Logo
Spring Awakening
ISSUE #33.28 • NEWS • NEWS STORY

Space: Cyclists' Final Frontier


Providence employees say hospital gives no love to bike commuters.

Social bookmarking | Permalink
Email | Print | Rate It! | 8 comments
Recently in "News"

October 15th, 2008
Letters to the Editor • Inbox0 comments

October 15th, 2008
The Weekly Fix • Our Spin On 7 Days of News 2 comments

October 15th, 2008
Crunch Time | One more sign of tough times: Counselors are busy with couples fighting over money.0 comments

October 15th, 2008
“Four” The Record | WW’s fourth installment on Sen. Gordon Smith’s processing plant.0 comments

October 15th, 2008
And Now We Know | Candidates Gone Wild: The lessons learned.1 comment

October 8th, 2008
Letters to the Editor • Inbox2 comments

October 8th, 2008
The Weekly Fix • Our spin on 7 days of news0 comments

October 8th, 2008
And The Walls Come Tumbling Down | What does the financial collapse and bailout mean for Oregon borrowers and pols?0 comments

October 8th, 2008
Palin-Palooza | Here’s one “who’s who” group in Portland that thinks Sarah Palin kicked Joe Biden’s ass. 13 comments

October 8th, 2008
Q&A: Russ Feingold | A sweetheart of the left talks about where he’s agreed with John McCain and Gordon Smith…and disagreed with Barack Obama.1 comment


BY NICHOLAS DESHAIS | ndeshais at wweek dot com

[May 23rd, 2007] For a hospital that sponsors one of the nation's largest bicycling events, Providence Portland Medical Center doesn't share that support for cycling with its own employees.

The Northeast Portland hospital lacks sufficient parking spaces for bikes, a situation that's especially galling to cyclists who note that Providence is an institution ostensibly concerned about public health.

"It's a hospital," says Jerod Potter, a clerical employee in Providence's oncology department. "A healthy lifestyle should be promoted. Instead they promote driving to work and smoking."

"On weekdays, especially on sunny days, the bike parking is full," Potter says, adding that doubling the number of available spaces would adequately provide what's needed.

If Potter hops in his car, more than 2,000 parking spots await him at work. But since he's a bike commuter, he must find room in one of 90 bike spots, many of which are in isolated locations.

"It's like telling a driver, 'Go to the mall and park in the furthest space you can, like a half-mile away,'" says Darren Pennington, a research analyst and bike commuter at Providence.

Earlier this year, Providence opened a $31 million parking structure with almost 1,000 new spaces for motor vehicles. Under city ordinance, one bike space must be added for every 20 car spaces when a new parking garage is built. By this math, Providence should have installed at least 50 bike spots in the new garage to fulfill the city's goal of "providing safe and convenient places to park bicycles." Instead, the city's Bureau of Development Services says, Providence put in only half that.













icon Story continues below

advertisement
OMSI
advertisement

The hospital escaped the usual process by entering into a "covenant" with the city in 1996 that deferred normal permitting until August 2008. When the hospital last submitted a bike usage study 11 years ago, as part of its deal with the city, it reported the average use of bike parking was less than 50 percent.

Evan Manvel, executive director of the Bicycle Transportation Alliance, suggests those numbers were probably outdated: Data shows citywide bicycle commuting has increased 400 percent since 1996. "It's growing, and facilities need to reflect that," he adds.

One car parking space can easily be converted to 12 bike spots, Manvel says. Bike racks range in price from $50 to a few hundred dollars.

Providence—which sponsors Bridge Pedal, an event that has attracted 18,000 cyclists each of the past two years—"spends over a million dollars a year on alternative forms of transportation," including bike commuting, says spokesman Gary Walker. The hospital also has a full-time employee who deals solely with transportation issues.

On the other side of the river, Oregon Health & Science University provides more than 500 spots for bicycle parking—300 more than the one spot per 20 car spaces required by city ordinance.

"We consider Providence's bike facilities to be inadequate," says Doug Ferguson, a patient transporter at Providence. "The administration is not really doing anything about it."

Rate This Story
3.9 average/48 votes

 
read all 8 comments | add your comment
 

RECENT COMMENTS ON “Space: Cyclists' Final Frontier”

5

Cyclists do not need to bring any negative attention to ourselves by parking in car spaces. We aleady struggle to be regarded with any respect at all, despite the fact that we are committed to our he...

Joey, May 24th, 2007 6:10pm
6

I want to thank the employee who had the courage to speak out about the lack of support by Providence Administration. I have worked for this organization for almost 30 years, and biked most of them, ...

Cheryl, May 26th, 2007 1:54pm
7

I think this would be a great series of articles, continuing to give Providence a chance to right their wrongs. It would be nice to give Providence more that one line of rebutal. The key is a fair f...

chris , May 28th, 2007 9:10am
8

I hope that if one chooses to park bikes in parking spaces, they are impounded and cost as much as a vehicle to get out.

Joan, Jul 5th, 2007 1:18pm
 
 
 





Ad
Music Millennium
Ad
ART
Ad

Sponsored Links: WW Personals
Musician's Market
Snowboard Jackets


Recently in Willamette Week
October 15th 2008Unlucky Strike | The Oregon lottery is going into detox—and our state budget is along for the smoke-free ride.
October 15th 2008Jail Junkies | Who knows more about stopping property crime: Kevin Mannix or an ex-addict who stole 1,000 cars?
October 15th 2008Shipracked | Judy Shiprack wants to be your next county commissioner. Here’s what she doesn’t want you to know about a real-estate deal gone bad.
October 15th 2008Señor Smith | Low-wage Latino workers keep Sen. Gordon Smith’s family business humming. Not all of them are legal.
October 15th 2008OMFG IT'S MFNW!
October 15th 2008Sometimes a Great Lawsuit | Ken Kesey’s last prank pits his widow in a court battle with his best friend and a Playboy model.
October 15th 2008Sliced Bread, Beware | A better fire hose, a poker aid & a foldable clipboard—meet six Portland inventors whose big ideas are the best thing since, well, you know.
October 15th 2008How to Live Cheap in Portland | Throwing too much money away on food and shelter? here’s WW’s Recession Survival Guide.
October 15th 2008The Queer and the Qur’an | Ali is gay. And Muslim. Can he be both?