Local retailer starts staff commuter challenge
Posted by Jonathan Maus (Editor-in-Chief) on July 24th, 2006 at 9:41 am
space for bikes.]
The Ecotrust building in Northwest Portland is one of my favorite places to work; it’s quiet, connected, and caffeinated.
It’s also home to eco-friendly global retailer Patagonia. I passed by their storefront the other day and noticed an in-store bike rack and curiously bikey signage. I had to investigate.
I met employee Tim Reinhardt and he told me that as of June, they’ve started their own bike commuter challenge. According to Tim, at a recent managers meeting, each store was asked to come up with three initiatives to “reduce the store’s ecological footprint.”
peer pressure.]
Since Portland is bike mecca, it seemed fitting to start a bike commute challenge.
To promote cycling among their employees, they’ve put a bike rack in the store and they’ve got a running tally of how many days each employee has biked to work. Tim said 52% of the store’s employees ride to work on a regular basis and he himself puts in the long haul, riding from Vancouver to downtown 3-4 days a week.
Apparently the response has been so good (even among newbies) that Tim said they’re thinking of expanding it to other locations (Seattle is already in on the fun).
They’ve also carried the bike theme into their window displays with cool bikes (donated by Veloshop) and mannequins dressed with messenger bags.
Rock on Patagonia…thanks for taking the initiative!
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July 24th, 2006 12:52
this is absolutely wonderful! great!
July 24th, 2006 15:51
Looks like Larry needs to get on the ball...
July 24th, 2006 20:23
Hi Tim (Tim Reinhardt),
Thanks for riding your bike to work from Vancouver to Portland. (One more bike on the bridge! And thus more room for freight traffic too.)
If there is anything our office can do to make your bike commute better let us know - even if we have to pass it onto our regional partners at http://www.ColumbiaRiverCrossing.org
We are currently asking for comments on making Vancouver more bike friendly and seeking input on making both bridges bike friendly too at our on-line bike survey. (Oregon bicyclists who bike up here can fill it out too.)
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.asp?u=987312112324
Enter for a chance to win a LAB Chrome messenger bag too.
Todd Boulanger
Senior Transportation Planner
Transportation Services
City of Vancouver
360.696.8290 x8657
todd.boulanger@ci.vancouver.wa.us
PS. Patagonia...thanks for adding covered bike parking too!
July 31st, 2006 07:55
Just a quick update: We stopped by the store this weekend, and got confirmation that due to overwhelming pressure from the blogosphere Jerry has significantly stepped up his bike commuting. He should be joining the top ranks when next month’s numbers come out.