How to make your workplace bike-friendly

The other day an email came in from a reader at a local company who was working with his admin department to develop benefits for bike commuters.

He figured since his company gave perks for using TriMet or carpooling, bicyclists shouldn’t be left out.

I forwarded his message to Michellle Poyourow at the BTA and she sent back a great list of ideas “off the top of her head” (wow).

I thought others might find the information helpful, so here’s the list…

Great bike parking
Indoors, in an underused closet or something. With racks you can lock to. Sure, some people will always keep it by their desk, but others would rather not.

A bike commuter’s benefit package

OHSU has a bike commuter’s group.
(File photo)

While the federal tax code does not allow this to be tax deductible (yet) (as a TriMet pass or parking spot are), companies can certainly give money to bike commuters to support their mode choice – either as a credit at a bike shop or just ordinary cash.

Vacation days
Chris King Precision Components, for example, in May and September rewards bike commuters who do a certain number of days with a certain number of vacation hours.

Treats. Donuts and coffee. Lunch. Whatever.
Also consider discounts on treats at any company vending or cafe facility.

Showers and lockers
These are huge for many people, but low on the list only because they require some capital and planning (here’s info on tax breaks related into investment car trip reduction measures). Some companies also make a deal with a nearby fitness club or gym to get shower-only memberships there.

Guaranteed ride home
Some people are very worried about getting a flat tire or having to pick up a sick kid at school. Having your workplace guarantee a ride home helps them get past that. If you want to know what workplaces do this and how they set the criteria etc, ask me.

Bike commuter’s corner
Have a place where you post bike maps and local bike shops other info for commuters. A sign up for “bike buddies” can also go here so that people who are considering biking in can look and see who lives near them that might be willing to ride with them the first time.

A bike commuting workshop
I did these last summer and can do them again, August 15th through September 30th. They’re funded by a Metro grant. Contact me to schedule it.

If your company needs ideas of benefits to offer bike commuters, or just wants to encourage more folks to ride, contact Michelle at michelle(at)btaforbikes(dot)org.

It’d be great to make this list even bigger and better, so please share your ideas and experiences at your workplace in the comments below.

Jonathan Maus (Publisher/Editor)

Jonathan Maus (Publisher/Editor)

Founder of BikePortland (in 2005). Father of three. North Portlander. Basketball lover. Car owner and driver. If you have questions or feedback about this site or my work, feel free to contact me at @jonathan_maus on Twitter, via email at maus.jonathan@gmail.com, or phone/text at 503-706-8804. Also, if you read and appreciate this site, please become a supporter.

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Val
Val
16 years ago

What we really need is for this company to start operating in the US: http://www.gear-change.co.uk/index.html At the moment, I believe that they are strictly UK. Wonderful concept, though.

Jan
Jan
16 years ago

Making a workplace bike friendly also involves getting people motivated to do it in the first place. Does anyone have or can people contribute to a \”Top 10 reasons why you should bike to work\” list? I\’d like to put a poster on the wall with this list – that is motivating and funny. Ideas?

VR
VR
16 years ago

Actually, there are some tax benefits to bike commuter projects in Oregon.

The Business Energy Tax Credits can be applied to bicycling programs that meet certain criteria:

http://egov.oregon.gov/ENERGY/CONS/BUS/BETC.shtml

It is not much, but it is *something*.

Dave
Dave
16 years ago

I work downtown at a company that provides parking and Tri-met pass reimbursement. I simply asked our CFO (who also happens to be a bike commuter) if we could get an expense allotment for bike maintenance. After about 30 seconds of pondering, he said, \”yeah, that\’s a great idea!\” It\’s enough to cover tubes, tires and a shower-only membership at a health club a couple buildings away.

Sometimes, all you gotta do is ask.

Michelle
Michelle
16 years ago

An internal advocate like you, Dave, can be transformative for a company! Good work.

Mr. Viddy
16 years ago

Rock on! I have tried so many times to get interest in bike commuting circulating in my various workplaces but everyone is all talk, no pedal action. I\’m 100% behind generating interest in any level of cycling but I always hit a brick wall.

I hope others out there are having more success. I won\’t give up though.

Phil
Phil
16 years ago

I think showers and lockers are the most important thing, since they make it something you can do everyday even if you don\’t live within sweat-distance of work.

Covered parking is important too, and I\’m lucky that my building has racks in the basement garage.

My company pays about $250/month per parking spot and offers to pay the $60/month for a trimet pass. For me, it would be nice just to have this as a \”parking spot or cash\”. Occasional bike commuters don\’t really need this incentive, though.

I should also point out that I believe the tax deduction is only for carpool spots, not just anyone\’s space (I may be wrong).

Joe
Joe
16 years ago

There\’s been research on the effects of offering \”parking cash-outs\” to employees and it\’s quite encouraging for gaining biking and transit mode shares at your work. It\’s just as Phil mentioned in post #7. Instead of just offering everyone free parking and nothing else, an employer can offer people a monthly in-lieu reward of whatever the parking space actually cost. It\’s easy to do this when the employee is paying a monthly fee to rent parking in an underground garage and adjacent parking structure. It\’s less easy, but still possible in less urban situations. It\’s described in great detail by Professor Don Shoup of UCLA, who first published this idea back in the early 90\’s. Here\’s a link to a few chapters from his book THE HIGH COST OF FREE PARKING that directly describe this concept of parking cash out. http://www.uctc.net/papers/528.pdf

Disco D
Disco D
16 years ago

Showers, showers, showers.

To me this is the absolute most important thing. I am no longer allowed to use the showers where I work because I am a contractor, and I basically stopped riding after that. I tried a few times, but without the shower I am not interested.