Commuting - Does your state/area promote bike commuting?

I get jealous of hearing all those tax incentives and free breakfasts and stuff in CA for bike commuters! I wish NJ promote bike commuting more, it's not like we don't have enough backroads in the state. I've got a ton of options between taking the road to work or taking abandoned RR lines (not an official Railtrail) or state water lines to work, it's uncanny. I've got a ton of options depending on the mood, I can make the ride hilly or flat as a board.

But there doesn't seem to be any tax incentive for us or for our company even though there are a couple of us in a building of 300 or so that commute by bike.

Those national bike to work day/weeks and stuff I kept hearing about free breakfasts and stuff.. Where's my muffin? :)

Jay

Originally posted by Jay H
I get jealous of hearing all those tax incentives and free breakfasts and stuff in CA for bike commuters! ...
Jay
Not in these parts (San Jose), there isn't. Not that I'm aware of, anyway.

Everytime I fill my car up with gas here in NJ, it gives me another incentive to bike commute.

Paul

I think that whatever I save in reduced gas bills are more than made up in increased food bills !!!

I commute primarily for health/fitness reasons. Heck, I'd pay to commute. For me, to commute is not a decision founded on economics.

Originally posted by OregonBound
Everytime I fill my car up with gas here in NJ, it gives me another incentive to bike commute.

Paul

LOL


Georgia does nothing to promote cycle commuting. And the Air Force does little either. Around the base, there are bike racks, but I notice that they are seldom used. Any new buildings that are built don't have shower facilites. It's really sad because of the security checks, traffic is a bear getting on base sometimes.

The way I see it, cycling to work is it's own reward. I do it because its good for me, good for the environment, less expensive than driving, and mainly, because its FUN! I don't trust the government to encourage anyone to do anything that doesn't in some way help generate tax revenue.

Here in DC, we have an effective program to encourage bike commuting. It is called "traffic congestion" We have another one to discourage people from using their cars in the winter, especially the more expensive ones. It is called "salt."

Paul

Here in Phoenix all the wanna be's had already eaten all the food by the time I got there (wann be = Commutes only during bike week). Still got a cool leg reflector and frisbee (daughter threw the frisbee into the neighbors yard a bit ago and it is gone forever!).

Well I live in Northern NJ (Bayonne) and the town recent spent over 100K putting up those yellow "bike lane" signs to warn drivers the avenue has bicycle traffic. That's all folks.

Furthermore, the avenue where they put up those wonderful "bike lane" signs goes for only 2 miles. What a waste of money.

My biggest problem is not how much my town is spending but how much I'm spending repairing the damage on my junkers by vandals!

Well, I've already suspected that we all commute because we love to, and for our own reasons, but it would be nice to know that the government would recognize that we are out there, we are actively helping reduce congestion, etc.. etc.. I wont preach to the choir.

And I keep hearing that places who supported the bike to work day/week would give out free breakfasts and food.. I want my free food!!! :D We never had any place near me that offered such or at least advertised it.

I have heard of some companies getting a tax credit if x% of their employees aren't driving to work but not in NJ from what I know and yeah, it's not directly benefiting us commuters but who we work for, but it could trickle down to better facilities to bike in (i.e. lockers, racks, etc)...

Jay

I've never checked it out, but Georgia has a program the Clean Air Campaign runs within Metro Atlanta called "Cash for Commute" program
which includes cycling as one of the target modes. I should have checked it out long ago, since I cycle commute, and the cash incentive would have been nice. Acoording to the web site it expires September 30, and I don't know if the program is being funded past then.

The URL is http://www.cleanaircampaign.com/cfc.asp

I know that the Indiana Bicycle Coalition is working to help promote general improvements for cycling in Indiana.

But the state does little, if anything, to promote bicycle commuting. I am sure it has some to do with the fact that we are very much a rural state. Large urban or metro areas limited to Indy and a few other areas. I would love to see more emphasis on bicycle vs motorist safety awareness. Many motorist beleive the cyclist has no rights.

The City of Portland pays employees who commute by bike or walk to work greater than 80% of any given month $25.00 per month taxable to do so. They also subsidize bus / rail passes for employees who commute on transit.

Originally posted by LarryJ
I've never checked it out, but Georgia has a program the Clean Air Campaign runs within Metro Atlanta called "Cash for Commute" program which includes cycling as one of the target modes. I should have checked it out long ago, since I cycle commute, and the cash incentive would have been nice. Acoording to the web site it expires September 30, and I don't know if the program is being funded past then.

The URL is http://www.cleanaircampaign.com/cfc.asp

Larry, thanks for the heads up. I also live east of Atlanta, in Stone Mountain.

Unfortunately for me, I can't receive the $3.00 per day offered by this BP/Amoco sponsored campaign, even though I live in an eligible county, due to the following snag:

Who’s eligible?
To qualify for the Cash For Commuters program, you must: Live or work in Cherokee, Clayton, Cobb, Coweta, DeKalb, Douglas, Fayette, Forsyth, Fulton, Gwinnett, Henry, Paulding or Rockdale county; Not have used a commute alternative listed above more than five times in the 90-day period immediately prior to registration; Commute one or more weekdays; Use carpooling, teleworking, transit, cycling or walking to commute to and from work a minimum of 13 times over a 90-day period.


Though I live in Dekalb, I commute by bike an average of 36 or more times per 90-day period, far beyond the required maximum of 5 times in the last 90 days.

But thanks for posting that. I've never seen anything like that in my entire life!

Imagine if they offered $3.00 a day to people like me, who already commute by bike most of the time. Since I only bike or bus, I'd make about $66 a month!

Hi, Pete. It seems I heard early on that current commuters by the eligible methods were not eligible for the money. It's probably the reason I never checked it out thoroughly.

My commute methods are bicycle, bus, train, walking, and from time to time I take my car to the train station (if I need it immediately after work) but cycling probably constitutes 80% of my commutes at this point.

I actually live within Atlanta's city limits, but in the the eastern portion which is in Dekalb County rather than Fulton. So my one way commute is only 3.5 miles.
Generally speaking everything east of Moreland Avenue but still in the city is in Dekalb County. The neighborhoods included in this include East Atlanta (where I live), East Lake, Edgewood, Kirkwood, Candler Park, Lake Claire, and the part of Druid Hills which is in City of Atlanta.

i lived in durango, colorado for a year.. they have ample bike lanes and a path that runs the 3.5 mile length of the town.

when i lived in colorado springs, colorado for 6 years i also used a bicycle to commute to work and college(6 mile ride). there are a ton of bike paths there, but almost no bike lanes that i recall. i don't know, i never needed them. there are enough bike paths that they print bike path maps.. (on cloth even so you can swab your sweaty head..)

now i am in espanola, new mexico. i ride on the sidewalks. there is a lane that could possibly be a bike lane, but i dont know for sure, and the car drivers certainly don't know. i understand many of the dangers of sidewalk riding.. but i'm scared to be on the streets in a car here, as a passenger. people are drunk/asleep/stupid/on heroin/all of the above in this glory hole of a town. i have seen 2 other cyclists here in town. both were in their late 30s to mid 40s, and riding on the side walk. i do not excercise cyclists' right to be in the road here. i get off the road when i see a car, wait for them to pass and continue on, when there is no sidewalk. i have never done this in any other town.

from past experiences, if i were hit here and had the plate number of the offending vehicle, a picture of the perpetrator.. the officer would say, "we can't help you, i'm sorry. that could be anybody."

there are no subsidies here or the other two places listed. even if there were, i would not take them.

Is Espanola still the low-rider capital of America?

Ok, since there isn't great support for encouraging commuting in any of the posts, maybe we could change the question.

How would you like to see your state or area promote bike commuting?

naa, you still see some nice cars around, but they all mostly traded their classics in for sports cars. the town up the road, chimayo, however has the numbers to be the herion abuse capitol of the US..(per capita) or at least that is the statistic that gets bandied about.

what i would like more than government or state support of cyclists is motorist support.. if the drivers are polite, everything else is has a secondary necessity.

We have no tax incentives here in Chicago but we have bike lanes, a bike commuter map, and our mayor bikes to work fairly often.

On the down side, we have too few bike racks (all of which are outside in the weather), lots of crazy drivers, and too few tickets written for parking and driving in our lanes. Notice I didn't whine about the ice and snow.

As for muffins: only at special bike events.

Tom O.

I hear that there is a bike winter group in Chicago that does Cycle Santa rides at Christmas dressed up in Santa suits.

I'm going to form a group, Bikers United for Free Food or BUFF. I don't know about you guys but biking to work makes me hungry so I am always scouring the office for birthdays, celebrations, milestones, or free food. Co-workers know that if they have any leftover food from say customer meetings or birthday bagels, they come to me and the rest of the bike commuters cause they know we're always hungry.

I'm lucky for the past three weeks, our customers from the UK are here and because of that, I have carte blanche at the cafeteria. Now I don't try to abuse the policy and usually bring my lunch anyway, I'll go and get drinks and bagels and muffins...

Jay

San Diego is pretty friendly to cyclists. SanDag ( San Diego Area Govt) does quite a bit to promote alternative transportation ( Bus, Trolley, Cycling) . If I could have ask for one thing, it would be for the traffic lights to sense a cyclist. There are a couple of lights on my route that I have to press the crosswalk button or wait for a car. Anyway, I have been seeing lots of riders this summer. Could be the gas prices. But, whatever the motive, perhaps that is enough to show people how easy and fun commuting is.

Edited to add my vote for free food

I wonder if we could get the santa's to bring free food.

tom o

South Carolina--- Columbia


Almost funny to think that the gov't may help the area cyclist out. It's not a BAD area to live, once you get outta town you are out on great roads. Until then, it's kinda bumpy and southerns arent' the best drivers. Guess it could be worse. I haven't been scared off the bike yet ;)