Job Title: Planner II

Closing Date/Time: Mon. 10/21/13 5:00 PM Pacific Time

Salary: $4,223.25 – $6,015.00 Monthly ($50,679.00 – $72,180.00 Annually)

Job Type: Non-Union Regular Full-Time

Location: 710 NE Holladay, Portland, Oregon

Responsibilities
Provide planning programming and implementation support associated with TriMet’s service capital planning and scheduling programs. Conduct research and technical analysis, field investigation and documentation. Lead internal and external projects with stakeholders.

Provide coordination between TriMet and government agencies and participation in programs, plans and projects. Understand and reflect in all planning and conceptual design efforts the safety and operational needs of TriMet services.

Ensure a commitment to safety through consistent and professional behaviors in performance of job requirements that demonstrate safety is a fundamental value that guides all aspects of our work. Perform related work as required.

Essential Functions:

1. Assist in the conception, development and implementation of a variety of transit service planning projects and activities; work with jurisdictional representatives in developing and implementing plans and projects consistent with departmental objectives. Perform related research, data collection and analysis.

2. Provide support and analysis for service planning and scheduling, especially annual service plan, quarterly service changes and new service development.

3. Under general supervision, develop and manage project contracts and grants. Assign work to contractors, monitor contractor performance, document deficiencies in performance, communicate with the contractor and assure contract compliance with contract specifications.

4. Support TriMet capital, service policy and agency planning with proactive project management including the public, stakeholders and other jurisdictions.

5. Perform analysis, prepare documentation, formulate solutions to operations problems and write reports as assigned.

6. Stay abreast of new techniques in transportation planning, project management and computerized technical analysis.

7. Work with citizens, interest groups and representatives from other governmental agencies on transit planning projects.

8. Prepare draft transit plans and programs for implementation.

9. Conduct analysis and tasks to support new capital projects, service planning and jurisdictional planning and coordination activities.

10. Prepare maps and other analysis and presentation documentation, using GIS, Excel, and other computer-based tools.

Position Requirements:

Bachelor’s degree in City or Urban Planning, Engineering, Business, Systems Analysis, Public Administration or a related field.

Two years of experience in Planning or a similar field. Related work experience in transportation planning and operations may substitute for education requirement on a year-to-year basis.

Or any equivalent combination of experience and training.

Selection Criteria:

1. Knowledge of principles and practices of transit, planning principles, operations and analysis.

2. Knowledge of project planning management techniques.

3. Intermediate skills with Word, Excel, Outlook, Access, database applications and other software applications. Project management, graphics, GIS application experience desirable. Demonstrated proficiency to accurately keyboard (type).

3. Ability to communicate effectively in oral, written and graphic form.

4. Ability to lead tasks and manage consultants contracts on time and on budget.

5. Ability to prioritize work and effectively coordinate the work of others.

6. Ability to establish and maintain effective working relationships with employees, management and the general public, including those from culturally diverse backgrounds, the elderly, persons with disabilities and/or other vulnerable populations.

7. Ability to produce clear technical as well as public documents.

8. Ability to research a variety of data sources for analysis that leads to a conclusion, recommendation and/or report.

9. Ability to focus on essentials of tasks and produce focused and timely results.

10. Ability to work productively and cooperatively with divergent groups within and outside the agency.

Click here to learn more and apply

(Source: via Reddit)

(Source: Wired; Bikeportland)

The Hopworksfiets party bike was built in, where else, bike- and beer-mad Portland, Oregon, by the bike builders Metrofiets. All you really need to know in order to fall in love with this bike is that it carries not one, but two beer kegs along with a pair of taps to serve the suds.

The mobile bar, a custom build for Portland-based Hopworks Urban Brewery, is a long-wheelbase cargo bike with the load bed up front, which we guess means that pedestrians can’t sneak a quick pint when you’re stopped at the lights. There’s a “sound pannier” at the back, containing an amp and a speaker, and the rear rack is just the right size to carry a stack of pizza boxes.

This party is entirely human-powered, with the help of nine gears — any more would allow a rider to go faster than would be entirely wise, explained Ross. Sturdy looking disc brakes and chunky tires with full fenders adorn both wheels.

When fully loaded with pizza, beer, and ice, the bike should just about meet Metrofiets’ 400lb weight limit. Still, Ross is recommending that the bike be transported with pony kegs, and refilled with full-sized kegs on the scene.

The bike is a group effort. Ross and Nichols designed and built the bike. Damon Eckhoff inspired the sound system and did much of the wiring. Metropolis Cycles (2249 N Williams) built the wheels and provided general bike shop support. Michael Moscarelli of local brewing supply company F.H. Steinbarts did the beer plumbing; local high school biology teacher, homebrewer, and woodworker Gregg Heppner created the bar top and sound system shell. The bike’s components (including the tap handles) were donated by Chris King Components and Shimano.

Click here to read more and here to see the slideshow of the bike in action.

Blueprint America: Road to the Future, an original documentary part of a PBS multi-platform series on the country’s aging and changing infrastructure, goes to three very different American cities – Denver, New York and Portland, and their surrounding suburbs – to look at each as a microcosm of the challenges and possibilities the country faces as citizens, local and federal officials, and planners struggle to manage a growing America with innovative transportation and sustainable land use policies.

Over the next 40 years, America’s population will grow by more than an estimated 130 million people – most will settle in or near the country’s major population centers. At the same time, an unprecedented multi-billion dollar public works investment has just been made by the federal government to rebuild both the weakened economy and stressed national infrastructure. And, Congress is about to consider a transportation bill that will determine the course of the nation’s highways and transit for years to come.