One of the best things I did when I started writing for BikePortland a couple years ago was to use Tweetdeck to create a live feed of people in the Portland area who use the word “bike” or “bicycle” on their social media.
A day like Saturday really lights that list up. Here’s a sampling, roughly in chronological order through the day.
Spending a week writing and thinking a lot about frustrating news will wear you down. So by 7 p.m. on Friday night, I thought the last thing I wanted to do was ride downtown for the evening ride I’d said I’d attend.
In other words, I came pretty close to a pretty dumb decision.
Friday night was one of the first of something terrific: a new series of rides organized by Nathan Jones, owner of the 18-month-old Foster Road shop Ride Yr Bike and the founder of the Trans Am Bike Race.
Biking has been a big part of the brand identity that has made Portland a come-from-behind economic success over the last 20 years.
But now that prosperity has arrived, at least for some Portlanders, where’s the love? And if it’s missing, do people who function as “props” in Portland’s triumphant narrative have an option to pull back?
That’s the question that BikePortland reader Kevin explored in a comment beneath our post Tuesday about a pair of Portlanders’ high-profile campaign to rescind the city’s “platinum” status with the League of American Bicyclists.
Here’s how Kevin put it, with a bit of emphasis added:
Welcome to your menu of weekend rides and events, lovingly brought to you by our friends at Hopworks Urban Brewery.
I hope you’re ready to ride because the forecast for this weekend looks spectacular. It’ll start off with what looks like a big new night ride this Friday, joining up with the Dropouts and rolling into the night.
Whatever you do, relax and enjoy a few days off. We’ve had some intense and important conversations here lately and we need you to be fresh and ready for Monday.
Slow-moving, prosperous and desirable arterial streets are nothing new; they’re just a return to the traditional ideas of our great-grandparents.
And here in Portland, a citywide goal to take public responsibility for traffic fatalities isn’t new, either. In the 1930s, as they felt their city changing fast, our great-grandparents’ generation responded with what became a nationally-known campaign that was strikingly similar to Vision Zero or the Dutch Stop de Kindermoord movement of the 1970s.
We’ve had seven great job opportunities listed this week. Learn more about them via the links below…
Sorry, this job has been filled. Browse more great jobs here.
Job Title
Founding Server Engineer
Company/Organization
Knock Software, Inc
Job Description
Knock is a two-year old hardware and software company based in Portland, Oregon. We’re building a better, cheaper way to monitor bicycle transportation infrastructure. We believe that with better tools and data, cities and advocates can work together to create safer and more efficient transportation systems for everyone.
We are looking for a server and GIS engineer to join us. Women and minorities are encouraged to apply.
As a founding engineer, here’s what building a company with us will be like:
You’ll lead development of our server and GIS infrastructure.
* You’ll be the resident expert in server and GIS technologies.
* You’ll build the system we use to store and process our transportation data.
* You’ll create an interactive map-based product for exploring our data.
* You’ll manage our AWS and/or other cloud computing resources.
* You’ll work on sensitive systems, paying careful attention to user privacy and security.
* You’ll test your work methodically.
* You’ll add meaningful technological and product insight to our small team.
You’ll be a generalist.
* You’ll work with the founding team to define what’s next for the company.
* You’ll define success metrics for your own job and will measure them constantly.
* You’ll solve hard problems in areas outside engineering. You believe broad exposure produces better engineers.
* You’ll learn new things constantly and live outside your technical comfort zone.
You’ll shape the company’s culture.
* You’ll think constantly about what impact our work has on the immediate and distant world around you.
* You’ll help us maintain a company culture that is diverse, passionate, and balanced by life outside work.
* You’ll help us refine a hiring process that is rigorous and fair.
* You’ll give and receive criticism in a professional and compassionate manner.
* You’ll make technical and business choices that will help us create a sustainable, value-driven business.
How to Apply
Send an email to people@knocktounlock.com. Include whatever information you think relevant.
Check it out. Good opportunity to play a role in local bike policy/project/planning. Press release is below and you can find more info here.
Members sought for Multnomah County Bicycle and Pedestrian Citizen Advisory Committee
Multnomah County is seeking to fill three vacancies on its Bicycle and Pedestrian Citizen Advisory Committee with new members who live, work or recreate in Multnomah County. Preference will be given for applicants who live in east county or rural unincorporated areas. New members will serve a two-year term beginning July 1, 2015.
Our friends at Project 529 have set up a partnership with Abus, a leading brand of bike security products. Starting in Portland and then expanding nationally, some Abus locks will come with a free 529 Garage Bicycle Registration Kit.
Learn more in the press release below…
ABUS Mobile Security LLC and Project 529 Join Forces to Engineer the Future of Bike Security
(Chicago, IL) April 16, 2015. In an era of increasing concerns over bike theft, ABUS Mobile Security, LLC and Project 529™ are joining forces to combat the growing epidemic of stolen bicycles. The partnership between ABUS, the world leader in mobile security, and Project 529, a Portland, OR based cycling software start-up is a marriage made of manufacturing innovation and technology with the next wave of online, web-based security and community engagement.
“We’re a Platinum-level city because of the outcomes we’ve achieved.”— Roger Geller, PBOT Bike Coordinator
The Bureau of Transportation wants to remind everyone that Portland still deserves to be Platinum.
As local activist Will Vanlue continues to gain traction and headlines for his petition (it’s up to 550 signatures) to have Portland’s Platinum bicycle-friendly status downgraded by the League of American Bicyclists, PBOT has gone on the defensive.
The agency has put together a seven-page document outlining their case and they reached out to us for a conference call this morning to talk about it. On the call was PBOT Bike Coordinator Roger Geller, spokesman Dylan Rivera, and Margi Bradway the manager of PBOT’s Active Transportation division.
Geller opened up the conversation with a spirited defense of PBOT’s bike legacy which he delivered as if he were speaking to supporters at a political rally:
One of the country’s most-ridden Amtrak lines could have its southern tail chopped off unless Oregon legislators find another $5 million to keep it whole.
The state-sponsored Amtrak Cascades service between Eugene and Portland, with stops in Albany, Salem, Woodburn and Oregon City, is likely to be eliminated unless the state is willing to cover the one-third of the line’s operating costs, $28 million annually, that aren’t covered by ticket revenue.
