🚨 Please note that BikePortland slows down during this time of year as I have family in town and just need a break! Please don't expect typical volume of news stories and content. I'll be back in regular form after the new year. Thanks. - Jonathan 🙏

Community Cycling Center gets $75,000 grant to offer cheaper bike share memberships

Portland bike share launch-11.jpg

Coming soon. And cheaper for some.
(Photo: J. Maus/BikePortland)

When Portland made its first attempt at bike share in 2011, concerns about equity gave local leaders pause. So when the City rebooted the idea they made sure it would be accessible to as many Portlanders as possible; rich and poor.

Now the nonprofit Community Cycling Center will add to those efforts thanks to a $75,000 grant they just earned from the Better Bike Share Partnership, a collaboration between the City of Philadelphia, the Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia, People for Bikes, and the National Association of City Transportation Officials (NACTO). The program, “strives to increase the accessibility and use of bike share in underserved communities.” The CCC’s award is one of nine grants totaling $532,000 that were announced today.

The CCC’s grant funding will be put toward a grassroots outreach and education effort that will start when the BIKETOWN bikes hit the streets in mid-July. The marketing initiative will be aimed at Portlanders living on low incomes. “In addition to offering very low-cost memberships through workshops, they will also use community feedback to improve and guide the system through launch and its first year of implementation,” reads a press release about the grants.

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New plan would make East Portland’s Gateway district the bike-friendliest in the city

halsey bus stop

NE Halsey with a very nice bike lane and bus stop.
(Image: Portland Development Commission via Nick Falbo)

It looks as if the commercial district just east of Gateway Transit Center will have parking-protected bike lanes and bus stops by this time next year.

No other business district in the city has fully protected bike lanes; the closest is on Northeast Multnomah Street in the Lloyd District, but buses, bikes and cars there must still merge into “mixing zones” at intersections.

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Breadwinner rolling with new model and ‘Editor’s Choice’ award

One of the best says Bicycling Magazine.(Photos: Breadwinner Cycles)
One of the best says Bicycling Magazine.
(Photos: Breadwinner Cycles)

Three years after two of Portland’s most well-known bicycle builders joined forces the duo is starting to hit their stride.

Breadwinner Cycles, the company founded by Portlanders Tony Pereira and Ira Ryan in 2013 are coming off a huge month. In April their speedy “Lolo” road bike was named an “Editor’s Choice” by Bicycling Magazine and they launched a new mountain bike model.

The editors at Bicycling test all the best bikes in the world but they gave only 20 of them Editor’s Choice honors. They considered 100 bikes in all and whittled that down to 75 before deciding on 41 bikes (21 mountain bikes and 20 road bikes) that “rose above ‘great’.”

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Crashes are still accidents at the Oregon DMV

I was looking for the crash report form.(Photo: J. Maus/BikePortland)
I was looking for the crash report form.
(Photo: J. Maus/BikePortland)

As advocates and even the Associated Press move away from calling all traffic incidents “accidents” there’s one important state agency that shows no signs of ridding itself of the controversial word. And unfortunately it just so happens to be the one agency that every single licensed driver has contact with: the Oregon Department of Motor Vehicles.

A few weeks ago I paid a visit to the DMV office in downtown Portland. As I walked in I noticed a wall rack full of forms and one of them stared back at me: “Accident Report” it read. It made my language and activism hairs stand on end. As many of you already know, there are a lot of reasons why the word “accident” should never be used in the context of vehicle interactions on streets. For starters, calling something an “accident” makes a huge assumption that the crash was unavoidable and unintentional. And if that isn’t reason enough, the term dismisses the pain of crash victims.

When I got home from the DMV I pulled up the DMV website and there was that word again, splashed all over the page. From local to regional to statewide government, I haven’t seen any transportation-related agency use the term “accident” so much. I had to ask the DMV about it.

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Job: Customer Experience Specialist – Velotech, Inc

Buffered Bike Lane with a bike symbol and arrow pointing forward

Job Title *
Customer Experience Specialist

Company/Organization *

Velotech, Inc

Job Description *
This position is responsible for responding to customer phone calls, emails, and for working directly with customers in our store. Customer Experience Specialists provide product information, advice and order assistance. Qualified Customer Experience Specialists also review orders and price match requests and assist with site content, including product reviews, photos and descriptions.

Qualifications
ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS INCLUDE BUT ARE NOT LIMITED TO:
 Answer product questions & assist with the order process
 Analyze customer questions, troubleshoot, and provide clear answers in an efficient and professional manner
 Develop trust and loyalty with consumers and build value in our brands
 Navigate a sophisticated order processing system
 Generate performance reports and recommend improvements
 Coordinate with Returns to assist customers with returns and exchanges
 Assist walk-in customers with product questions and purchases
 Retrieve products from the warehouse to assist walk-in customers
ADDITIONAL RESPONSIBILITIES/DUTIES:
 Navigate a sophisticated order processing system
 Work with Marketing to assist with customer-facing content, including site maintenance, product images and descriptions
 Increase sales by genuinely helping customers learn about additional/alternative product options

MINIMUM JOB REQUIREMENTS:
 Basic computer skills
 Strong knowledge of cycling
 Previous customer service experience is a plus, as is sales, service and mechanical experience in the cycling industry

KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS, & ABILITIES:
 Excellent communication and organizational skills
 Solid knowledge of cycling products
 Ability to work in a high volume, fast-paced environment
 Ability to work independently or with others to manage multiple task with minimal supervision.

We offer excellent medical, dental and vision benefits, generous PTO accrual, and 401k including paid holidays. We offer a multiple company discount program. We provide a positive and supportive approach to development and training daily, and encourage opportunities for both professional and personal growth.

How to Apply *
Please apply by clicking on application link

https://www.paycomonline.net/v4/ats/index.php?/jobs&clientkey=F102FCECFB43ED66CAD0C8276CB962A9

Should the I-205 path be named after onetime Portlander Woody Guthrie?

Buffered Bike Lane with a bike symbol and arrow pointing forward
I-205 Path Ride - Pedalpalooza-45

The not-so-memorably named I-205 Multi-use Path.
(Photo: J.Maus/BikePortland)

There’s an intriguing idea at the bottom of The Oregonian’s nicely written piece today about folksinger Woody Guthrie’s ties to Portland.

The article (which is actually the last from former transportation reporter Joseph Rose, who’s headed to a job on the East Coast) focuses on the 30 intensely creative days the Oklahoma-born folksinger spent in a 400-square-foot apartment in Lents in spring 1941. It’s two blocks from the trail, and still available for rent today.

Guthrie was visiting for a one-month gig with the Bonneville Power Authority, which paid him $266.66 to write 26 songs promoting hydroelectric power on the Columbia. They turned out to include some of his enduring classics about the people who helped win World War II by industrializing the West Coast: “Roll On, Columbia,” “Grand Coulee Dam,” “Oregon Trail” and “Pastures of Plenty.”

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The making of Better Broadway (photos)

Signs and cones await their destiny as stars in the Better Broadway project.(All photos by A.J. Zelada)
Signs and cones await their destiny as stars in the Better Broadway project.
(All photos by A.J. Zelada)

Better Broadway opens today. It’s the latest temporary street transformation brought to you by an exciting partnership between Better Block PDX and the Portland Bureau of Transportation.

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The Monday Roundup: Viadoom joyride, Detroit’s shared bikes and more

borrowed bike

Right after the race.
(Photo via Allison)

This week’s Monday Roundup is sponsored by 21st Avenue Bicycles, your summer bike adventure suppliers.

Here are the bike-related links from around the world that caught our eyes this week:

Bike swap: A racer on New Mexico’s grueling Tour of the Gila broke his bike in a Stage 1 crash — but swapped with a spectator and “rode a bitchin’ early-80’s Specialized to the finish,” complete with rear rack.

Detroit Bikes: Motivate, the country’s largest bike share operator is shifting assembly to Detroit.

Solar e-bike: It recharges its own batteries.

Waterslide commuting: A Democratic candidate for governor has a plan to solve congestion between Portland and Vancouver: two massive water slides, each descending to the other side of the river from the top of a 30-story parking garage.

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