Good news, Biketown nerds! Soon you'll be able to lock up your bike outside the Hollywood Theatre (and many other useful spots) without incurring a $20 penalty fee for parking outside of Biketown's invisible boundaries.
Biketown has announced that starting tomorrow, June 1, it'll be expanding its service area to serve the Grant Park, Creston-Kenilworth, Laurelhurst, Beaumont-Wilshire, Cully, and Hollywood neighborhoods. The expansion has opened up numerous parks, bars, restaurants, and theaters to Biketown riders.
Another update: Biketown pricing will also be significantly lower for all rides—an unlimited annual pass is now $99. The single-pass rides are being converted to a new pay-as-you-go plan, which has a one time $5 sign up fee and costs $0.08 per minute after that—much cheaper than the $2.50 fee for a single ride, plus $0.10 per minute that Biketown previously charged. Monthly plans will cost $19 per month.
Riders with an annual plan will also stop incurring fees for locking their bike to a non-Biketown parking rack, and—to limit fees for non-annual members—Biketown will build 22 more of their orange parking racks throughout the city designate 22 City of Portland bike racks as official Biketown stations—meaning riders won't be charged for parking their bikes there.
For those of you who don't ride often, we only ask that you read our bike etiquette guide—or at least stop using the Biketown bells to say hello to us. BELLS ARE FOR PASSING, NOT BEING FRIENDLY. That is all.
