Some Unsolicited Advice for My Employer

Officially, my employer is hugely supportive of bike commuting. I work for a university, and the official line is that the university thinks that bike commuting is just swell. There are two big reasons that the university officially would like people to bike to work and class. The first is that we have a pretty major parking shortage, and it's in the university's best interest to encourage people not to drive. The second is that the university is trying to hold the line on health insurance costs, and they're encouraging people to exercise because it's seen to promote long-term good health. Officially supporting bike commuting is only one of a whole slew of programs designed to encourage healthy habits and alternative transportation choices.

The problem is that, for all the official pronouncements of support for bicycles, my employer doesn't actually do much to encourage people to bike to work or to support those of us who already do commute by bicycle. They do provide outdoor bike racks, and they have a link on their webpage to the city office that allows you to register your bike, so it can be identified if it gets stolen. They have a couple of events for Bike to Work Week. And that's it.

So anyway, I had some thoughts about things my employer could do that would really support bike commuting.

1. Change the bike website
   On their website, my university has a handy page for bike commuters. Unfortunately, it's basically useless, and the tone is overly negative. Essentially, it treats bike riders as pests who need to be educated about how not to bother other people. There is a list of bicycle regulations (example:"Reckless operation of a bicycle is not permitted."), and a list of fines and other consequences for cyclists who fail to adhere to these regulations. There are some insipid safety tips (examples: "Share the roadway and walkways" and "slow down when riding near pedestrians.") The websites for car and bus commuters don't take this scolding tone, and they provide useful information. Bike commuters should be provided with concrete, accurate tips about how to ride safely, information that acknowledges that we are as likely to be the victims of traffic violations as the perpetrators. Lecturing us about "sharing the roads and walkways" is not nearly as helpful as pointing out that it's almost always a bad idea to ride a bike on a "walkway" and that you're more visible to turning trucks if you ride in the middle of the lane, rather than trying to "share the road" by hugging the curb.
   
   
2. Allow bike commuters to register with the Parking and Transportation Office
   
   The university offers benefits for people who participate in their bus and carpooling programs, something which is possible because the Parking and Transportation Office knows who those people are. Carpoolers are permitted to register, and bus riders sign up for discount bus passes through the office. Bike commuters should have the same opportunity to make ourselves known to the transit people so we can get some benefits, too.
   
   
3. Extend the emergency ride program to bike commuters
   
   The university has a program that offers emergency cab rides to bus riders and carpoolers who need to get someplace quickly. If you take the bus to work and your kid gets sick and needs to be picked up from daycare, you can get a free cab ride to the daycare center and then home. The idea is that people drive to work because they worry that they otherwise won't have flexibility in the event of an emergency, and free cab rides take care of that problem. Bike riders aren't eligible for this program. We should be. It's true that a bike is more flexible than a bus, but bike riders could still find themselves needing to go a long distance or pick someone up.
   
   
4. Showers
   
   In my perfect world, bike commuters would have free access to showers. That's probably not going to happen. The only showers are in the gym, and the gym recently started charging people to use their facilities. I suppose that maybe they could make an exception for registered bike commuters, but given that there's been a lot of controversy around the decision to charge for the gym, I think they probably wouldn't. What they could do would be to make some adjustments in the program that provides low-price gym memberships to faculty and staff. Right now, you can only get a cut-rate gym membership if you sign up for an entire year. Since many bike commuters only need showers in the summer, it would be helpful to offer cheap gym memberships on a monthly, not annual basis. They could also offer us a discount on locker rentals.
   
   
5. Bus passes
   
   Ideally, it would be awesome if bike commuters were allowed a few free bus rides every month, which we could use in case of bad weather. That's probably not going to happen, so I'd settle for a change to the reduced-price program for bus commuters, which gives users unlimited free bus rides for $10 a month. At the moment, you have to opt in for a full year. I don't use my bus pass at all in the summer, spring and early fall, but I get a lot more use out of it in the winter. It would be great if bike commuters could buy the $10 monthly bus passes on a monthly, rather than annual basis, so we weren't paying for months when we don't need to take the bus.