PDX’s mid-90s yellow bikeshare program

Remember that one time back in the mid-90s when Portland had Yellow bikes that anyone could ride? I thought I saw one recently.

And, here’s an update and more history on the program.

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6 thoughts on “PDX’s mid-90s yellow bikeshare program”

  1. So charming, in its relentlessly naïve way. I think those bikes lasted about two weeks before I never saw another one. Or did they actually try it twice? Memory fails.

    I wish you’d shot a photo!

  3. I volunteered during the second iteration of YB. I had a wonderful time, and met great people and had fun times. It was not sustainable. It had all sorts of weird issues. It was a LOT of fun. At the end of the program, the Community Cycling Center, our fiscal sponsor, yanked all support and resources. I was annoyed at the time, but realize YB was an annoying distraction from the real work. Kind of like a buffoon uncle at a family reunion..
    YB should not be the model for anything. Except fun.

  4. John,

    Although we now live in the NE my grown sons and I return to Oregon for the occasional climb in the Cascades. I grew up in Milwaukie in the 50’s & 60’s, a time when Portland and Milwaukie could easily have been the models used for *American Graffiti, *with all of those iconic (and now somewhat cliché) aspects and characters, like: 55-58 Chevies; cruising the loop of 6th & Broadway; drive-in restaurants; “greasers”, “nerds”, “jocks” (there were, unfortunately, 1-dimensional labels for everything and everyone).

    It seemed like an innocent time; but, of course, we grew up fast, like every generation, with the seemingly endless and repeated themes: war (Vietnam in this case); political assassinations; and racism. Still, as an old man’s indulgence, I have fond recollections of playing football for MHS in ’61–when it seemed like the whole town showed up for a brief respite from the serious stuff.

    Enjoy the day-

    Ken Ledoux Kicking Horse Farm

    On Mon, Jun 23, 2014 at 11:56 AM, LOST OREGON wrote:

    > John Chilson posted: “Remember that one time back in the mid-90s when > Portland had Yellow bikes that anyone could ride? I thought I saw one > recently. “

  5. Damn, I’d really love to see this footage. It’s a shame that the video is unavailable. My dad (Tom O’Keefe) and his friends Joe Keating and Steve Gunther started the yellow bike program. Sadly, my dad passed away 2 years ago and Joe passed away not too long after. Steve, my godfather is still alive and kicking though. It was sort of a what if idea they decided to do after my dad and Joe had watched a documentary. In the documentary it talked about Amsterdam’s free bike program, that’s where the idea all started. I do have some VHS tapes of recordings about the yellow bike program that I really need to get digitized.

    1. Dang it – I’ll need to find a better/live link! And that would be amazing if you had those VHS tapes digitized!

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