Supporting small businesses and travel options during the Covid-19 pandemic

The Parking Kitty holiday promotion is the latest in a series of initiatives by PBOT to support small businesses and travel in Portland during the Covid-19 pandemic. In May 2020, the bureau rolled out the Safe Streets Initiative which included the Healthy Businesses program to provide space for businesses to operate outdoors in the right-of-way. The initiative also includes the Slow Streets program which converted Portland’s 100-mile neighborhood greenway network into “local access only” to create more space for Portlanders of all ages to get fresh air, move, and play during the Covid-19 public health crisis. This fall, over 175 Portlanders participated in Go By Greenways which encouraged people to explore East Portland’s newest neighborhood greenways in exchange for prizes from local businesses.

In April and May, the bureau provided BIKETOWN rides at one cent per minute. In September staff conducted outreach with businesses in the expanded East Portland BIKETOWN service area with free rides to businesses to let them try the system. In partnership with Prosper Portland, this month BIKETOWN will be offering additional discounts in support of small businesses as well as for community members who are Black, Indigenous, and people of color. Like BIKETOWN, PBOT partnered with the e-scooter company Spin in April and May to reduce the cost of riding e-scooters by 50%. This resulted in a 46% increase in overall ridership and a 136% increase in ridership in East Portland.

More recently, in October, e-scooter company Lime implemented new pricing to encourage ridership in East Portland, reducing the cost for all trips that start in East Portland to $0.15/min. Meanwhile, Lime’s access rate for people living on lower incomes is $0.50 to unlock and $0.07/minute to ride anywhere in the city. In November, Spin reduced the price of riding in East Portland by 50% and offered East Portland riders $5.00 in ride credits. These travel options continue to offer Portlanders opportunities to move about the city and patronize small businesses during the pandemic.

What is a parking district?

Portland currently has four primary parking districts, in Downtown, Northwest Portland, the Central Eastside, and Lloyd District. A parking district is an area, typically near a commercial district, where PBOT manages on-street parking to increase turnover, improve traffic circulation, promote the use of alternative travel options, and more. In busy commercial districts, access to local businesses is vital. Time limits and a cost to park help prevent long-term parking, encourage healthy turnover, and allow more visitors to come and go. Each parking district is tailored to the needs of the neighborhood, in partnership with the community and PBOT. Want to learn more about parking districts? Contact PBOT at PBOTparkingcontrol@portlandoregon.gov 

Learn more about the City of Portland’s Covid-19 response at https://www.portland.gov/novel-coronavirus-covid-19. For public health information and guidance, resources, and updates regarding Covid-19 from Multnomah County visit https://multco.us/novel-coronavirus-covid-19.