Jen Wang A year and a half before he found easy employment as an Uber driver, a rogue Portland taxi driver was the subject of a troubling complaint. According to records obtained by the Mercury, a woman wrote to city officials in September 2013 that Kundin Nadew picked her and some friends up outside of […]
Transportation
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A Driver Attempted to Navigate the Broadway Bridge Bike/Ped Path This Morning
and my roommate snapped this photo on her commute. How on earth do you manage to drive your car on B-way Bridge path? pic.twitter.com/mXAdA2lYEx— Aaron Brown (@ambrown) August 10, 2015 The Broadways Bridge is supposed to be open to only people on bikes or on foot for the next week, and this city’s driver’s just […]
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Car2Go Yanking Service from East Portland and St. Johns
Sorry, St. Johns and points east of 60th/62nd. You don’t make the Car2Go cut. Citing a lack of demand, the useful and maddening car service announced today it’ll no longer allow users to park or pick up a ride in huge swaths of outer Portland beginning on August 24. The company’s new “home range” (the […]
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Could Speed Cameras Earn PBOT Millions? The State Thinks So.
PBOT Portland’s high-crash corridors, mapped. When Oregon lawmakers failed to find agreement on a gas tax hike this session, it seemed to doom the Portland Bureau of Transportation’s best hopes for badly needed new money. Mayor Charlie Hales and Commissioner Steve Novick in January decided to take a breather from the fire swamp that was […]
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We’ve Got Data! Uber and Lyft Were Quicker, and Growing More Popular, in May.
If you grabbed a ride with Uber or Lyft in May, you probably had a shorter wait than your cab-calling counterparts—particularly those of you looking for a lift from the cloistered claustrophobia of the West Hills. In the first full month Transportation Network Companies (TNCs) like Uber were allowed to operate legally in Portland, customers […]
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Portland Doubles What It’s Willing To Spend for Taxi Rules Overhaul
Mark Markovich The city’s kept a tight leash on for-hire transportation options for decades. Easing up on that grip is proving more involved than planned. Portland City Council quietly agreed this morning to double the amount it’s spending to overhaul the city’s rules around cabs, ride-hailing services, pedicabs, and other transportation options. From a $50,000 […]
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Meet Portland’s “Rogue Cabbie”
Illustration: Jen Wang IT’S NOT HARD to find stories about Kundin Nadew—the man city officials call Portland’s most persistent “rogue” cabbie. Since his city permit was revoked in 2012 following a drunk driving arrest, the city says Nadew has made a habit of illicit incursions into Portland from Beaverton, where he’s legally allowed to drive […]
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Commissioner Steve Novick Will Ask the State to Look Into Uber
Mark Markovich Commissioner Steve Novick says he’s asking the state’s Bureau of Labor and Industries to look into Uber, after California’s Labor Commission ruled an Uber driver was an employee—NOT a contractor like the company claims. The ruling came down in March, but only got scrutiny yesterday after Uber filed an appeal. The actual decision—that […]
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Portland’s A “Vision Zero” City Now. What’s That Going To Mean?
This vehicle ran up on the Burnside Bridge’s south sidewalk on Sunday, killing a pedestrian. There was never any doubt Portland City Council would approve a resolution to adopt Vision Zero this morning. What politician would be caught dead opposing the notion that serious traffic injuries and deaths are not acceptable? It’s easy enough to […]
Posted inBikes
Another Monday, Another Demonstration Against Portland Traffic Mayhem
Portland Police Bureau Treacherous walking in this town typically brings to mind desolate, speed-fueled boulevards on the city’s east end. Dangerous biking facilities have lately brought heat to SE Powell. But today, everyone’s mad about the Burnside Bridge. A proposal to hold a “memorial walk, ride, and protest” is going around active transportation circles following […]
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Here’s What Top-Secret Info Uber and Lyft Are Sharing With City Officials
Mark Markovich When ride-hailing services Uber and Lyft rolled (legally) into town in late April, much was made about a pioneering feature of the deal Portland’s city council struck with the companies: the city would have access to certain aspects of the companies’ data. It appeared to be the first time Uber had agreed to […]
Posted inTech
Weird Timing on the Car2go Price Increase
Car2Go announced at the end of last week that they’re adding a $1 fee to every rental of those blue and white gocarts they leave lying around town. They did it in a Terms of Service update that tried its hardest to make it seem like the company was doing us a favor. “Good news, […]