🚨 Please note: BikePortland is currently on hiatus and only publishing guest articles. Learn more here. Thank you. - Jonathan 🙏

Portland cargo trike delivery company saved nearly 40,000 gallons of gas last year

A B-line delivery trike in action.
(Photo: J. Maus/BikePortland)

Portland-based B-Line has stood the test of time. And they also stand as an excellent illustration of how pedal-powered cargo trikes can have a positive, climate-friendly impact on urban freight delivery.

In 2020, the B-Line crew pedaled their fleet of electric-assisted trikes a total of 573,160 miles. That’s just one of the eye-popping stats in the company’s just-released annual impact report (PDF). The company launched in 2009 and moved their headquarters to the central eastside in 2015. Over the past decade, co-founder and current CEO Franklin Jones has stayed true to the company’s mission. They don’t just deliver freight (everything from bread to sports drinks), they’ve expanded to benefit the community in many other ways.

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Oregon e-bike advocacy group looks to host rides to educate policymakers

Metro Councilor Shirley Craddick and her e-bike at a 2017 ride.
(Photo: J. Maus/BikePortland)

Oregon is home to many electric bike businesses and believers. But so far, the revolutionary vehicles have failed to crack into the mainstream political discourse. Now a group of e-bike advocates will take concrete steps to change that by getting legislators and policymakers into the saddle.

Electric Bikes For All (EB4A) is a group that’s been meeting since 2019. It started informally thanks to leadership from Joseph Wachunas, program manager for Forth, a nonprofit working to boost electric vehicle use and policy in Oregon. Wachunas shared with BikePortland that EB4A first got together to plan an electric bike expo event. Portland hosted a successful e-bike expo in 2016, but it was cancelled in 2017 when “solar eclipse mania” swept the region and organizers had trouble finding necessary equipment to host the event.

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‘Climate framework’ language for Interstate Bridge Replacement project is too weak, regional officials say

Slide from presentation shared at IBR Program July meeting.

Will the Columbia River Crossing project’s multibillion dollar successor fully integrate climate change into its design and construction? Or will climate change merely be a box that is checked on the way to a wider I-5 that encourages more driving and more emissions? That question took center stage at the July meeting of the Interstate Bridge Replacement project’s Executive Steering Group.

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ODOT’s new Climate Office director was leader of Seattle bike nonprofit

Suzanne Carlson is the new director of ODOT’s Climate Office.

Hopefully Suzanne Carlson hasn’t forgotten her roots.

The newly-hired director of the Oregon Department of Transportation Climate Office got her start in the transportation world in the 1990s by starting Bike Works, a Seattle-based nonprofit that runs a community bike shop and teaches young people how to refurbish used bikes (similar to Portland’s Community Cycling Center).

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Job: Production/Shop Assistant – Black Magic Paint LLC

Buffered Bike Lane with a bike symbol and arrow pointing forward

Job Title

Production/Shop Assistant

Company / Organization

Black Magic Paint LLC

Job Description

Black Magic (located at 414 NE 80th Ave) has been a premier custom bicycle painter in Portland, OR since 2015. We specialize in custom finishes and building custom bicycles for clients around the world looking for a one of a kind bike, both new and vintage.

Black Magic is currently expanding and we are seeking someone to join our team as a Production/Shop Assistant!

Our Ideal Candidate:

-Positive, friendly and professional
-Well organized, with the ability to manage time and prioritize workflow
-Strong attention to detail
-Adaptable and teachable
-Excellent written and verbal communication skills
-Reliable

Some of the Major Job Responsibilities Include:
-Intake and prep of all bikes, frames and components
-Cleaning frames and parts, media blasting and paint stripping
-Sanding, buffing and polishing frames and components
-Assist with anodizing titanium
-General maintenance and clean up
-Bike build and mechanical work
-Occasional off-site errands

Preferred Skills:
-General knowledge of bicycles and components. Knowledge and experience with high end components like Sram eTap, Shimano Di2, hydraulic disc brakes, tubeless systems, and BMP product lines preferred
-Auto body experience or technical training
-Computer knowledge and skills
-Buffing/polishing experience.
-Sanding experience
-Media blasting experience
-Shipping/receiving and warehouse experience
-Drivers license
-Desire to learn and perform
-Self motivated, good communication, asks questions when they are not 100% sure
-Familiarity with Illustrator (for making paint masks)

Physical Requirements:
-Able to lift 25 lbs above your head without assistance
-Stand for long periods of time
-Able to lift 50 lbs without assistance
-Wear closed toe shoes at all times

Schedule:
Full time, 40hrs/wk, Monday-Friday, year round
Competitive wages for qualified candidates

Benefits: (after a 90 day probationary period)
Paid time off
Sick time off
Health Insurance
Vision Insurance
Dental Insurance
Employee Purchase

Our approach to diversity is simple. It’s about embracing everyone, regardless of an employee’s culture, ethnicity, race, gender identity, beliefs, age, sexual orientation and/or disability status. We want all of our employees to feel valued, appreciated and free to be who they are at work. We are doing what we can to build an inclusive world for all.

If you are interested in in working with us, please send us a cover letter and a resume to the email address listed.

How to Apply

If you are interested in in working with us, please send us a cover letter and a resume to jobs@blackmagicpaint.com

Opinion: 16 years after Portland’s ‘urgent’ Freeway Loop study, where has our boldness gone?

Map of Portland’s inner-city freeway loop. The 2005 Freeway Loop Advisory Group study proposed relocating the dashed segments into tunnels. (Source: the 2005 Freeway Loop Study.)

The year was 2005, and the tone was urgent.

“Clearly, the I-5/405 Freeway Loop needs immediate attention.”

“To keep the I-5/405 Freeway Loop viable, planning and design for improvements must begin now.”

“We are at a very critical juncture. It’s time to move forward.”

The blue ribbon Freeway Loop Advisory Group (FLAG), appointed by former Portland Mayor Vera Katz and Oregon Department of Transportation Director Bruce Warner, was tasked with finding strategies to surmount the increasingly apparent flaws of the inner-city’s post-World-War II freeway plan. The FLAG included representatives from ODOT, the Portland Business Alliance, the Oregon Trucking Association, TriMet, the Oregon Transportation Commission, and Metro.

This group—hardly a bunch of radicals— noted that “freeway construction, combined with urban renewal projects, divided and destroyed neighborhoods in the name of a modern transportation system.” To begin to remedy this, and to insure a prosperous future for our region, they proposed the very bold plan of removing the Marquam Bridge and relocating the southern and eastern portions of the Freeway Loop into tunnels. “Complex transportation projects can take at least 15 years from initiation to completion,” which is why they urged the planning to begin “now” (the study tends to bold the twelve occurrences of the word “now”).

Sixteen years later, where has our boldness gone?

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