My employer doesn't support commuting
 

I started commuting the end of September and have been loving it every day - even when temperatures are in the teens and single digits. My problem is that I don't have a convenient place to keep my bike when I get to work. My employer won't allow me to bring the bicycle inside and they won't invest in a bicycle rack. I have to chain my bike to a tree which isn't a big problem, yet. Does anyone have ideas on how to convince an employer to support commuting?

How big is your company? When I asked our company to buy a new bike rack they said yes right away, however I made sure I had various options of racks / prices to present to them. Anything to make their life easier will go a long way in getting them to agree.

Good questions. There are approximately 100 employees and we have our own building and parking lot. Parking for cars is not an issue - they have more than enough. I gave them quotes for prices of a bicycle rack (approximately $500) and information on the commuter provision of the bailout bill. I'm about ready to give up, but thought I would ask others and see if there are any good ideas.

That is a good way to go about it Alfster. I too recently started to commute and I would like to see my company be more supportive, however, they don't seemed to interested at least at this time.

Just curious. What does a basic bike rack cost? Nothing more then a U-shaped piece of pipe. As well as cement, re-bar, and the labor to dig a hole for the base. If I knew I would be somewhere for a while I'd offer to put one in for them, for free.

Yes they're typically made out of tubing. The ironic thing is that our company makes components out of heavy wall tubing (of all sizes). Believe it or not, it was cheaper to go out and buy a pre-made one compared to using labour rates in our shop.

I wonder if it would help if you could find some like-minded employees to share in the request. They might be more willing to invest in bike accommodations if they knew more people would benefit.
Also, it's been well documented (google search) that healthier employees are more productive. Your HR people may appreciate a return on their investment.
Let us know how it goes.

I am really lucky then. I started working in what we called Tower back in January. I asked where I could park my bike . They gave several options I park it in my cubicle :):)

This site offers good info and strategies on how to promote cycling.

I think they are pretty pricey. You can easily spend $1-2k on a 10 bike setup. Here's an example:

http://www.bikeracks.com/html/rail__9_.html

Follow this for instant (in political terms) gratification from said employers:

1. Stop riding bike.
2. Buy Suburban (or bigger - the older the better).
3. Remove muffler.
4. Begin eating campaign.
5. Gain 200 lbs.


Now the company will definitely support your efforts to bike commute due to the cost of their health insurance premium for the company, and accommodating your new 'larger' size with special furniture to keep you from suffering any injury that could cost them more in workman's compensation insurance.

Oddly, I don't think this would work, you'd just become part of 'der norm.'

Sadly I think you're right, Santaria.

I'm really lucky in that one of the managers in my building is an avid cyclist. Unfortunately he doesn't commute too much but he keeps saying he wants to ride to work more but never quite does it. We've commuted a few times together but I actually prefer to run solo so I don't have to wait around when I'm ready to go. I work for a big company but the site I work in only has about 50 employees. Out of that 50, I commute most of the time, and at least three others have cycle commuted at least once, and another is interested in trying (I'll get her riding after the weather gets nicer).

As far as accommodations, I started out parking my bike in a vacant cube across from mine. I was told that's a no-go, but the alternative is perhaps better: there is an unused office at the other end of the building that's basically a storage room. I park my bike in there. There's a spot to stow some supplies (baby powder, towels, etc.) to freshen up when I arrive, and the door locks so I can change in there.

The corporation is pretty good about supporting alternative commuting... up to but not including participation in the bailout benefit. I'm working on that too, though.

To the OP: The best way to get support for cycling to work is to KEEP DOING IT. Eventually they'll buy in.

I know it isn't as satisfying, but perhaps a folding bike would do the trick?

Do you have your own desk or office or cubicle at work?
You could simply bring the bike there, and if the boss complains tell him you don't have a car and need to bike to work. Then tell him to weigh the benefit of having a bike in there versus losing one of his best employees... probably got a good chance of him backing down at that rate since its such a minor issue compared to your service record, right?

Are you talking to HR or are you talking to your boss? If you've been pushing with HR you might try asking your boss. Explain to him that this aids you in your work and it'd be greatly appreciated if he could convince HR to allow you to park your bike safely in the building in some unused nook.

It's likely that what you're asking will have no cost to the company and will leave you feeling accommodated and comfortable (since you're getting around the way you wanted to).

If he's not willing to help, well, that just sucks.

My university is gung-ho about biking and provides a free park-and-ride service because we are out of room for parking decks and we're limited in how high we can build any of our buildings.

My department within the university uses bicycles. They don't discourage biking but they have made a couple of biking accommodations a no-go. While they don't seem to care that I park my bike inside at the far end of the hallway, they nixed the extra locker that made my life so much easier. Now I have a suit-bag-pannier that I carry back and forth and hang on the back of the shower room inside the restroom and a large plastic tub that sits in the shared office space. I share the coat rack which the pannier hangs on with a motorcyclist who also changes at work. Overall, the department attitude seems to be mostly live and let live as long as my stuff doesn't get in the way.

I wish that I could help but the impetus to support biking university-wide is coming from much more powerful/influential people than me.

Ultimately , our employers control our lives.. Mine supported our commuters, because they got credit with the state of California for reducing smog emissions. Guess, all you can do is be on time. Lock your bike to a tree or post. In bad weather, cover your bike with a fold able tarp.. and , keep your cool and argue reasonably.. Too bad those employers who do not support bike commuting, won't give us the bonus needed to buy a reliable car..

I always cringe when I read things like this. When I started commuting, I just brought my bike into the building and stored it in the warehouse against a wall. Another bike commuter leaves his in the mail room. Neither of us ever asked where we could store our bikes. We just did it.

This is when it would be nice to have a good employment alternative. Let your feet do your talking and, maybe, the bosses would think twice next time.

A standard staple rack (for two bikes) is around $100. Typically they bolt to a cement foundation (but other options exist) I have not heard a cost estimate for the labor. I will also note that Baltimore city takes requests to install bike racks for free.

Design a bike rack that looks like a piece of art and get your company sold on building it themselves.
Ok, maybe a dumb idea. Maybe you could hang your bike in the warehouse?

I never asked if I could bring my bike in either, I just did it. Of course, I arrive prior to any of the bigwigs and leave much later as well. Maybe the maintenance guy or cleaning crew can suggest an empty closet or corner that they wouldn't mind sharing. I'd hate to have to leave my bike outside.

I always thought that this was a cute design for an office building
http://www.dero.com/images/custom/clip_cut.gif
http://www.dero.com/custom_racks.html

I'm a consultant/contractor working with a locally owned company which is expanding pretty quickly. They just recently bought and remodeled a new building downtown and at the same time aquired a 6 level attached parking garage. Most of their employees working here in town park in this garage and paid $85/month until their employer bought the garage and promptly raised the rate to $95/month knowing full well that most of their own car commuting employees use this garage. Upon transferring to this new building I was informed by the garage attendants that I cannot enter the parking garage with my bike unless I paid the required fee like every other commuter, so I have no choice but to lock my bike against light posts or parking meters along the sidewalk outside the building. The funny thing is that this company has a reputation of being generous with their donations to hospitals, schools and many local community organizations. Just this past year they bought a country ham for $200,000 to benefit a local charity. But of course I question their sincerity and motivation because they apparently are only interested in showing generosity if it's a high profile PR opportunity that probably also has other benefits such as tax breaks and such... because this company is one of the worst I've seen in terms of treating their employees decently. If anyone were to request they install a bike rack for their cycle commuting employees, of which there are several, I'm sure they would be happy to oblige and charge only a fraction of the parking garage rate to use the bike rack.

Ideas:
-Chain your bike to something that can be seen by everyone ... maybe even the flagpole.
-Ask fellow employees for support, 99 signatures shouldn't be that hard to get.
-Hold a bake sale. :)
-Find something that can be used as a bike rack, and install it yourself over the weekend.
(it's amazing what you can accomplish with a shovel and a bag of quik-crete)
-Start asking them to pay you for not using a parking space.

That is how it's supposed to work. Unfortunately that won't make a dent in the grand scheme of things: Cyclists are few and far between.

On an individual basis it may work if you happen to be in a field where you may be much more highly valued than you're paid. You may then find your boss or his boss in the HR department telling them that you'll be happy or they'll be finding new jobs.

It's such a ridiculously cheap thing to argue over. I bet they spend twice the cost of a bike rack every week on your salary. Heck, your desk chair may cost more than a bike rack and the Ford Pinto you'd drive instead will certainly look worse outside the building. I would guess that they're saying no because that's their default answer for everything.

No win situation. Employers do not have to give an inch these days. Only "key employees" might be able to exert leverage on the employer. What is the name of your company? I want to make sure that I never do business with them.

If they gave me a bonus I think I'd just save most and get bike stuff with the rest. Maybe they'd give me more next year since this bonus wasn't enough to get me in a car :innocent: bonus :roflmao2:

Of course I work for a company where I had to bring in my own office chair, keyboard and mouse because I didn't want some torn up, stained, uncomfortable, malfunctioning crap. I offered to pay all costs to put in a bike rack and I got denied :(

I'm serious, I'd be tempted into building and installing my own rack somewhere on the property.
Put it on the opposite side of the building from where the boss parks.

Some other rack info here.

http://www.portlandonline.com/transp...=58409&c=34813

To the OP - I don't think getting this done has anything to do with the cost of the racks or your company's "attitude" toward cyclists. Your "company" (which is really just a collection of individuals and an owner, either local or remote) probably doesn't even have an attitude/policy toward cyclists if it's never come up.

I *do* think that this has everything to do with "how things get done" at your employer. Every workplace has a way of getting things done. To get this done, you need to figure out how things get accomplished.

There are 4 potential avenues for you:
- Talk to your immediate supervistor, ask him/her, how would this get done here?
- Talk to HR, position this as an employee benefit.
- Talk to whoever manages your facility (which dept/person is responsible for building maintenance/upgrades)
- Go straight to the top (risky, but could work).

Companies make these decisions in lots of different ways (owner decides; "it's policy"; total whim; employee committees; total based on available $). Your task is to figure out how decisions like this get make at your company and then work the system.

Some considerations - has your company been cutting back/laying off people? Cutting budgets? Cutting benefits? If so, someone coming along (even with a well reasoned argument) to spend more money would not be well received. On the other hand, if you're expanding, thriving, throwing off cash and the parking lot is running out of room for cars - you're in better shape.

Good luck.