Portland wants next year to be electric.

The transportation bureau opened the bidding this week for the next contractor to operate the city’s Biketown rental program, and it is requiring at least half of the new fleet be electric assist bikes and potentially the entire operation if the company can make it happen.

Portland also wants Biketown’s service area to be significantly expanded, with east Portland being the main focus in 2020.

The Biketown service area is currently 19 square miles. Riders who park outside that territory can be charged an additional fee. According to the contract solicitation posted on the city website late Monday, officials want the entire 145-square mile city territory to be covered within the next year. If a company doesn’t do that by May 2021, it must explain what areas it will exclude and why.

Portland’s contract with Motivate, the original Biketown operator, expires at the end of April 2020. The City Council in July voted to extend the contract through April. Lyft, the ride-hailing giant, bought Motivate last year.

John Brady, a transportation spokesman, said Portland had talked about its Biketown desires at multiple conferences and at City Council, so the industry was well aware of the city’s stated goals.

E-bikes, in particular, are viewed as a potential game changer. “We think there’s potential there to enhance the level of service,” he said.

He declined to answer questions about how many bikes it envisions as part of the newly expanded Biketown fleet. Portland has roughly 1,000 bikes in the fleet today and 156 different stations. The system just celebrated its third birthday.

Proposals are due Oct. 21. Portland is requesting the new system go live in the spring, but it’s possible it could be delayed until the summer.

Last year, Biketown drew 6,000 annual members and some 124,000 different users. Riders tallied some 400,000 trips during the 2018 calendar year.

The city is leaving a few details up to the potential bike operator. It’s up to the contractor, for example, on if it wants to “maintain, partially replace or fully replace the existing Biketown equipment and station infrastructure, though the city said it prefers to keep the existing stations. Portland want the operator to install new charging stations that may include additional “shared vehicle fleets,” like e-scooters.

But a lot of the deal is nonnegotiable. Nike must remain the primary sponsor and the company doesn’t want the bikes to contain any advertising other than its own and the city of Portland’s. Nike’s contract runs through July 2021, with a stipulation to renegotiate or extend the deal in the summer of 2020.

Portland will also contribute no money to the program. The city chipped in $2 million in 2015 to help launch Biketown, which was also made possible by a $2 million Metro grant and major sponsors.

Nike chipped in $10 million for its five-year deal. The city collects system and sponsorship revenues and uses those funds to operate the system and make capital improvements.

Here are some other highlights from the request for proposals:

- Portland wants 30 new stations to be installed in East Portland at the start of the program (which could be by April 15).

- The city outlines a three-phase expansion for customers to serve the entire city, with a deadline of May 1, 2021 to expand city wide unless otherwise explained

- Adaptive use bikes for people with disabilities which have been operated through a contractor for several years, must be provided through the new app.

- The company could potentially provide on-demand access to helmets, but meanwhile it must provide some bicycle safety and helmet access through promotions, partnerships and other deals.

- In case of The Big One or another “citywide emergency,” Portland wants all bikes to be “unlocked and available to transport citizens when vehicle transport is not an option.”

-- Andrew Theen

atheen@oregonian.com

503-294-4026

@andrewtheen

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