MikeFu

Hello all! Its a new year and new battles for all of us. I hope none of you have too many black ice experinces for the winter.

Anywho, the point of this thread is I could use some more experinced advice on an issue I am having with commuting to work. I live in a very biker-friendly area, and the school district is actually a walking district. For those that may not know, that means the kids have to walk, bike, or get a ride to school from K-12.

My place of employment is right in the dead center of this district, and gets very high bike-traffic, especially during the day. We even have a major emphasis on healthy living, with 2 salaried nutristionits available to the public, a bike shop across the street, and a full offering of goods for those into the Organic diet.

The problem is this. The bike rack at my work can hold 4 bikes. For the other 30+ bikes that end up there during the day, its every man for himself for lock-up spots. As many could imagine, this results in bikes tangled up on top of another, bikes locked to tables, street signs, trees, and I've seen people chain lock there bikes together if in groups. Has anyone had a similar battle? I plead with my superiors to get a new rack but it just does not seem to work. This makes commuting by bike aggravating and I feel like my employers are missing out on a great chance to cash in on the cyclign community.

Should I keep whining or can anyone with a buisness background help me come up with a nice way to convince them to change. Not looking forward to the day when I get off of work and my chain has been completly knocked off my bike from someones pedal.

SlimRider

Don't you have a city council representative?

Do you have a bike co-op in your city?

Find a cyclist within the higher political circles of your city and devise a plan.

Meanwhile, purchase a folding bike and take it with you to work.

- Slim

downtube42

Forget management. Go to either facilities, benefits, or HR. I'd start with facilities because those are the guys who will end up doing the work and they probably have a budget. The bike pile sounds unattractive, could be considered a safety hazard, and could expose them to liability if any damage occurs. Approach them nicely, not in a confrontational way - you never want facilities to be against you. In fact you might start out by buying the head facilities guy a cup of coffee. Ask what it would take to get an appropriate bike rack installed. Before hand, research and have a range of bike racks selected, with prices. If money is the issue, ask who you should be talking to, to get it funded.

Many companies these days see the benefits of healthy employees, and have incentive programs. That's usually through benefits or HR.

The co-op suggestion is good - I know the Phoenix co-op makes/sells bike racks from donated bikes; maybe yours does as well.

Good luck.

MNBikeguy

From your post, it appears like you're the sole spokesperson for this problem?
You've got 30+ people with the same concern. Organize their assistance. You can get racks with a spot for everyone for about $35 per person. Management likes a defined action plan with dollars. Since they're being obstinant, rather then telling them what they need to do, give them the solution as a group including how much it will cost per employee and negotiate how much they can contribute.
As downtube points out, the company receives considerable benefits from commuting workers.

russd32

It sounds like it would be in your employer's best interest to buy more racks just to prevent the eyesore that it sounds like they probably have right now. Like Downtube said, your direct manager isn't going to be of any help. If the company you work for is large enough to have a facilities management area I'd bring it up with them first since it's really a facilities issue. If you have no luck with that MNBikeguys suggestion is probably your next best bet, have your ducks in a row and find the highest lever person you can to present your plan. The worst they can say is no.