BikePortland

Adventures in Activism: In search of bike-friendly bus stops

With the Enhanced Transit Corridors (ETC) plan freshly adopted by City Council, the second (of three) Central City in Motion online open houses in the books, and TriMet seeking input on their Division Transit Project — now is a good time to talk about what makes good bus station design.

Earlier this month as part of Pedalpalooza, the Portland Bus Lane Project and BikeLoudPDX hosted a very wonky bus and bike lane ride with help from Portland Bureau of Transportation Planner Nick Falbo.

PBOT includes a variety of new tools in their ETC plan; but not all of them play equally well with bicycle users. We wanted to get our hands dirty and learn more about what types of stations we currently have — and how future designs could be better. About 30 people showed up for the ride to learn and share what they know about bus stop designs. Here are some takeaways:

7441683780_92c92f978d_b — Time to cruise carfree streets in north Portland!
(Photo: Jonathan Maus)

It’s definitely a clothing-optional weekend.

Whether you want to soak in the Portland spirit at Sunday Parkways and the World Naked Bike Ride; or escape the craziness for a race on Mt. Hood or a ride through the Willamette Valley, we’ve got something for you in this week’s guide.

Don’t forget to peruse the official Pedalpalooza Calendar for all the goodness. And don’t forget to support Abus Bike Locks for making this content possible.

The two largest car-sharing companies in Portland have announced that some of the vehicles in their fleet will now be equipped with bike racks.

It’s not clear why both car2go and ReachNow announced the bike racks just minutes apart from each other today; but it’s a positive development for the many low-car Portlanders who use the services.

Car2go launched in Portland in 2012 and currently has 475 cars in their local fleet. They first installed bike racks on their vehicles in 2014 then phased them out when they moved to larger vehicles last fall. At the time, company officials said bicycle users could put the seats down and stuff bikes in the back.

On June 28th, Portland Police Chief Danielle Outlaw will promote Lieutenant Stephanie Lourenco to the rank of captain of the Traffic Division. We follow that position closely here on BikePortland because it’s the Traffic Division captain who has the most influence over street safety and transportation-related issues.

Lourenco will replace Michael Crebs, who is taking a position in parking enforcement with the Portland Bureau of Transportation.

The promotion of Lourenco to Captain is notable for several reasons: Stephanie is the first transgender person in the Bureau’s history to hold that rank, the first non cis-gendered person to lead the division since at least 2005, and just the latest in a long-running trend of short-lived captains at the Traffic Division. Since I started keeping track we’ve had Bill Sinnott, Marty Rowley, Vince Jarmer, Larry O’Dea, Eric Hendricks, Bryan Parman, Todd Wyatt, Eric Schober, and Michael Crebs. This frequent turnover makes it much more difficult to establish the the type of relationships with city staff, advocacy groups, and the community-at-large that we need to fix complex problems.

etc-map-centralcity — This PBOT graphic shows where they want to make transit better.

UPDATE: The plan was adopted 3-0.

At 2:00 pm today (6/20) Portland City Council is set to hear public testimony on the Enhanced Transit Corridors plan. The move will allow the Portland Bureau of Transportation to move forward with design and development of projects aimed at making transit faster, more reliable, and ultimately more competitive than driving.

greeley-map — Project location. (Map: PBOT)

Initially slated for spring 2017, a project that will create a protected bike path on Greeley Avenue in north Portland has been delayed again and isn’t expect to be built until spring 2019.

The Portland Bureau of Transportation plans to piggyback on a repaving project on Greeley between Interstate and Going in order to create the new bikeway. The current street cross-section of four standard vehicle lanes and two unprotected bike lanes is very dangerous and stressful. People drive very fast at this location and bicycle riders in the southbound direction are forced to negotiate a freeway onramp with auto users traveling over 50 miles per hour.

Buffered Bike Lane with a bike symbol and arrow pointing forward

Job Title

Warehouse Worker

Company / Organization

Castelli USA

Job Description

Castelli USA is seeking a full-time Warehouse Worker for our warehouse in NE Portland. The position performs various warehouse functions (picking, packing, shipping, receiving, etc.). Applicants should be highly motivated with an attention to detail and a team player.
ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES
• Picking orders correctly, quickly and efficiently
• Packing and shipping orders using UPS Small Package plus some freight
• Receiving inbound products and putting away on shelves
• Keeping warehouse neat and clean
• Helping with physical inventory counts
• Process returns from customers
• Other duties as assigned
QUALIFICATIONS
• Must be detail oriented and organized
• Must have a positive attitude and be highly motivated
• Must be punctual and maintain a good attendance record
EDUCATION & EXPERIENCE REQUIREMENTS
• High School Diploma
• 1-2 years Warehouse experience
• Basic PC skills, Word, Excel, Outlook, UPS Worldship
Our offices are in the Hollywood/Laurelhurst district of NE Portland and close to MAX and bike routes. We offer competitive salary, health care, 401k, profit sharing, PTO, and a generous product allowance.

How to Apply

Send your resume and cover letter to Mike Sheppard, Director of Operations at msheppard@castelli-us.com

Guest Post: It’s time to make southeast Portland’s infrastructure gaps “SEAMless”

SEAM-dirtroad-2 — SE Tolman at 51st in the Woodstock neighborhood.
(Photo: Terry Dublinksi-Milton)

This guest post is written by SE Uplift Neighborhood Coalition Co-Chair Terry Dublinski-Milton and Mt. Scott-Arleta Neighborhood Land Use & Transportation Chair Matchu Williams.

We have Southwest in Motion, Central City in Motion, Northwest in Motion and East Portland in Motion. It’s time for Southeast in Motion, or what we call Southeast in Active Motion, or SEAM.

madi-camping-metrofiets-1200x900-2 — Bike camping with kids: pedal hard, sleep hard.
(Photos: Madi Carlson)

Our Family Biking column is sponsored by Clever Cycles.

➤ Read past entries here.

Biking is fun. Biking with kids is double the fun. Bike camping with kids is triple the fun, triple the exhaustion, and the biggest adventure I’ve ever experienced!

For me, summer means bike camping with Kidical Mass. My first bike camping trip was six years ago with the Seattle chapter. Having only been car-camping meant I didn’t have small or lightweight gear, but I was able to fit our old four-person tent and all our full-size pillows onto my cargo bike and we had a blast.

Over the years I’ve replaced older gear so it’s much easier to carry everything and I’ve even become confident enough that I camp without a big group. However, for many years our camping trips were only done surrounded by a bunch of brand new friends, and it’s still my favorite way to camp. And it just so happens Kidical Mass PDX is hosting their annual bike camping event next month at Dodge Park.

At the Sullivan’s Crossing open house, a staffer explained that the planters at the south end “plaza” can’t have any trees in them, since the leaves would be slippery when wet. I know in the summer I ride specifically on streets with shade trees to keep cooler. Am I doing it wrong? Shouldn’t bikes be routed away from shade trees? Or, should we plant conifers, so no falling leaves (mostly)?

Portland’s Naked Bike Ride is Saturday. Here’s what you need to know

5847535211_0bc4df0fbe_b — Riders cross the Hawthorne Bridge during the 2012 edition.
(Photo: Jonathan Maus)

wnbr-poster — Official poster by Ken Sellen.

The largest free bike ride of the year is less than a week away.

Portland’s World Naked Bike Ride (WNBR) is many things: a celebration of humanity, a protest against driving and fossil fuel abuse, a rolling party, and a demonstration of the unifying power of bicycles. The event will attract upwards of 10,000 people — many of whom don’t bike any other day of the year. That’s an impressive number; but what’s even more impressive is that it’s all organized by volunteers. People in our community care so much about this event they dedicate weeks of their lives to make sure it’s a positive experience for everyone who shows up.

That means we owe it to them to help make the Naked Bike Ride a continued success.

I talked with one of the main organizers yesterday to get the lowdown on this year’s ride. Here’s what you need to know to have as much fun as possible — and to make sure we don’t risk spoiling this invaluable, largely DIY, tradition.