roses, let us be the thorns that protect the roses that are our beautiful immigrant and migrant community. Let us be the the thorn in the side of this fascist administration that thinks it’s okay to come and kidnap, brutalize and send our neighbors, friends and family off to death camps. That thinks it’s okay to sick the National Guard on civilians.
Pease take all that love and all that rage in your heart and fight this fight, because it’s not just one fight. This is all of our struggle.
This is personal to me, because this is my family on the line. I come from a line of people that gave up everything to be here, and I have to worry about missing a call from a family member and thinking, ‘Oh, my God, was that the call? Did it finally happen?’
Our community is only as safe as we make it. So, if one group of people is being subjected to this violence and being brutalized and sent to these camps, it can happen to any of us, and that’s why we need a united front now. Talk to your friends, talk to your neighbors. Make a plan. Do something, do anything, because we’re gonna need all the help we conduct we can get. We need all hands on deck for this.”
After I turned off the mics, Holly, M, and Dina stuck around to talk with Bike Happy Hour attendees. Holly passed out a flyer about how to identify and report ICE agents and folks signed up to be on email lists. I know some folks disagree with how I handled this because I received criticism before, during, and after the event. But to me, it felt like a very productive evening and I’m glad we got to give these relationships another chance.
In the words of one attendee, “It was a surprisingly civil conversation at a seemingly uncivilized time.”
Multnomah County Commissioner Julia Brim Edwards rides an e-bike from Portland-based Vvolt at a recent event. (Photo: Jonathan Maus/BikePortland)
New research on electric bike rebates — released the same week the City of Portland announced a soft launch of their program — is good news for fans of using government subsidies to make e-bikes cheaper.
A study from University of British Columbia found substantial environmental, economic, and quality of life benefits in people who received rebates from the BC Electric Bike Rebate Program launched in 2023. Beyond the serendipitous timing of this research, it has another strong Portland connection: One of the study’s researchers, UBC Associate Professor Dr. Alex Bigazzi, is a graduate of Portland State University whose work on cycling and air quality madeseveralheadlines here on BikePortland.
In Travel, Environmental, and Equity Impacts of Income-Conditioned E-Bike Rebates in British Columbia by Polina Polikakhina, Amir Hassanpour, Kyla Yu, Meghan Winters, and Bigazzi (2025, with funding by Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC) & Mobilizing Justice) surveyed over 1,000 BC program participants for over one year. By nearly every metric, the ability to add an e-bike to their lives had significant positive benefits to their personal well-being and the world around them. The study found that:
Emissions from travel dropped 17 per cent per year overall, equivalent to 1,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide
Travel costs fell 12 per cent
Post-purchase automobile use fell by 20% while e-bike use increased by a factor of 16
Physical activity during travel rose 13 per cent
Rebates cut e-bike purchase costs by 43 per cent, with the greatest benefits going to lower-income households
$6.5 million in rebates generated $8.7 million in new retailer revenue.
The BC program offers rebates of $350 to $1,400 depending on personal income qualifications. The study tracked many statistics about participants including: purchase decisions, use of purchased e-bikes, and short-term (three months) and long-term (12 months) travel behavior changes post-purchase.
Among the findings is that folks who used the rebates purchased bikes with an average price of $3,200 (paying an average of $1,900 after the rebate). “E-bike price was inversely related to rebate value, showing that the rebates were primarily used to decrease cost rather than to acquire more expensive e-bikes,” the study summary reads.
Charts from the report.
Using demographic data, researchers found that reductions in automobile use were greater for those with higher household income and those living in suburban areas that are relatively dense but with poorer access to destinations by walking, cycling, or public transit. Increases in e-bike use were also greater for those with lower household income and those living in hillier areas.
Along with demographic data, the study provides recommendations for how to make them work even better.
Given behaviors of rebate recipients, researchers say geographic prioritization is worth considering, because places with things like hillier terrain and limited public transit options will have greater rebate impacts. This seems to be fodder for a special rebate dispensation to folks who live in the southwest/west hills.
It has always bugged me that politicians seem to have no problem supporting e-car rebates, but balk at doing the same for e-bikes. I know it can’t fight the power of motonormativity, but this study found e-bike rebates are cost-competitive with car rebates for GHG mitigation. But wait, there’s more: “[E-bike rebates] also generate a range of other important benefits through automobile mode substitution and increased physical activity.” So yeah, e-bike rebates actually have more bang-for-our-buck than e-car rebates. The study should also serve as a reminder to never limit framing e-bike rebate benefits as solely a climate change fighting tool. “Considering mobility and physical activity co-benefits will be increasingly important if declining automobile emission rates diminish the effectiveness of e-bike rebates for GHG reduction,” researchers write.
“E-bikes bring benefits to users in cost, mobility and physical activity,” said study co-investigator Dr. Meghan Winters of Simon Fraser University. “But the impacts of this rebate program are also more broad, with societal benefits of reduced emissions, replacement of car trips, and generated revenue.”
And to top it all off, rebate users cited “fun and enjoyment” as one of the top reasons they were eager to hop on an e-bike.
The aftermath. View is westbound on SE Gideon bike path. Note the bike route marking in the lower center (Photos: Reader Andy F.)
On Tuesday morning around 8:00 am, commuting calm was shattered on one of Portland’s busiest bicycling corridors when a driver careened off the road, flew across the bikeway, and slammed into a metal fence, leaving a trail of broken debris in their wake. It happened on Southeast Milwaukie where it crosses the rail tracks at SE 12th.
I heard about it from several people and my first response was: Here we go again. There has been a disturbing drumbeat of drivers failing to control their vehicles and driving them into spaces that are expected to be carfree.
In the past month or so I’ve reported on several serious incidents. In early August, a man drove onto the sidewalk and killed someone on NE Martin Luther King Jr. and then hopped another median before coming to rest after a head-on collision with another driver. Later that month a suspected car thief sped across the (carfree) Tilikum Crossing Bridge. On September 17th, a driver intentionally drove through the Holman Pocket Park, only to be stopped by concrete bollards. Then on Sunday I posted photos of a driver who crashed into a planter area on the sidewalk of SW 1st and Main.
These are just a few recent examples of what feels like an out of control epidemic of dangerous and reckless driving on Portland streets. It’s a violent byproduct of a system where cars and their drivers have too much freedom to destroy and disrupt. If there’s a war on our streets, this is the closest thing to it.
“It’s infuriating that cars are increasingly careening into places they don’t belong,” said BikePortland reader Andy F., who was nearly hit by that driver who crashed into the sidewalk-level bike lane on SE Gideon Tuesday morning.
I asked Andy to share his experience. His account below and photos from the scene are chilling:
“A driver traveling northbound on Milwaukie Ave at high speed lost control near the Clinton/Gideon rail tracks intersection. He struck and knocked down a metal traffic light pole, then careened onto the curb, through fencing, and onto the MAX tracks.
I heard a loud noise (the driver first knocking down a metal traffic light pole). I thankfully was able to quickly move out of the way prior to the driver careening onto the curb, through the fencing next to the rail, and onto the tracks themselves. I escaped a direct hit by at most seven feet. It’s remarkable no other bikers/pedestrians were struck. I saw/heard no attempt to brake before he mounted the pedestrian path. I have no estimate for speed, but it was clearly high velocity given the damage and airbag deployment. If he had hit someone he would have seriously injured, or more likely killed them.
Because the driver now was on the tracks with a MAX train heading Eastward (other bikers were able to flag the train to stop thankfully) — and after ensuring area was safe — I was able to speak to the driver to get his permission to help and open door (very tinted windows made it difficult to visually determine safety) and pull him from the car. A young man, very confused and understandably disoriented. The steering wheel and side-curtain airbags all deployed. It’s easy to assume he was intoxicated, however it’s also totally possible he had a medical event (seizure, cardiac episode, etc.). Irrespective of those circumstances, he clearly was driving way too fast. Fire and EMS took a very long time to arrive. 911 repeatedly dropped my calls, and response times felt very slow, which was frustrating.
A huge shout out to the staff and workforce at Urban Alchemy who (were working working nearby and) were some of the first to the scene bringing Narcan and first aid kits. It was heartening to see the direct caring actions of people biking-by and local businesses — helping make sure the driver was safe and stable, flagging down the MAX train and communicating with EMS, etc.”
In addition to telling us what happened, Andy also wanted to share a personal message about how the incident has impacted him.
“I used to exclusively commute to work by bike years ago. But as I’ve moved further away from the city core and other life circumstances, I had largely stopped. I’ve been ashamed about that for a good while, missing the energy and liberation of biking and connecting with outdoors and Portland again. My choice to “fall out” of bike commuting has not only been a huge physical and mental health loss for me, but totally at odds with my values — wanting to minimize the negative impact my life has on the environment and local communities.
A few months ago I finally bit-the-bullet and bought an e-bike (a total game changer!) and have been so proud to finally be biking again. It’s been transformative just like it was years ago. It changed my work days and my general outlook substantially. And with the e-bike, going from Southwest Portland to outer Southeast is totally doable!
After Tuesday’s incident, I hope I don’t lose my bike-commuting inertia. I hope it doesn’t deter others from choosing more healthy ways of getting around. With that being said though, I don’t know if I can unconditionally recommend biking to/from work right now, especially more vulnerable or less experienced riders… Not with all the increasing road-rage and reckless driving. It’s great for those of us who feel confident on bikes, but it’s not accessible or safe for many people. That’s the unmeasurable tragedy to all this.
It’s infuriating that cars are increasingly careening into places they don’t belong. But it’s even more obnoxious the lethargic responses and sense of resignation from our elected officials. It’s not a moonshot to build infrastructure that can literally save and protect lives. How can we possibly encourage more people to ride bikes, or walk or jog, or do much of anything when they can so clearly see the car shrapnel and tire marks all over these paths? And after hearing and seeing all these near misses?
I’m grateful I wasn’t hit, and even more grateful I didn’t have to watch someone else killed. It was that close.
Please for the love of God, chill the f*** out in your cars and demand more from your elected officials. Maintaining the status quo is not good enough.”
Historically, policymakers have responded to incidents like this as if they are unpreventable one-offs with no systemic solution beyond the slow march toward hardening the system for bicycle users. But it’s clear we don’t have enough physically protected infrastructure. What we need is nothing short of a usable network of bike lanes that is either completely off-street or separated from drivers with tall, immovable concrete curbs — combined with street designs and system of enforcement and legal consequences that make it clear what type of behavior is expected from car users. We will only move the needle for cycling in Portland when our city, county and state jurisdictions provide that level of protection and we see more local leaders directly address the urgency of this crisis.
PBOT maintenance worker removing a concrete planter on SE Salmon and 30th on September 19th. (Photo: Eric P.)
When maintenance crews from the Portland Bureau of Transportation hopped into forklifts and moved the large concrete planters at four intersections along the Southeast Salmon neighborhood greenway earlier this month, I heard about it right away.
Since they were installed four years ago as part of PBOT’s pandemic response to warn drivers they were entering a shared-street environment, these planters acted as 24/7 enforcement against unsafe driving, forcing people in cars to slow down and make safer turns. Not technically diverters, they had the impact of making Salmon much less attractive to car users and therefore a much more pleasant place to bike.
Riders I’ve heard from are frustrated about this on several levels. For some folks, the presence of these planters is the main reason they chose to ride on Salmon. For others, they feel PBOT didn’t warn neighbors or bike advocates about the removal. And given our recent history with diverters, removing important road safety features without proper communication is a very sensitive subject.
One person I heard from shared a letter from PBOT Capital Program Manager Keith Baich that was mailed to residents along the corridor on August 15th. “PBOT will install pedestrian and bike crossing elements to your SE Salmon Street Greenway at intersections with SE 11th Avenue, SE 12th Avenue, and SE 30th Avenue,” read the letter. “This is a scheduled improvement project to support the pedestrian and bicycle networks in SE Portland.”
But there was no mention in the letter that the concrete planters would be removed.
BeforeSE Salmon and 20th. (Reader photo)SE Salmon and 12th. (Reader photo)After
Another person who contacted BikePortland after noticing the removal wrote, “[The planters] really made you feel safer because being at the apex of the hill limited your sight lines looking north. You could tuck in behind the diverter to look down the hill.” Many folks wanted to know exactly what was going on and whether or not the planters would be replaced.
I reached out to PBOT to learn more. Public Information Office Dylan Rivera confirmed with me on Monday that the removals come ahead of a planned construction project that will include “big safety improvements” on Salmon. Here’s more from Rivera:
“The intersections will have more permanent materials that give them a cleaner, more attractive look that will contribute to a feeling of more comfort and safety for people walking, biking or using a mobility device in the area… In their place, we have a contractor preparing to install crosswalks, cross bike markings, parking setbacks, concrete separators, and speed bumps (different treatments at each intersection, depending on engineering analysis).”
Rivera also confirmed that planters have been removed from four intersections: SE 11th, 12th, 20th and 30th. Dylan said the move comes as part of a March 2024 City Traffic Engineer Directive that requires PBOT to replace temporary materials (like these planters, which were ironically considered to be more permanent than the a-frame barricades they replaced) when they require too much maintenance.
Funding for the project comes from the city’s local gas tax-funded Fixing Our Streets program and PBOT expects to begin construction in mid-October.
“We believe the new, permanent materials will be a significant improvement,” Rivera shared.
That all sounds good, but given that the planters are likely to be off the street for at least a month, I’m not sure PBOT fully respects the massive safety impact that comes from stripping a street of its protective barrier while people on bicycles still use it. Would they turn off a traffic signal for a month prior to an electrical upgrade? Or remove lane striping on an arterial before re-striping?
On a thread in the BikeLoud Slack last week, one person posted a photo of planter-less SE Salmon and 30th and wrote, “I almost got hit today by a car turning into me where there used to be a diverter.”
I hope in the future PBOT can find a way to manage a project like this without such a long window of reduced safety before a significant improvement.
It’s not the transportation bill any Oregon Democrats wanted, but it’s the only one they could manage to pass. Yesterday in the Senate Chamber the House Bill 3991 finally flopped over the finish line with a vote of 18-11. There were no surprises with votes and everything went pretty much as planned by Democratic leaders, a sentence I haven’t been able to write about this legislative process since it began back in May.
HB 3991 will raise about $4.3 billion over the next 10 years from a mix of increases on gas and payroll taxes along with higher fees for car ownership. The total revenue is just 35% of the what Democrats tried for when the bill was initially released (as HB 2025). At the outset of the session, Democratic party leaders hoped to use their control of all three branches of government to boost funding for basic maintenance and operations as well as bolstering buses and transit, making ODOT’s orphan highways safer, building safer routes to school, making electric bikes more affordable, paving off-street paths, and so on.
But there turned out to be a massive sinkhole between Democrats’ policy aspirations and political acumen. Party leaders seem to misread both Republicans and members of their own party. Senate President Rob Wagner and House Speaker Julie Fahey burned crucial time working with Republicans to make the bill bipartisan. They also assumed every Democrat would vote for it, even though some from more purple districts got cold feet when they saw the price tag.
Speaking at an event on Friday, Senator and Joint Committee on Transportation member Khanh Pham blamed the failure of the more robust initial bill on a variety of factors. “I think big picture,” Senator Pham shared in remarks at a park in downtown Troutdale, “[the failure had] to do with Republican opposition to transit, as well as some of my Democratic colleagues — who agreed that transportation was important, but maybe didn’t quite feeling the same urgency, particularly around safety and public transit.”
Despite what they’ve told their base, Republican lawmakers like newly named Senate Minority Leader Bruce Starr, were given a seat at the table in early negotiations. But because their ideas were not politically viable — among them were DOGE-like proposals to eliminate the Oregon Department of Transportation’s Climate Office, bicycle and pedestrian program, and to repeal the 1971 Bicycle Bill that ensures a minimum of highway investments include adjacent bicycling and walking facilities — almost none of them were included in the final legislation.
Instead of making their arguments stronger, or building coalitions and making compromises with fellow lawmakers, Republicans chose to do their politics on social media and in grandstanding floor and committee speeches. They ginned up opposition to the bill by using scare tactics and misinformation, which poisoned the well of public debate. Starr and other Republicans, including outgoing Senator Daniel Bonham (who’s barred from returning to the capital for taking part in a walkout in 2023), tried to make their points in desperate diatribes on the Senate Floor right up until the last minute.
So acute was Republicans’ disdain for Democrats and so focused were their tactics on getting a political win, that not one of them would even consider voting for the highly-compromised bill — even with the knowledge that two Democratic Senators had to come to the capitol building to ensure its passage despite major unresolved medical issues.
And despite HB 3991 being nothing more than a stop-gap measure to preserve ODOT jobs, prevent major upheaval in the delivery of basic transportation services statewide; and despite the fact that Democratic party leaders already caved to Republicans on several fronts just to get them to show up for the special session — Starr and Bonham clung to their tired, easily disproven narratives that the bill was an assault on all Oregonians and they gleefully promised to refer it to voters.
In her opening remarks about the bill in Senate Chambers yesterday, Senator Pham cleansed our timelines by sharing sober facts about the bill. While saying, “Nobody likes to raise taxes,” Pham explained that the typical Oregon family who drives 12,000 miles a year will pay an extra two dollars every month to ensure ODOT crews can fix potholes, paint fog lines, and keep roads plowed in winter. When it comes to the payroll tax that funds public transit, a family that makes $60,000 per year will pay an additional five dollars a month to maintain service for thousands of riders in cities and rural towns — many of whom have no other way to travel to things like medical appointments.
About Republican proposals to simply move money around and slash programs to fill the budget hole, Pham dismissed them as, “Nothing short of magical thinking.” “Any good faith review of ODOT’s actual budget would recognize that ODOT’s investments in DEI, safe routes to school and climate policy are orders of magnitude smaller than the massive budget holes we face to merely preserve our existing road systems,” she said.
And in the saltiest language I’ve heard from the very mild-mannered Pham about her legislative counterparts, she added, “Oregon’s policymakers need to be clear-eyed about the challenges ahead, not self-administering our own version of DOGE and weakening our ability to invest in the vital social services, education and infrastructure on which our communities depend.”
While Republicans gear up to gather signatures required to repeal the tax and fee increases, Democrats and supportive advocacy organizations are already talking about the next legislative session. Even if no major transportation policy proposals arise in the 2026 short session, we’re guaranteed the topic will be back on the table in 2027 when Democrats will have to fight to save transit funding from a Republican-built fiscal cliff. That’s because one of the compromises Republicans won by using the leverage of quorum was to sunset the payroll tax increase that pays for transit after two years.
Hopefully by then Democrats have learned the lessons of this past session.
The regional network of paths and bikeways is directly related to the regional network of humans who dream, plan, and build them. That’s the idea behind the Policymakers Ride — an annual event that brings elected officials, agency staffers and advocates together for a full day of riding, learning; and most importantly, talking.
The first one was held in 2005 when former Oregonian columnist and Cycle Oregon co-founder Jonathan Nicholas led a group of folks on a ride that explored the Willamette Valley Scenic Bikeway. I’d only been doing BikePortland for a few months when I tagged along on that ride! I loved riding with mayors, bureau leaders, and people whose names I’d only seen on websites.
Fast forward 20 years and this ride (sometimes called the Voyage of the Visionaries) remains an important date on the calendar — and Nicholas is still riding on it (see him in photo below). He was one of about 120 people who met at Level Beer on NE 148th Friday morning for the ride — a 19-mile loop (see route below) that would take us east along Marine Drive to the Sandy River, then through Troutdale and back via Wood Village, Fairview, and the Wilkes neighborhood.
Lead organizer of the ride is Steph Noll, executive director of nonprofit Oregon Trails Coalition. At the start, as participants gobbled up breakfast snacks, coffee, and ride fuel, Noll set the table for the day: “For some folks, this may be your very first Policymakers Ride, but others of you here today may have memories of formative rides from years ago that really made an impression, that really inspired you, where a new collaboration first sprouted, where you maybe made a connection that is still important today in your work or just to your personal sense of community, and that is a big part of what today’s ride is about.”
“The purpose is to build relationships,” Noll continued when I caught up with her afterward. “All while experiencing some great off-street trail infrastructure and multi-use paths; but also the challenging gaps in the network so that we can collaborate on fixing those gaps.”
Jonathan Nicholas (left) and Mike Houck on the Ch’ak Ch’ak Trail.Organizer Steph Noll (red helmet).Multnomah County Commissioner Vince Jones-Dixon.City of Troutdale Economic Development Coordinator Marlee Boxler.Metro Councilor Ashton Simpson.(Photos: Jonathan Maus/BikePortland – Full gallery here.)
While the route is planned long ahead of time, organizers don’t sugarcoat it. Right off the bat, as we rode a narrow bike lane next to car drivers on NE Airport Way and navigated an industrial park full of big trucks turning into big driveways, I’m sure some riders questioned their decision to attend.
Along with sharing the good, bad, and ugly of the regional bikeway network, the ride includes pre-planned stops where folks talk about projects and policies relevant to the stop location.
After riding along NE Marine Drive and experiencing its Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde personality of loud, dirty, white-knuckle, on-street bike lanes next to bucolic carfree paths along a perfectly calm Columbia River, we made our way into Chinook Landing Park (a gem of a spot just off Marine Drive at NE 223rd).
After welcoming us to his district, Metro Councilor Ashton Simpson told us about the work his agency is doing to cure Marine drive of its ills. “Metro is working with the City of Portland to close a gap on this trail between I-205 and NE 122nd, and once that project is completed, we will have just three gaps to close before there is a safe, comfortable, off-street passage the entire length of Marine Drive.”
As we pressed eastward I got to ride the (relatively new) Ch’ak Ch’ak Trail for the first time. Opened just last year, this three-mile paved path connects Chinook Landing Park and the Marine Drive Path to existing paved paths along the Columbia River and Sandy River Delta area — an expanse of biking and walking trails managed by the Port of Portland.
NE Airport WayMarine Drive pathBumps on Marine Drive path.Marine Drive gap.
A highlight of the day came as we headed south along the Sandy toward downtown Troutdale. Our group was the first to ride a yet-to-be-open new path that will connect an existing path under I-84 to the Historic Columbia River Hwy. Named after a local journalist and historian, the Sharon Nesbit Heritage Park and Sandy Riverfront Trail are still under construction.
Gathered around a new stone overlook high above the Sandy River, we heard from Kristen Stallman, a former ODOT staffer who worked on the Historic Columbia River Highway and now works in the Federal Highway Administration’s Federal Lands Access Program. Stallman shared how she worked with Metro to create a vision of connected paths in the area and how it felt to see it all come together: “We all said we’d work together to make the vision a reality. And I’m floored. So I encourage you to think: what’s the next vision for the next 20 years,” she said.
The new elevated bike path isn’t quite completed yet, so we walked our bikes through the construction site. But the parts we did ride were enough to impress upon everyone that something special is brewing in Troutdale. Then I met City of Troutdale Economic Development Coordinator Marlee Boxler, whose comments really drove it all home.
Ch’ak Ch’ak Trail just before Harlow Rd.New Sandy Riverfront Trail in Sharon Nesbit Park.New Sandy Riverfront Trail in Sharon Nesbit Park.
“This is really exciting,” Boxler shared as we stood in the beautiful Mayor Square Park just off Troutdale’s main street. “Because the Ch’ak Ch’ak Trail is a brand new connection, and the Sharon Nesbit Heritage Park is about to open and it will be another connection in the 40-Mile Loop — along with the Sandy River Delta and Lewis and Clark State Park, and the Historic Columbia River Highway State Trail.”
When I asked Boxler to paint a picture of the future, she said, “Troutdale is going to be a destination for cyclists.” “We’re going to see people coming from all over the world to cycle the Historic Columbia River Highway State Trail,” she continued. “So we’re thinking into the future about what those amenities can look like. Can we have hotels that support cyclists when they come here? Can they start their journey right here in Troutdale and go out and enjoy the amazing scenery of the Gorge and also connect back in to Portland? Could someone land at the airport and ride a bike all the way here to Troutdale and then continue on the rest of the way? How can we make those pieces happen so that we’re known as a destination for cycling?”
On that high note it was time for lunch. The group was treated to a wonderful food cart buffet at The Highlands which overlooks the town and the river valley. As I looked at the crowd of bikes parked out front and the dozens of cyclists chatting inside, it was like looking into a crystal ball.
But after lunch, my dreamy bubble was popped by the roar of car engines and the sound of my heart racing as I pedaled along Halsey Street west of Troutdale near McMenamin’s Edgefield. Once again, we experienced the jarring highs and lows of an incomplete network — where one minute you’re on a path overlooking a river, and the next minute you’re shoulder-to-shoulder with a big rig.
Leaving lunch on NE Halsey.Bad stretch of Halsey.Sarah Selden, City of Fairview.
It’s a good thing we were in a large group on Halsey, and despite hearing from a driver who yelled angrily and revved his engine because had to stop to let us all cross (something that happened several times throughout the day), everyone got to our next stop safely.
In front of Wood Village City Hall we heard from Multnomah County Commissioner Vince Jones-Dixon. “The thing that drew me to public office, has been community safety and economic empowerment,” he shared. “And one of the main connectors is being able to travel safely throughout communities… and we’re really looking at bike safety and roads and advocating for more investments here in East Multnomah County.”
One of those investments will be a complete transformation of the aforementioned Halsey Blvd. Sarah Selden, the community development director for the City of Fairview said their Main Streets on Halsey plan will turn that sketchy stretch of road into, “A community main street with clusters of commercial development and new housing connected by improved sidewalks, bike paths and crosswalks that feel safe and comfortable for everyone.” “Imagine in the future,” Selden continued. “Instead of biking along a narrow shoulder next to encroaching blackberries, you’re on a beautiful raised pathway at sidewalk level, traveling with other families up and down the Halsey Main Street.”
I can’t wait to return to a Policymakers Ride in a few years and see that vision realized!
After we left Wood Village City Hall, we were now in the westbound portion of our loop heading back to our starting point at Level Beer. We took a circuitous route through neighborhood streets between Halsey and Glisan and even went through a Target parking lot at one point. Just as I was about as lost as I was all day, we ended up rolling right into Salish Ponds Wetlands Park. It’s been years since I explored that place and I was really happy to be there. It was a welcome change from city streets as we pedaled dirt trails shrouded in sun-dappled trees and peered out onto the pond.
In Salish Ponds Wetlands Park.The group on NE 185th.Along the Slough in Big Four Corners Natural Area.NE 148th.
After a brief ride on the Gresham-Fairview Trail, we crossed Halsey and Sandy without incident thanks to a Gresham police officer who saw our group and escorted us for a few miles until we reached the safety of a carfree path. And it’s a good thing he did, because just before we rolled into a path along the Columbia Slough, another driver got mad at being delayed by our group. As our peloton strung out along NE 185th, a young woman in a sports car revved her engine and swerved out of her lane to pass us all. And guess who she found at the front of the line? That nice Gresham police officer. I didn’t stick around to see what happened next, but I’m sure the driver learned a memorable lesson.
At the end of a very nice bit of paved path along the Big Four Corners Natural Area, we were treated to cookies which paired well with information about how the Portland Bureau of Environmental Services worked to restore the area.
From there it was a quick jaunt along industrial-zoned roads mixed with old farmlands back to Level Beer where we were greeted into the parking lot by Multnomah County Transportation Planner MaryJo Andersen wearing an orange cone on her head.
As I watched everyone roll in with easy-going smiles and a familiarity that wasn’t there when we started first thing in the morning, I was reminded of a conversation I had with Oregon House Representative Willy Chotzen earlier in the day. When I asked him about the ride, he said:
“It’s kind of the best of all things Portland. And at the same time, I think in this moment right there’s a lot of dark stuff happening politically. The thing I’m telling everyone is community, community, community. That’s how we get through it. That’s how we survive it. That’s how we build back better. And this is just community in action right now, and quite literally in motion, which is pretty awesome to see.”
And before we ordered a beer and grabbed those final few business cards to follow-up with, event organizer Steph Noll left us with one parting thought: “We have the folks here, today, and in our networks, to really move the ball forward and make the future we want.”
