The 2024 World Naked Bike Ride Portland on S Harbor Drive. (Photo: Jonathan Maus/BikePortland)
Portland will get double the fun this summer as two major naked bike rides roll onto the streets.
Last June, when organizers of the traditional World Naked Bike Ride unexpectedly took a year off after 20 years as hosts, a different crop of leaders emerged to fill the void. The new organizers confused some folks by using a very similar name — “World Naked Bike Ride Portland” instead of “Portland World Naked Bike Ride” — and there was a bit of an intra-community riff behind the scenes.
This year both rides will happen: The Portland World Naked Bike Ride will be Saturday, July 26th and the World Naked Bike Ride Portland is Saturday, August 9th.
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Portland’s original naked ride is supported by a nonprofit known as Umbrella. The event had turned into a massive party and major destination ride over the years, drawing thousands of participants — many of whom seem to dust their bikes off solely for that one night only. Last year’s ride with new leaders was decidedly different. It was much smaller in size with a crowd in the hundreds instead of thousands, and the focus was clearly on the activist roots of the ride. The route stopped at the headquarters of Zenith Energy in the northwest industrial area where a mass die-in was staged to protest fossil fuel dependency. Zenith Energy is embroiled with Portland City Council and local environmental activists for its pursuit of a permit to transport and store vast quantities of toxic oil along the Willamette River.
The leaders of the original ride say they’re excited to be back after the year off with new leaders and a new theme. “Given deepening global and domestic tensions, the PDXWNBR leadership team decided that community needs to take center stage this year,” reads a statement about the ride. The new theme is “Baring All & Building Bridges” and organizers say it’s all about, “strengthening our local community and its support systems.”
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They’re looking for volunteer ambassadors to help support the ride. If you’re interested, be sure to follow @PDXWNBR on Instagram for updates.
Now in year two, the World Naked Bike Ride Portland invites riders to, “Join a ride of celebration, solidarity, and protest under the Sturgeon Full Moon.” The ride will once again focus on environmental justice and be a protest against oil dependency, especially the role of Zenith Energy and their ongoing business in Portland.
Both rides look to make big statements about the need for safe cycling, body positivity and self-expression.
The health of our students depends on the health of our streets. (Photos: Jonathan Maus/BikePortland)
The bike bus movement in Portland isn’t all about fun bike rides to school. It’s also a platform for advocacy. And as those rides have grown, so too has the ability of their leaders to pressure city council for safer streets. After all, an elected can’t say they support bike buses if they don’t also support making sure kids can join them safely.
At the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee meeting in City Hall on Monday, Glencoe Elementary School Bike Bus Leader Rob Galanakis told councilors it’s time for Portland to step up and capitalize on the remarkable bike bus momentum. “The bike bus is the software for change, the social infrastructure,” Galanakis said, wearing the bright yellow rain poncho that’s become a de facto bike bus flag. “But we need the city to provide the physical infrastructure, the hardware.”
That “hardware” is modal filtering — an approach that uses hard infrastructure to limit cut-through traffic while still allowing people to walk and roll. (“Modal filtering” is a preferred word of some activists who feel talk of “traffic diverters” leads to irrational opposition.) Modal filters are cheaper, quicker to install, more effective and more modular than speed bumps.
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Galanakis on screen during his testimony (which clearly delighted Councilor Tiffany Koyama Lane).
Galanakis (a candidate for Portland Public Schools Board) spoke on behalf of Bike Bus PDX, a coalition of 25 bike bus leaders from across Portland. Galanakis said all the time he and other bike bus leaders have put on the roads in the past four years have made it clear that even Portland’s vaunted neighborhood greenways are still too littered with car drivers. The number one threat to the success of bike buses are drivers and their cars. It’s essential that Portland limits the number of drivers on residential streets if our city wants to see more kids and families ride bikes — not just to school but in their daily lives.
Bike Bus PDX has gone further than just ask for more modal filters. They’ve submitted the “Bike Bus Friendly Neighborhood Greenway Resolution” and are asking councilors to force the Portland Bureau of Transportation to strengthen their approach to traffic diversion.
Currently, PBOT’s preferred average daily traffic volume on a neighborhood greenway street is 1,000 cars per day (measured as average daily traffic or ADT). According to their 2020 Neighborhood Greenways Assessment Report, 1,500 cars per day is “acceptable” and 2,000 cars per day is the maximum. The reason those thresholds are in place is so they can trigger a variety of infrastructure responses by PBOT. Depending on traffic counts, PBOT will decide what type of mitigation is necessary, and (in a perfect world) they’ll continue those interventions until the number is acceptable.
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The Bike Bus PDX resolution calls for a pilot program that would change the lower volume to a maximum of 500 cars per day. The idea is modeled after guidelines in use by the City of Vancouver, British Columbia. Their “all ages and abilities (AAA)” cycling routes aim to have fewer than 500 motor vehicles on them per day, which will result in most cyclists encountering just less than one driver per block (in peak hours) on average. The resolution also calls on PBOT to try the lower ADT threshold on 25 neighborhood greenway routes (where active bike buses or walking school buses already exist) prior to the start of the 2025-2026 school year.
To pay for the resolution, Bike Bus PDX says they’d target PBOT’s Fixing Our Streets program which has money set-aside for safety projects (and which the group helped PBOT pass when it was up for another vote last year).
During his testimony yesterday, Galanakis said if PBOT isn’t given the tools to improve safety on neighborhood greenways, the bike bus movement will lose momentum and, “We will lose this critical opportunity to advance city goals.”
If only we could end the repair and repave cycle. (Photos: Jonathan Maus/BikePortland)
“You should… take some streets out of service.”
– Mitch Green, Portland city councilor
Portlanders have heard for years that our transportation agency cannot keep pace with required road maintenance. As our pavement buckles under the pressure of an ever-increasing number of cars, no one wants to pony-up the funding it takes to keep roads smooth and safe. Something’s gotta’ give.
What if instead of playing catch-up, we reduced the amount of lane miles we maintained, thereby lowering the city’s overall financial burden? That’s an idea I’ve heard in activist circles for years, but closing streets to motor vehicle access to save on maintenance costs had always seemed like a fringe notion. Today it was thrust closer toward the mainstream by a Portland city councilor named Mitch Green.
Speaking at a meeting of the city’s Transportation and Infrastructure Committee this morning after a presentation on what Green called the “dire” financial state of the Portland Bureau of Transportation, Councilor Green said, “Every mile of road is a liability in terms of unfunded, ongoing operations and maintenance, which will then be always costlier in the future.” Then, speaking directly to PBOT Director Millicent Williams and Deputy City Administrator of Public Works Priya Dhanapal, Green continued:
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“You should work with and have some conversations with the Bureau of Planning and Sustainability and talk about opportunities to take some streets out of service. Turn them into superblocks, turn them into cul-de-sacs, turn them into plazas… Community gardens even. Because if we do that, I think we can lower our expenses over time. I think we can create more buildable land, create more housing density, which will then allow us to have a transit and active transportation-forward city, which is always going to be less costly than continuing to rely upon vehicular lane mileage.”
Councilor Mitch Green at the meeting this morning. (Photo: Jonathan Maus/BikePortland)
Surprisingly, PBOT Director Williams said her agency is already considering the idea. “Our planning team is actively engaging in that conversation,” she replied. “There are a number of projects that are underway that speak specifically to what you’ve outlined.”
I’m still working to get more details from both Green and PBOT (to clarify what exactly Director Williams was referring to), but it’s worth noting Green’s inspiration. Before being elected to city council in November, he was an energy economist for the Bonneville Power Administration and previously taught economics at Portland State University. He also believes addressing climate change is, “the most pressing issue of our time.” It’s the twin emergencies of PBOT’s fiscal cliff and the very real impacts of climate change that are behind Green’s comments.
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Councilor Green, a Democratic Socialist, is also an avid BikePortland reader who very well might have perused our recent guest opinion from Sam Balto that advocated for creating more cul-de-sacs throughout Portland as a way to improve quality of life.
Either way, given that PBOT is on the ropes in the fight for a balanced budget, it’s the perfect time for bold, out of the box thinking. And if you consider that PBOT already has mature street plaza, neighborhood greenway, and road diet (or what they call “lane reconfiguration”) programs; decommissioning even more lane miles in order to reduce financial liability and get closer to climate and transportation goals doesn’t really seem all that fringe anymore. (Also worth noting that PBOT has a lot of experience in this realm, like when they’ve partnered with folks to create “play streets.”)
The PBOT 2025-2026 budget proposal is expected to be released at the end of this week. The Transportation & Infrastructure Committee will then make a recommendation to the finance committee. There are more conversations to be had before Councilor Green’s idea is one of them, but at least the conversation has begun.
UPDATE, 4:30 pm: PBOT Communications Director Hannah Schafer has clarified their position on Councilor Green’s comments:
“Because we are investing so little in the maintenance of our streets right now, this wouldn’t actually create any significant cost savings, but it would reduce our risk and potentially add a small amount of savings to our overall $6B in deferred maintenance.
Today, we approach this work through the reallocation of lane space – i.e. changing the way we use our existing roadway space by allocating more pavement from heavy vehicles to less heavy uses such as bikes that will impact our assets less over time. Our street plazas are another example of reallocating pavement for public use. We are also partnering with organizations like Depave to transform lane miles to places through co-investment with adjacent businesses and community, but that is not representing any significant savings at this time (though there are certainly other important benefits!).”
In related news, tonight (Monday, 2/24) is the Streets of Possibility: Well Beyond Cars event hosted by the PDX Design Collaborative as part of their City of Possibility event series. More info here.
Welcome to the week. Here are the most notable news items our community has come across in the past seven days…
Rural bus service: Oregon recently ended service of a key bus route in eastern Oregon, and it’s an unfortunate trend that rural transit is being sacrificed to the budget gods. It doesn’t have to be that way says former Metro President David Bragdon. (EnoTrans)
Exposure risks: It’s a truism of transportation that fewer miles traveled by car equals less exposure to the dangers cars pose. So it makes sense that pricing travel and reducing VMT, like NYC did in Manhattan, would lead to safer streets. (Daily News)
Depoliticization: Want to win the debate of whether cities and states should invest in bike lanes or wider freeways? Think about how you frame the debate. (Omer Rafael Bor on Substack)
Social media is good, actually: When it comes to building the bike bus movement, social media has been vital. And I can prove it by sharing what happened when someone tried to popularize the idea before we had social media. (Note: I did not write the headline.) (The Guardian)
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Cars are the new cigarettes: “New Zealand’s ‘road lobby’ uses the same tactics as the tobacco industry to obstruct transport policies like walking and cycling, a new University of Otago study says.” (RNZ)
It’s a global epidemic: Lest you think the stubborn scourge of road traffic deaths is an American thing, don’t forget that developing countries across the globe have it much worse. This expert thinks road planning and safety should be treated like a public health epidemic. (The Guardian)
Pay up: Washington D.C. has a law on the books that allows the city to file a lawsuit against out-of-state drivers who don’t pay traffic fines. (Washington Post)
SF is moving from the center to the right: Not politics, but a major bike lane that was piloted in the center of a busy commercial street is being moved curbside — and still folks are mad. (ABC News)
Need a job? Want a better job? Just looking for a change? You are in the right place. Don’t miss these recent job announcements. (Remember, you can always stay abreast of jobs as soon as they get listed by signing up for our Job Listings email.)
These are paid listings. And they work! We’ve helped hundreds of people find great jobs and great staff members. If you’d like to post a job on the Portland region’s most popular bike and transportation news platform, you can purchase a listing online for just $100. Learn more at our Job Listings page.
We are seeking an experienced and skilled Mechanic to join our team. As a Mechanic, you will be responsible for repairing bikes, checking in bikes, and helping provide customers with solutions that work for them. We are looking for someone who has 5+ years of Mechanic experience to help fill out our established service department.
Duties
– Follow work orders to carry out repairs
-Inspect bikes during the check in process and provide the customer with an estimate cost of repairs
-Maintain a clean work station and help maintain the general cleanliness of the shop
-Interact with customers of all experience levels
-Provide excellent customer service
Requirements
– 5+ Years experience
– Positive attitude while facing customers and coworkers alike
– professional communication and problem-solving skills
– Ability to work in a fast-paced environment
This role offers the opportunity to work with a experienced and fun team, develop your skills, and contribute to the success of our small local business. If you have a passion for bikes and are looking for a challenging and rewarding role, we encourage you to apply.
How to Apply
Please send a resume to steven@cascadebikes.com, we will be in further communication from there!
Before and after images of SE Woodward and 59th. (Photos: David Binnig)
The Portland Bureau of Transportation has come up with an infrastructure solution to car users who do donuts and drive recklessly through neighborhoods.
The residential intersection of Southeast Woodward and 59th has an extremely wide opening that measures about 85-feet — that’s over three times the width of a standard neighborhood street. In large part because of that width, people have shared concerns with PBOT about dangerous drivers who speed around the intersection while sliding out their rear tires. This type of behavior is risky on any street, but SE Woodward is a neighborhood greenway popular with bike riders, walkers, and runners.
To remedy this issue, PBOT identified a small amount of funding through their Multimodal Missing Links program, a small and flexible pot of money the city uses to address hot spots and fill minor gaps in the network. The annual budget of the program is about $200,000.
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In March of last year, PBOT reached out to people who live in the South Tabor Neighborhood to learn more about the Woodward and 59th intersection and present design concepts that would address its issues. They decided to build a traffic island in the middle of the intersection using 12-inch wide, 4-inch high concrete curb separators (similar to ones used on protected bike lanes citywide). The curbs will reduce the amount of space available for car users and create a more predictable flow of traffic. Most importantly, if someone tried to do a donut, they’d slam into the curbs and severely damage their car.
Local advocate David Binnig snapped a photo of the completed separators and shared it today on the Bike Loud Slack channel. He also shared a before photo that shows skidmarks.
I wrote an opinion piece in 2022 that encouraged PBOT to use basic traffic calming treatments like this to address street takeovers and burnouts. It’s great to see them take action and address this problem with a cheap and easy solution.
Now all that’s left is to do something with that space in the middle of the island. Folks on Bike Loud suggested it would be a perfect spot for a lemonade stand, some potted plants, or a shuffleboard court. It’s amazing what’s possible when we reclaim our streets from dangerous people and their vehicles!
UPDATE, 2/21 at 4:30 pm: PBOT has added signage, paint, and reflective wands to the curbs to increase visibility. Photo below by Liza Norment via Bluesky.
I put Keith Wilson’s campaign kickoff on my calendar but expected to skip it. Saturdays are hectic at best, and sitting for a political speech was a tough sell to my all-gas-no-brakes three-year-old.
I’d first heard about Wilson from a BikePortland piece, and I was intrigued. A trucking executive who’d staked his company on green tech before soft-launching a dark horse mayoral run with a group of bicycle advocates? Even for Portland, it seemed like a stretch, but I had to find out for myself.
With an hour to kill, I told my kid we’d visit the Charles Jordan Community Center playground if he put up with a few minutes of the event. He agreed, so I plopped him into the back of my cargo bike, and we took off for New Columbia.
I slipped in a little late, found a spot in the back of the gymnasium, and held my son up so he could see the speakers. He was soon more interested in the refreshments table than the show, so I let him raid the fruit tray while I listened.
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It didn’t take long for Keith Wilson to grab my attention. He was the first local politician to put what I’d seen in my daily life into plain language. Portland’s unsheltered homeless crisis hurt everyone. Other cities had succeeded where we’d failed, and our approach wasn’t working. It was time for real change, and getting folks off the streets and into shelter was a moral imperative and critical to restoring a city where people wanted to live, work, and raise families. Despite our best efforts, compassion and pragmatism don’t always successfully intersect in Portland, but here was a guy who’d traveled the nation on his own dime because he believed a solution that included both was out there, he just had to find it.
I love Portland, but there were times when it felt like the city didn’t love me back. My little hatchback car had a bullet hole from a midday shooting on Columbia Blvd. My wife was driving at the time, with my toddler son strapped in the back seat. I’d been chased through a Delta Park encampment while biking my kids to soccer practice. I’d watched a homeless man go after one of my neighbors with a pitbull and had to decide whether to try to help or get my small child to safety. Then there were the questions every bicyclist in Portland has asked themselves: will my route be blocked by tents or broken-down cars? Can I get around an RV in the bike lane without getting hit from behind? My neighborhood trail seemed okay last week, is it safe enough for my kids today?
Worse, was the feeling of helplessness. As a former Wilderness Search and Rescue volunteer, my instinct (and training) is to check on people if they look like they’re in trouble. In Portland, the smart thing to do is ride past and ignore the visible suffering in your midst. That’s a hard decision to justify to two young kids who still think their dad can do anything and help anyone.
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I felt Wilson’s kickoff speech about the missteps and promise of Portland in my bones, even with my three-year-old wiggling in my arms. On my way out, I scribbled my contact information on a volunteer form as he tugged on my leg. The campaign seemed professional and well-organized, and I doubted I’d hear anything from my offer to write a few campaign fundraising emails.
Within a day or two, I got a call from Wilson’s campaign manager, Kristopher Taft. I took his invitation and took my 12-speed Schwinn out to Cyclemaster Coffee on Lombard to meet him. The campaign didn’t need fundraising emails, he told me, at least not for the moment. They needed a website, and wanted to know if I could write it, and handed me nearly two hundred pages of deeply researched policy positions.
Mayor Wilson’s grit, optimism, compassion, and resolve aren’t his alone. They’re our values, too. These values make a wet, hilly city one of the best places to bike in America… They’re the values that I’m convinced will take us through the coming days, no matter what those days might bring.
As a writer, I’d long believed that words without substance won’t hold up to the light of day. The notes in my hand showed the opposite: Wilson had done the work, developed relationships, advanced legislation, formed committees, and laid the groundwork to successfully lead the city. I’d also soon learn that Wilson is a difficult man to turn down, a lesson I suspect many in city, county, and state leadership are now learning.
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The following weeks were a blur, and I helped the growing team set up an editorial calendar, coordinate messaging, communicate on the fly, and deploy other critical skills I’d picked up over my career. The campaign continued to gain momentum. Before long, it was time to step up or step aside. I asked that Wilson appoint me his Communications Director, but with one stipulation: the moment he found someone more qualified, I wanted him to fire me. My instructions were simple: don’t worry about my feelings, just do what’s best for the campaign.
I’d remain his Communications Director through election day. Looking back, here’s what I can tell you about Mayor Wilson: he’s a great listener, he’s willing to make mistakes, and he’s always willing to change his mind. I’ve seen him on great days, and I’ve seen him on tough days. He’s the same guy no matter how the winds blow, and the Ted-Lasso-by-way-of-Mr.-Rogers persona is not an act.
I’ve also never seen anyone work harder. Portland has some tough issues to solve. The budget and unsheltered homelessness crisis would be a big deal even if we didn’t have a hostile federal administration on our heels.
Here’s the good news: Mayor Wilson’s grit, optimism, compassion, and resolve aren’t his alone. They’re our values, too. These values make a wet, hilly city one of the best places to bike in America. They’re the values that make Portland a progressive leader, and a beacon of freedom, intentional living, environmentalism, compassion, and acceptance. They’re the values that I’m convinced will take us through the coming days, no matter what those days might bring.
Taylor Zajonc is an author, a father, a bicyclist, and Mayor Wilson’s Deputy Chief of Staff.
Class 3 e-bikes would have been prohibited from the protected bike lane on Naito Parkway if SB 471 was passed. (Photo: Jonathan Maus/BikePortland)
Oregon Senator Floyd Prozanski plans to withdraw a controversial bill that would have banned a popular type of electric-assisted bicycle from bike lanes and paths.
Advocates with The Street Trust met with Sen. Prozanski on Friday and they say he’s agreed to drop the bill.
Senate Bill 471 caught cycling and safe street advocates by surprise when it was introduced last month. It sought to prohibit Class 3 electric bicycles from bike-specific infrastructure and would have made them legally akin to mopeds and motorcycles. Class 3 e-bikes have no throttle, can have maximum speed of 28 mph (from the motor) and the motor only works when the rider is pedaling.
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In an interview with BikePortland in January, Prozanski said he and his riding buddies saw many people riding motorized vehicles (which may or may not have been e-bikes) on bike paths without regard for Oregon law or for the safety of others. He then acknowledged the use of “Class 3” in the bill language was incorrect.
Local nonprofit advocacy organization The Street Trust (TST) published an article earlier this month that said Prozanski’s bill threatens, “to saddle e-bikes with unnecessary restrictions rather than advancing policies that make streets safer.”
Here’s more from The Street Trust’s article:
Instead of reactionary regulations, Oregon must implement expert-driven policies developed by stakeholders across sectors — public agencies, industry leaders, and community advocates who understand the realities of how people move using small things with wheels, aka micromobility.
The regulatory focus should be on operator behavior and vehicle speed in shared spaces, and avoiding arbitrary restrictions based on vehicle type which are hard to discern, let alone enforce.
We need clear, enforceable rules that ensure e-scooters and e-bikes remain accessible, while protecting riders and other road users from the risks of higher-speed motorcycles, mopeds, and illegally modified “e-bikesâ€.
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The article was written by Cameron Bennett, a TST board member and policy lead for the group’s Oregon Micromobility Network project. Bennett was also at the meeting with Senator Prozanski last week where they discussed concerns about the proposed legislation.
In a phone call with BikePortland today, Bennett said Prozanski has agreed to they are happy with the outcome now that the bill will not move forward. “We’re excited to have the Senator’s support in our ongoing education efforts around e-bikes, instead of working against us,” Bennett said.
This isn’t the first time Senator Prozanski has proposed a bike-related bill that was ultimately withdrawn after widespread criticism. In 2008 he filed a bill that would have made Oregon’s helmet law apply to all ages of riders. That bill met with fierce opposition from cycling advocates and Prozanski scrapped it a few weeks after it appeared on BikePortland.
Scene from inaugural bike travel presentation series on February 3rd. (Photo: Ted Buehler)
If you missed the bike travel slideshow event earlier this month, be sure to show up tomorrow night (Thursday, 2/20) for a full lineup of inspiring and adventurous tales. Our friend Ted Buehler has put together a great show that will feature five Portlanders sharing insights and experiences about life on the road. The event takes place at Migration Brewing on N Williams Avenue (same venue as Bike Happy Hour) from 6:00 to 9:00 pm.
Here’s a rundown of Thursday night’s presenters:
Chris “Fool” McCraw: From Austin, Texas to Anchorage, Alaska for charity.
Sean Pliska and the Backroads of Albania. “Riding the smallest roads on the map in the wilds of Albania.”
Lloyd Vivola and the Longest Walk. “Native American Praryer Walk form Washington DC to Alcatraz Island. Lloyd joined the walk in Missouri and spent 3.5 months on the road all the way to Alcatraz.”
Ryan Hashagen: Europe by Roller Skate and Public Transit. “Amsterdam to Instanbul to Lisbon, with side trips. Roller skating for local transportation, public transit or hitch-hiking between cities. Inside info n the best skate clubs in Europe.”
Todd Melton: Wandering Around on Vancouver Island: “What you see when you have no set agenda and a lot of days to ride!”
Backroads of Albania.
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Everyone is welcome at this free event. It takes place in an outdoor heated patio, but you should still prepare for cool temps. There’s great food and drinks at Migration. Also a casual format so you can come and go as you please if you can’t make the full three hours. Come around back through the alley for best bike parking.
Thanks to Ted for putting these on! Shift Calendar link here. Stay tuned for the next event March 5th when Ted welcomes more bike adventurers with tales from Morocco, a circumnavigation of Taiwan, Vermont, and more.
Portland’s new City Council held its first-ever meeting of the Climate, Resilience, and Land Use Committee last Thursday. After a presentation from city staff on the Climate Emergency Work Plan and how Portland will meet its carbon emission reduction goals, City Councilor Sameer Kanal (D2) made comments that raised eyebrows among some transportation reformers.
Portland Bureau of Transportation Planning Group Manager Kristin Hull told committee members that in order to reach net zero carbon emissions by 2050, “We absolutely need to shift more trips to biking, walking and transit. It means changing the behaviors of individual individual Portlanders… it is absolutely the most critical thing we can do to reducing vehicle miles traveled.” Hull’s comments leaned on work that PBOT does to gently incentivize more people to consider options other than driving a car; things like improving transit and biking networks, charging more for car parking, hosting events like Sunday Parkways, and so on.
When given a chance to make a comment, Councilor Kanal responded directly to Hull’s comments. “There was an approach about trying to use incentivization of individual Portlanders’ decision making as the primary methodology for reducing transportation-related carbon emissions that was kind of concerning to me,” he said.
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Slide from PBOT presentation.
Then Kanal added, “I don’t think PBOT’s approach addresses the time needs of individual Portlanders,” and that he feels the “bike focus” is sapping urgency from improving transit service. Here’s more from Kanal’s response:
“Portlanders generally do the climate-friendly thing as long as they’re aware of what that is, and they’re able to do it without a substantial cost of time or money. I think that the bike focus for folks who might need to make a trip that will be 20 minutes while driving but an hour while biking, is a way of getting around the conversation about actually investing in public transit.
And that’s not to say that bikes are bad. I’m not saying that at all. But they’re not necessarily the only solution. Same thing with walking and all that. So I was pretty concerned about why we’re investing so much effort into that [biking and walking], as opposed to public transit, which will get you from places in District 2 or District 1 — and frankly all over the city and downtown — a lot faster than say, ‘Hey, bike this entire way,’ especially when we’re also building those bike lanes on major thoroughfares and creating the safety risks associated with that.”
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What began as a concern that transit gets short-changed by the City of Portland (keep in mind TriMet owns and operates transit, not PBOT), morphed into what appeared to be an effort to frame transit as a faster and safer way to get around the city than cycling.
For the vast majority of trips, cycling is actually faster than transit — not to mention much more flexible, reliable, and inexpensive (in the long run). According to Google Maps, an eight-mile trip from Peninsula Park in Kanal’s District 2 to Portland Community College’s Southeast Campus in District 1, is 55 minutes on transit compared to 50 minutes by bike. On an e-bike, that trip could easily be just 35-40 minutes. An even easier-to-bike trip of 3.3 miles from Overlook Park in north Portland to City Hall downtown would also be faster by bike, according to Google.
In response to Kanal’s comments, PBOT’s Hull said, “I think we are in an all systems go approach. It’s not one or the other.”
Keeping bike lanes clean is a vital part of keeping bike lanes popular. (Photo: Jonathan Maus/BikePortland)
The Portland Bureau of Transportation is working on a plan that could help remedy one of its most intractable problems: bike lane maintenance.
Portlanders have long lamented that bike lanes are so dirty that they endanger current riders and discourage would-be newcomers. From snow and gravel in winter, pools of water in spring, and leaves in fall, many of our city’s vaunted bikeways languish without attention from sweepers for many months of the year.
Despite PBOT efforts to address the numerous complaints, budgetary and personnel limitations have always constrained their response. And as the bike network has grown, PBOT’s budget has shrunk. Now that cycle might finally be broken thanks to a $10 million grant award from the Portland Clean Energy Benefits Fund (PCEF).
The funding will be spread across five years and will allow PBOT to staff up a dedicated team, buy two bike lane sweepers and a pair of electric backpack leaf blowers (for those hard-to-reach locations).
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PBOT slide showing new weapons in their bike lane sweeping arsenal.
At a meeting of the Bicycle Advisory Committee last night, PBOT Maintenance Operations Division Manager Shaylee Robanske laid out how the bureau plans to tackle bike lane maintenance with this new influx of funds.
The PCEF award will allow the maintenance team to “really put a focus on cleaning bike lanes and vegetation overgrowth into bike lanes,” Robanske said. “I’m sure it’s very frustrating to bike the same area and see the same thing that you’ve already reported for multiple days.”
PBOT’s new Bike Lane Maintenance Program will consist of eight full-time employees that will be split evenly into two teams: one east of the river, one west of the river. These staff will be dedicated to handling bike lane maintenance requests and doing a systematic clearing of trouble spots. They will operate three electric sweepers and leaf-blowers to clean and maintain 50 miles of protected bike lanes and 325 miles of non protected/shared bike lanes in the coming year. Robanske said she’ll lean on BAC committee members to develop an initial list of top priority bike lane segments.
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Robanske also revealed at Tuesday’s meeting that the Maintenance & Operations Division will soon shift to a new software platform (Zendesk) to handle all citizen complaints and clean-up requests with a new interface meant solely for bike lane issues. A new public-facing dashboard for the program is also in the works so everyone can see how many miles of bikeways have been swept and the exact locations that have been serviced by PBOT crews.
By 2027, Robanske says her goal is that, “You can go sit in the bike lane and you cook pancakes and they’ll be clean as a whistle.” “With a dedicated team and equipment that performs the way it’s supposed to, PBOT will become a highlight in the nation for what PCEF is doing for this program,” she added. “I’m super excited. I hope you take my enthusiasm as some hope and promise into how PBOT can show up for cleaning these bike lanes. Given the right dedicated funding and staff, we are capable of amazing things.”
The goal is to hit top priority bike lane segments six times per year and still have time to respond to individual requests and hot-spots. The plan is set to go into effect this summer.
