When I pulled into a parking lot in Banks, Oregon on June 28, I was not expecting a lesson about barriers…or about my state government.
I was volunteering at a bike ride called Pedal Support, a fundraiser for Parkinson’s Resources of Oregon. The lot at the Banks/Vernonia Trailhead is owned by the Oregon Parks and Recreation Department (OPRD). There’s a $10 fee to park there.
These signs greeted me at the entrance:
At one time, there might have been a formal pay station. Maybe there was once a person who collected the money. Or a machine you could use to process a card payment. Or maybe even a box where you could stick a $10 bill into an envelope and then slide the envelope into a slot.
In 2026 there’s a sign with a QR code. The only option is to pay with your phone.
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For a person with two perfectly-working hands, the process is an annoyance. For a person with Parkinson’s, or any condition that causes dexterity issues, the process can be difficult-to-impossible.
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Not terrible. I filled in my license plate and clicked “Add to Cart.” Next up:
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Another click with a shaky finger. Let’s view the cart. What happens next?
Click again to check out.
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I don’t want to create an account — I want to ride my bike. “Continue as Guest.”
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Fine. Let’s pay.
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Good gravy — I have to fill in my first name, my last name, my 16-digit card number, my 3-digit security code, and the expiration date. But what about the expiration month?
Oh. Separate box.
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OK, am I done? Not yet.
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OK, just two more clicks, right. Accept the terms, and then say I’m not a robot. Then we’re done, right?
Wrong!
Before we can put our phones away and ride our bikes, we’ve got to find all the traffic lights. THEN we can go.
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I’m lucky enough to have mild symptoms these days. My right hand is balky, but I can get the fingers to work when they need to. I was able to complete the task while uttering only a few naughty words .
But this was a Parkinson’s fundraiser. Many of the riders had the disease. A guy parked a few spaces away from me was struggling with the form. He handed me his phone, and I filled in the boxes for him.
After the ride was over, I wondered if there would have been any other way to take care of this.
A few days later I woke up from a sound sleep thinking that I might have missed a pay station sitting out in the open on the lot — I am not the most observant person you’ve ever met.
The existence of a phyical pay station would have caused me to be the object of nationwide ridicule.
On July 4, I celebrated Independence Day by driving back to Banks. I walked from one end of the lot to the other and back.
No pay station — just the sign with the QR code.
I also searched online for a way to buy a day pass in advance. The state website does sell annual passes online.
As for day passes, the site says this: “Daily parking permits for Oregon residents ($10) and non-residents ($12) are available at every day-use park that charges a fee.”
Which is sort of true — daily permits are available if, and only if, you can go through the entire payment process on a smartphone. Which shuts out anyone who doesn’t have two fully-working hands.
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IF YOU SEE SOMETHING, SAY SOMETHING
Would Oregon Parks and Recreation make changes to this procedure if they knew it made their parking lots inaccessible for many visitors?
I decided to find out.
An online search revealed that Oregon Parks Department has an employee who works on issues like this: Helena Kesch, the department’s ADA Coordinator.
I sent Ms. Kesch an email describing my experience in detail, and asking if there might be a better way to collect parking fees. In my letter, I mentioned that
- A way to buy a daily pass in advance online would help.
- Having a non-phone payment method (like a credit card pay station) onsite would help.
- Incorporating Apple Pay/Google Pay into the process would help.
- Getting rid of the CAPTCHA would help.
I figured it would take several weeks for someone to get back to me, and the response would either be a form letter or a list of reasons why my ideas were unreasonable.
To my surprise, Ms. Kesch wrote me a thoughtful response the very next day. It began,
Thank you for taking the time to share such a detailed description of your experience at the Banks/Vernonia trailhead. I really appreciate you outlining the specific barriers you encountered—this kind of firsthand feedback is incredibly helpful as we work to ensure our day‑use permit system is accessible to all visitors.
I’m especially grateful that you highlighted how the current smartphone-only process, the amount of required typing, and the CAPTCHA create significant challenges for people with Parkinson’s and others with dexterity or motor‑control limitations. Your suggestions for advance purchasing options, additional onsite payment methods, and incorporating tools like Apple Pay/Google Pay are all thoughtful and actionable ideas.
She told me that it is possible to buy daily passes in advance by visiting any OPRD office in person. This strikes me as inconvenient at best, but it’s something.
And she promised to share my feedback, along with the screenshots I sent her, with the folks who manage day‑use fee systems and digital accessibility. “This will help us evaluate where changes can be made in the near term and where longer-term improvements might be possible.”
TWO VALUABLE LESSONS
I’m a relatively new member of the disabled community. It’s fair to say I didn’t pay much attention to accessibility issues when they weren’t an issue for me.
This may also be the first time, in 39 years as an Oregon resident, that I’ve ever tried to make contact with someone in state government.
So I’ve gained two valuable insights from this experience:
- A mild inconvenience for one person can be an insurmountable barrier to someone else.
- Rather than just complaining to my spouse at the dinner table, I might accomplish something tangible by saying something to a person who can do something about it. This is, admittedly, a sample size of one, but in this case I found a person who responded quickly, empathized, and promised to address the issue.
Will anything come of this? I have no idea. Governments move slowly in the best of times, my suggestions would all cost money, and Oregon is not currently flush with discretionary funds.
But it’s nice to realize that at least some of the time, it pays to speak up. I will report back if subsequent developments warrant it.
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AI DISCLOSURE
The image at the top of this post was done with WordPress’ AI tool.
Every word of this post was written by a human being, Phil Bernstein. This was written by me. Me, me, me.
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Bonus for Those Who Read to the Bottom
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Sweet Dreams are sometimes made of balloons, bicycle horns, and barrels. The Eurythmics hit, re-imagined.
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I’d forgotten that for a while, Todd Rundgren sang lead for a version of The Cars.
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The King Cousins were part of the King Family, who had a series of television variety shows in the 1960’s and 1970’s. Here they remove the magic from the Lovin’ Spoonful hit.
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Tap dancing to Immigrant Song? Tap dancing to Immigrant Song!
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Dropkick Murphys offer up a subtle, quiet, introspective cover of the Springsteen classic.
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A frisky instrumental take on “You Really Got Me,” featuring the immortal Mick Ralphs.
Shakin' Street -- A Parkinson's Blog 
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