Metro helps Portland State University improve bike parking, encouraging people to ride to campus
Portland State University showed off its newly renovated parking facility on campus Monday, Oct. 11, but this garage is for two-wheel commuters not four. A $50,000 grant from Metro's Regional Travel Options Program helped fund the Montgomery Street Bike Garage project.
The project took a dark, unsafe and underused bike shelter and turned it into secure facility that can house up to 77 bikes. It is among the first in the region to feature two-tiered bike parking that allows for stacking bikes double-decker style. This maximizes space in the garage, which is located at Southwest 12th Avenue and Montgomery Street between Blumel Hall and Stephen Epler Hall.
Metro Councilor Rex Burkholder, an avid cyclist himself, attended the opening ceremony for the garage and touted the Montgomery Street Bike Garage as the first project to receive a capital award through Metro's Regional Travel Options grant program.
Students get a special access card to use the bike parking garage. Security cameras, forced entry alarms and enhanced lighting have been installed for added protection. The garage also features an eco-roof.
A second bike parking garage is located on campus at Southwest Fifth Avenue and Harrison Street. That facility is connected to an automobile garage where students pay $318 a term to park. Students using either the Harrison Street or Montgomery Street Bike Garage, pay just $15 a term.
A 2009 survey by PSU's Transportation and Parking Services showed biking to campus on the rise while drive-alone car trips declined. The university now has just under 2000 bike parking spots on campus with 163 of those in secure, covered facilities.
Metro encourages biking because it helps keep the air clean and it's a great way to get around town, get exercise and save money that would go to parking and gasoline. Metro takes that support of bicycling a step further with its new Bike There! map, sold at the PSU book store as well as other retailers and bike shops in town. The map provides important route and safety information to help people travel and explore the region on bike.