Time to read: 13-17 minutes
In this issue of Street Cred:
As you plan public involvement or critical staff meetings, it’s important to keep the following dates in mind.  Â
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Aug. 26 – Women’s Equality DayÂ
- Aug. 27 – First day of school (Portland Public Schools)
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Latinx Heritage Month (Sept. 15 – Oct. 15)  Â
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Deaf Awareness Month  Â
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Suicide Prevention Month  Â
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Sept. 2 – Labor Day Â
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Sept. 10 – Suicide Prevention Day Â
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Sept. 11 – Patriot Day  Â
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Sept. 27 – National Native American DayÂ
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National Domestic Violence Awareness MonthÂ
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Filipino-American Heritage MonthÂ
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LGBTQ+ History MonthÂ
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National Disability Employment Awareness MonthÂ
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Learning Disabilities Awareness MonthÂ
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Oct. 2 – Rosh Hashanah begins (Jewish)Â
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Oct. 3 – Navrati begins (Hindu)Â
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Oct. 10 – World Mental Health DayÂ
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Oct. 11 – National Coming Out Day Â
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Oct. 11 – Yom Kippur (Jewish)Â
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Oct. 14 – National Indigenous Peoples’ Day (United States)Â
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Oct. 15 – White Cane Safety Day (Blind awareness)Â
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Oct. 16 – Sukkot (Jewish)Â
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Oct. 16 - International Pronouns Day Â
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Oct. 31 – Halloween (safety message)Â
- Oct. 31 – Diwali (Hindu)
ICYMI, all PBOT employees are invited to a Public Works Employee Town Hall this Thursday, Aug. 15 from 12 – 1 p.m. with Deputy City Administrator Priya Dhanapal and Bureau Directors Edward Campbell (Water), Dawn Uchiyama (Environmental Services), and Millicent Williams (PBOT). Please join via Zoom.Â
Last week, Deputy City Administrator Priya Dhanapal, Director Millicent Williams, community partners from the Street Trust and suma, and PBOT staff and friends gathered to celebrate the new era for e-scooters in Portland with the launch of the permanent program.Â
Leaders with the City of Portland, the Portland Bureau of Transportation, the scooter companies and community organizations spoke at a news conference Aug. 8. From left to right, they are Momoko Saunders, Vendor Manager for suma, Kanika Agrawal, Regional Director of Micromobility Operations for Lyft, Priya Dhanapal, Deputy City Administrator for Public Works for the City of Portland, PBOT Director Millicent Williams, Hayden Harvey, Director of Government Relations for Lime and Sarah Iannarone, Executive Director of The Street Trust.
After a competitive process, PBOT this year awarded multiyear contracts to Lyft and Lime, the leading e-scooter companies in the nation, to provide up to 3,500 e-scooters combined among the two companies. The public-private partnership requires the companies to deploy scooters across the city each day, to make sure Portlanders don't have to go far to find a ride. Â
Director Williams speaks at a podium with news cameras and event viewers in front of her.
A new requirement ensures every e-scooter has a built-in locking mechanism. All e-scooter riders will be required to end their trip by locking the device to a bike rack, signpost or BIKETOWN station (BIKETOWN scooters only). This should reduce the instances of scooters blocking sidewalks or corner ramps. A public information campaign and centralized dispatch number will make it easy for the public to report e-scooters that are blocking the sidewalks.Â
Advertisement planned for display on TriMet buses tells you to ride it park it lock it. A person is seen locking an e-scooter to a blue bike rack. Words at the bottom read new locks on every scooter! Park responsibly with the web address escooterpdx.com is listed.
This comes after years of work by many current and former PBOTers. Jacob Sherman, New Mobility & Electrification Program Manager, shared the following thoughts after last week's event:Â
Reflecting over the past few days, I wanted to share that in many ways, getting to this point has been a massive, multiyear undertaking involving so many folks at the City and I wanted to acknowledge the many of you who’ve played a part in this work. Folks like Briana Orr and Erika Nebel launched the very first 120-day pilot over six years ago with support from Art Pearce and Dave Benson, and five years ago this month, I took on leadership of the program. Along the way, I’ve had the chance to work with various folks on the PIRC team (h/t to Eric Hesse, our late colleague Peter Hurley, and Mel Hogg), staff in Regulatory (h/t to Mark Williams, Tim Moore, Matt Erickson, Ted Naemura, and Josh Lynch), Mike Crebs in Parking Enforcement, sharp PBOT technology staff (h/t to Aubrey Lindstrom and Mike McDonald) as well as on the BPS Smart Cities team (h/t to Kevin Martin and his colleagues). I’ve worked closely with the ATS Operations Team the entire five years (now Mobility and Safety Program’s new Shared Micromobility Section), including Steve Hoyt-Mcbeth, Bryan Nguyen, and former PBOTer Love Jonson. Steve and Bryan have been very close and trusted colleagues on this work, especially as we navigated a complex RFP process and challenging negotiations with both companies. I’ve really appreciated you both and, Bryan, you’ve done a great job managing the day-to-day elements of the program. Thanks both for being such great colleagues!
In addition to that, Sarah GoForth, Judge Kemp, and Michael Espinoza have been engaged through the Transportation Wallet, Liz Hormann and Roshin Kurian lent strategic advice, and Leeor Schweitzer lent a hand on the project at times. I’ve also had the pleasure to work closely with Catherine Ciarlo (now at Metro), engage Renata Tirta in her role as the current Division Manager, and engage PBOT Director Millicent Williams, as well as her predecessor Chris Warner. In Planning, Kristin Hull has offered strategic advice, Hannah Morrison has helped with research or other tasks, Roger Geller, Sean Doyle and Gina Gastaldi have helped us engage the Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committees, and Lisa Strader has helped us engage disability community members. Equity and outreach staff (Irene Marion, Tosin Abiodun, Wendy Serrano and Maria Hernandez Segoviano) have helped us thoughtfully engage with equity community members too. We’ve had three Commissioners-in-Charge (Eudaly, Hardesty, and Mapps) and Matt Grumm, Shoshana Cohen, and Chrissy Bynum have helped us navigate briefings, solve problems, get through City Council, and manage lobbyists. Behind the scenes we’ve also had support from PBOT Comms (h/t to Hannah Schafer, Dylan Rivera, Stacy Brewster, Kailyn Lamb, Abby Hauth, Brady Lovell, Cat Cheng, Ariane Kunze and former PBOTer John Brady) who’ve made us look good around the nation, and we’ve had support from Finance & Accounting (h/t to Jeramy Patton, Shannon Devereux and Tatyana Best), sage wisdom from our attorney Ken McGair, massive support from the City Procurement Office (special shout out to Mark Ariza and Jess Cline), and support from PBOT Contracts (h/t to Ashly Hoffman and Paula Wendorf) too.
![Escooter event](https://content.govdelivery.com/attachments/fancy_images/ORPORTLAND/2024/08/9978952/wmdp_original.png) |
Director Williams, Art Pearce, and Sarah Iannarone ride e-scooters on Better Naito forever (left). Director Williams and Deputy City Administrator Priya Dhanapal take a selfie together after the e-scooter press event (right).
At least 60 City of Portland employees who rode to work together, part of the July employee bike bus, pose with their bikes in front of Salmon Springs fountain with downtown Portland in the background.
Mark your calendars for the next City of Portland Employee Bike Bus on Aug. 28! Catch a ride on one of six unique routes. Use the starting location or hop on along the route. All ride leaders will have a bright lime green bandana tied to their handlebars for easy identification.Â
Map showing the six unique bus bike routes from all over Portland to Salmon Springs Fountain. Click on the image for text descriptions of the route.
Left and right: the scene from the Portland Pride Parade with the reader board on the back of the PBOT flatbed visible in the background reading “Happy Pride from PBOT.”
Selfie of PBOTer Dylan Rivera with other PBOTers on bikes behind him (left). PBOTers wait at a signal on their way to the Streel Bridge (right).
Eight City of Portland employees take a break from riding their bikes to take a group photo (left). Riders wave as others arrives at Salmon Springs fountain (right).
Scenes from the ride show cyclists on a tree-lined street (left) and staff waving and smiling (right).
There’s been a lot of shuffling to new buildings and workstations within the Portland Building the past few months. Join your 13th floor colleagues on Aug. 20 from 12 – 1 p.m. in the kitchen area for snacks, activities, even a chance to win a Powell’s gift card! Put names to faces as you orient yourself on the 13th floor. All PBOTers welcome to participate, regardless of your work location. Bring a lunch if you’d like and/or a snack to share. Don’t forget to wear your PBOT nametag (extra nametags will also be provided)! Questions? Contact any of the organizers: Renata Tirta, Michael Espinoza, Hallie Liu Rogers, Kailyn Lamb, or Abby Hauth.Â
September is National Preparedness Month and your Public Works Service Area Emergency Managers along with PBEM’s Preparedness Manager will cover the topic of home preparedness. Â
The current best practice is to have two weeks’ worth of supplies ready for your household during an emergency. The State of Oregon developed a two-week-ready program. Join Courtney Duke, Senior Emergency Management Planner, to learn more about this program and hear Chris Carey, PBEM’s Preparedness Manager, talk about what an emergency manager has in their emergency plan at home. Click here to join the meetingÂ
Are you interested in hosting a Lunch and Learn? Contact Kailyn Lamb. Â
If you’re anything like me, you were glued to your screen the last couple weeks watching athletes from around the world compete in the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris. Maybe you know the U.S. led in overall medal count, but did you know there’s been an Olympic-worthy contest happening under our very noses? Members from the Traffic Operations team recently concluded the Traflympics, where they competed to see who could complete the most traffic investigations. Â
When the public submits safety requests, they often trigger traffic investigations which the team then evaluates. Requests might be to change pavement markings, signing, or parking. After the investigation, the team either submits a work order for Maintenance Operations to make the fix or, if no change is recommended, the team lets the requestor know why they’ve decided against it.Â
Competitors were Lise Ferguson, Sarah Carney, Bella Guardia, and Alex Garate.Â
And the standings are...Â
Bronze: Lise Ferguson, Engineering Trainee/Intern, with 10 traffic investigationsÂ
Lise Ferguson is awarded the bronze medal by Rick Nys.
Silver: Bella Guardia, Engineering Trainee/Intern with 12 traffic investigations (Patrick Wong accepted the medal on Bella’s behalf)Â
Patrick Wong accepts the silver medal on Bella Guardia’s behalf.
Gold: Sarah Carney, Engineering Trainee/Intern, with 15 traffic investigations
Rick Nys awards the gold medal to Sarah Carney.
Honorable mention: Alex Garate, Engineering Associate, with 8 traffic investigationsÂ
The three medal winners and honorable mention Alex Garate stand together after the award ceremony.
“It was indeed a tear-jerking ceremony that will have a lifelong emotional impact that I hope we can all recover from eventually,” said Rick Nys. Â
No great competition is without controversy. Honorable mention Alex Garate claims he was robbed. No additional public comment was provided by the time this story published. Â
In a moment of disbelief at his honorable mention award, Alex throws his arms up.
Congratulations to all competitors! We love this example of making our everyday work fun. Traffic investigations are an important part of PBOT’s work and help us make timely safety improvements. Â
Additionally shout-outs to Marisa Trujillo DeMull and Sarah Carney for creating the medals. Â
Wendy Cawley and Director Williams chipped in to provide a prize to the medalists. Â
Per PBOT’s Media Policy (2.01), when the media asks you questions (even if it's a simple factual or technical question), you must refer them as soon as possible to PBOT’s Public Information Officer Dylan Rivera or Communications Director Hannah Schafer. PBOT’s Communications team handles all communications with reporters and bloggers, local or national.  Â
Never talk to a reporter on “background” or “off-the-record.” There is no such thing. Talking with a reporter, even as part of what you consider a casual or friendly conversation, is potentially on the record and fair game. Always contact the Communications team first to help navigate communication with media. If you’re unsure, email the full Comms team at PBOTcommunications@portlandoregon.gov. Â
You may also not create new social media channels on behalf of the bureau. This includes YouTube. If you need to host a video or post something on social media, contact PBOT’s Senior Social Media and Internal Communications Coordinator Kailyn Lamb. Â
PBOT's Maintenance Operations crews have been busy working on N Willamette Boulevard between Carey Boulevard and Portsmouth Avenue. Paving is expected to take 10 days, with work occurring between 6:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. weekdays, with some weekend work. They began grinding out the old asphalt on Aug. 4.
Barricade with a street closed sign blocks off Willamette Boulevard from traffic while PBOT crews prepare to pave behind it (left). Two PBOT crew members watch as the old asphalt is ground away (right).
After paving is done, PBOT will restripe the roadway to add wider buffered bike lanes and six new marked crosswalks at Monteith Avenue, Wall Avenue, Macrum Avenue, and Carey Boulevard. This work tees up the forthcoming N Willamette Boulevard Active Transportation Corridor Project, a $6.1 million investment in pedestrian, biking, and transit improvements along the corridor, from Rosa Parks Way to Richmond Avenue. Â
As of Sunday, Aug. 4 there will no longer be on-street parking on the repaved section of N Willamette Boulevard. This new road configuration was developed after extensive community input.Â
PBOT crew member concentrating while operating heavy machinery during the grind part of the N Willamette grind and pave.
A few weekends ago, some PBOT staff joined Shaylee Robanske at the annual appreciation picnic for Adopt One Block volunteers in Laurelhurst Park. Shaylee has been working closely with the founder, Frank Moscow on reigniting the engagement and collaboration with his nearly 1,000 volunteers and our street cleaning and graffiti abatement teams. Â
PBOTers talk with Adopt One Block volunteers in Laurelhurst Park.
Shaylee and four other staff handed out resource guides (thank you Care Paden and Renata Tirta for printing), trash buckets, trash pickers, and PBOT-branded volunteer, high-visibility vests. We also had a few swag items. Â
PBOT high-visibility vest, bucket, trash picker, and information ready for volunteers to take.
The volunteers were excited we were there to provide these safety items and answer questions. Overall, a huge success.Â
Left to right: Shaylee Robanske, Fermin Flores, Mark Kodani, Darrel Bobb, and Angel Ordaz.
Miss last week’s Lunch and Learn? As PBOT’s Senior Community Engagement Coordinator, I provided an overview of several new resources and tools for staff, including our new language access tracking form, a form to request sponsorships, as well as a shared spreadsheet to track public events. We also talked about city staff who receive the language pay differential.Â
Language Access Tracking FormÂ
PBOT is required to track language access to comply with federal Civil Rights Title VI law. This means every instance and every type of access—both when staff proactively provide translation and interpretation or when staff do this work in response to community members asking for it. Â
Our new Language Access Tracking form helps keep us in compliance as well as understand what kind of language access PBOT provides currently. It was developed with guidance by the Citywide Language Access workgroup and in coordination with our other Public Works bureaus.Â
Use this form in real-time for all language access work you do, of all types—verbal and written, with a vendor or without. We will use this data to understand institutional barriers and where there are gaps we need to address as an organization. Â
If you’re still planning a project, you can always fill out our Comms Services Request Form and mark “Yes, I will” on the question about whether you’ll be using translation. Â
Language access work you should track includes but is not limited to:Â Â
- Using Language Line to communicate with a community member
- Using a vendor to translate written materials or a website
- Arranging for a non-English interpreter or translating materials ahead of time for a public event or community meetingÂ
- Acting on a community request for interpretation or translation, including in your capacity as someone receiving the language pay differential.Â
Language Pay Differential policyÂ
The city is still refining policy and best practices around those receiving the language pay differential. We’ve highlighted some key passages in the policy you should keep in mind:Â
On functioning as a language link:
Qualifying bilingual or multilingual city employees…function as a language link while they assist the community member experiencing institutional language barriers in connecting to a professional language service provider, either in the form of telephonic interpreter, video remote interpreter, or on-site, in-person interpreter. A professional language service provider, such as an interpreter, must be contacted when there could be:
- Safety implications
- Health implications Â
- Legal implications
- Financial impacts
- Notices of rights and disciplinary actionÂ
On the rights of community members:Â
At any point in the interaction, the community member has the right to request a professional interpreter, or translator, if they are requesting a written translation, at no cost to them, according to their civil rights.
On doing written translation work:Â
Qualifying employees are not required to do any written translation work. If employees choose to do any written translation, they should limit these jobs to a short page, sentence, or tagline. Any translation created by an employee must have a quality check by another employee who has passed the language test to ensure accuracy as much as possible. All other translation jobs, especially those with legal implications, must be submitted to translation service.Â
Sponsorship Request formÂ
Part of my work is coordinating outgoing sponsorships to community-based organizations. We created a Sponsorship Request form to track these requests and review them internally while we improve this process for staff. Â
We currently track all upcoming public events and community meetings using a shared Excel spreadsheet. These are events PBOT staff are planning, participating in, sponsoring, or simply know about given the relationships we’ve built. This is a great way to see when and where our colleagues might be out in the community. Use it as an opportunity to share resources, swag, even talking points. Find the Public Events tracker here.Â
PBOT Events Notification calendarÂ
Any time staff holds a public event, speaks on behalf of PBOT at a public event, provides professional input in a public setting, or represents PBOT at a function where decisions/outcomes may affect PBOT, you must, as staff liaison for that event, add it to the PBOT Public Events Notification calendar in Outlook. This is for both staff awareness and because we highlight upcoming meetings in the weekly Scoop email bulletin every Friday. This is also a helpful heads-up to leadership and the Communications team as well.Â
To add an event to this calendar, create it in Outlook and add “PBOT Events Notification Calendar” as an attendee. Include all relevant details, including the address for in-person events and/or log-in instructions for virtual.Â
Monthly meetings on public outreachÂ
I host a monthly meeting that covers the various needs and resources for outreach. Email Maria Hernandez Segoviano to be added to the list.Â
Additional tools we talked about in last week’s Lunch and Learn still need refinement. This includes trackers for community partnerships as well as for training and professional development.Â
Stay tuned for more on these tools and other resources in a future Street Cred. Â
Submitted by Gabe GraffÂ
The first phase of construction of the SW Fourth Avenue Improvement project is well underway!  PBOT's contractor is currently upgrading corner ramps and running new conduit on SW Fourth Avenue between Grant and Mill streets.Â
Accessible curb ramps being built along Fourth Avenue in downtown Portland.
People traveling on SW Fourth Avenue should expect delays from lane restrictions, particularly during the morning and evening commute. At least one lane will remain open at all times.  Over the next three weeks, crews will shift to the intersections at College and Hall streets. Crews have already begun work on the west side of these intersections, with the northwest corner of SW Fourth Avenue and College Street poured this week. Crews also hope to wrap up work on new stormwater management facilities on the westside of SW Fourth Avenue between Lincoln and College streets in the next three weeks.Â
Crews making progress on the stormwater swale (left). Freshly poured concrete curing on the stormwater swale (right).
Again, at least one lane of SW Fourth Avenue will remain open at all times during this phase of construction. Then paving work begins on the westside of SW Fourth Avenue in late August.Â
We know not everybody enjoys roadwork as much as we do. Being near one of our active construction sites can be challenging with noise, detours, and temporary traffic control. PBOT project managers and construction managers do our best to partner with those directly affected by construction. A key piece of this work is ensuring adjacent businesses remain easily accessible. Â
This kind of door-to-door engagement during design and construction has been a key part of our work on this project, a busy downtown corridor. You can see the benefits of this engagement firsthand by visiting the block of food carts along the westside of SW Fourth Avenue between College and Hall streets. We established a temporary pedestrian route to ensure all the food carts are accessible during construction. We also coordinated our work with work being done by the owners of the food cart lot to add a sewer connection. Thanks to that coordination, they’ll be able to complete the sewer work before we pave. Â
Along that same block, but on the other side of the street, we are also coordinating with the roofing company working on the 1900 Building, ensuring their cranes lifts don’t block access to businesses or building entrances. Orchestrating all this is work, but it means less disruption for Portlanders and a better finished product. Â
Signs around the construction on SW Fourth Avenue say detour and business access next to a lot with several food carts.
PBOTers can help by supporting locally owned small businesses in the construction area. The project team encourages you to patronize these food carts over the next three weeks, particularly Portland Gyro located on the corner of SW Fourth Avenue and Hall Street or Gyro Place at the corner of College. Both carts have shifted back to allow safe pedestrian access during construction. Consider organizing a lunch meetup with colleagues at the food cart pod and enjoy eating by nearby Lovejoy Fountain. Â
Construction Manager Scott Clement and Project Manager Gabe Graff both personally recommend the Lamb Gyro at Gyro Palace. Ask for extra napkins – you’ll want them.Â
In July, staff from the Transportation Wallet in Parking Districts, reached out to those in the Central Eastside and Northwest parking districts who primarily drive to work. The ask? Seeing if they would be interested in commuting car-free twice by the end of July in exchange for a FREE $20 TriMet Hop card, a $20 BIKETOWN bike-share credit, and a $15 Lime scooter credit. Â
Rules were simple: participants had to be commuters who mostly drive, they couldn’t be current Transportation Wallet holders, and they had to answer short questions before and after participating.  Â
Mainly we wanted to know what drivers liked or didn’t like about their commutes.Â
Thirty-one drivers participated. After their car-free commutes, we asked similar questions about what they did and did not enjoy about their commutes, this time about using TriMet, bike-share, and e-scooters.Â
Here are some unedited responses of what they did enjoy:Â
- I’ve enjoyed feeling healthy, alive, and connected with more of the city. I’ve enjoyed biking smoothly past bumper to bumper traffic. I’ve enjoyed feeling good about the environmental effects of bike commuting, not to mention the personal savings.
- Got to walk more and explore/stumble into different areas I don’t generally spend time.
- Riding bicycle first thing in the morning is a great way to wake up. The ride home is decompression from the workday. And I got to see deer! Â
Things people did not enjoy about their car-free commute:Â Â
- How much time they spent waiting for the bus or MAX, and that it took longer than driving using TriMet, especially on the return trip after work.
- The safety concerns regarding other TriMet riders who were “violent/unstable,” “clearly high,” and “had hygiene issues.”Â
- One person noted that “BIKETOWN bikes are not well maintained” and the defined service area for both BIKETOWN and Lime scooters “made visiting friends or attending activities out of the core urban center challenging.”  Â
Here are a few things drivers learned from their car-free commute:Â
- I enjoy being in nature, meeting new people, and frequenting new places. I could probably use a car a lot less, overall, with a little planning.
- It's really not that hard actually and you don't have to worry about traffic :) Might be more tough in the winter weather, but I'll give it a shot since it feels nice.Â
- I signed up for BIKETOWN and Lime scooters, which I hadn't had before. Even though I didn't use these services to get to work, I'm excited to try out these options.
- TriMet can be convenient, but BIKETOWN needs major improvements.Â
We’re looking forward to introducing more drivers to this car-free commute test drive in the future!Â
Do you have feedback about Street Cred, the Scoop, or other internal communications tools you'd like to share anonymously? Fill out the Internal Communications feedback form.
Want to share a PBOT story here in Street Cred? Limit your copy to less than 500 words, provide detailed captions for any graphics, and email kailyn.lamb@portlandoregon.gov by 5 p.m. Thursday the week before the edition goes out so we have time to copyedit and proofread. For longer featured articles please reach out to us first so we can target the best date for you.
Upcoming Deadlines:
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Aug. 28 issue [deadline: Thursday, Aug. 22]
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Sept. 11Â issue [deadline: Thursday, Sept. 5]
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Sept. 25 issue [deadline: Thursday, Sept. 19]
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