This rack wasnt hit.
This rack wasn't hit. Doug Brown

Portland officials now count more than a dozen Biketown racks struck by vandals at some point last night.

As first reported by BikePortland this morning, an unknown number of the lumbering orange steeds were hit last night by a group calling itself Rose City Saboteurs. The assailants sprayed the bike's rear-mounted computers with paint, cut spokes, and slashed tires.


Dylan Rivera, a spokesperson for the Portland Bureau of Transportation, tallied a list of more than a dozen stations affected while on the phone with the Mercury. In a press release, PBOT says more than 200 bikes have been hit.

The vandalism appears to have roots in gripes—voiced even before Biketown began last year—that the system is festooned in Nike branding. A photo posted to BikePortland shows a placard on one bike rack that reads: "This Biketown is now closed. Our city is not a corporate amusement park."

But Rivera points out that all the vandals have really done is limited sustainable transportation options for Portlanders. True, Nike paid millions to sponsor the system (in turn making it feasible for Portland to have large-scale bike share), but the equipment actually belongs to the City of Portland.

"The important thing that everyone needs to know is that these are publicly owned bikes," Rivera says. "This is a public transit system. Vandalizing Biketown is no different than vandalizing a TriMet bus and has a similar impact on sustainable transportation."

Rivera says PBOT is still taking stock of what the damage will cost. Local companies are reportedly chipping in to help with repairs.


It's worth noting that the hit to publicly available bicycles comes at a particularly rough time. With the Morrison Bridge significantly hobbled for the next six months, traffic into downtown this morning was a nightmare. Vandalized stations in southeast and northeast Portland could theoretically help cut down on that congestion.

PBOT is appealing to the public to help catch the vandals.

Anyone who sees someone in the act of vandalism or other crime in progress should call 9-1-1 immediately.

Anyone with information about the vandalism to BIKETOWN facilities should contact Officer David Sanders, of the Portland Police Bureau, at david.sanders@portlandoregon.gov.

Meanwhile, Biketown today was asking for another kind of assistance.