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What does your city do to encourage bicycle use, which cuts down on all those bad emissions, helps reduce traffic, and tries to address the obesity problem which prevails and (excuse the pun if indeed it is a pun) growing in many countries?
Do you bicycle?
Im in the UK and our Government has a ride to work scheme. You can get a bike through your employer at a much reduced rate, no VAT, a saving on national insurance and income tax. I got mine for about £300 when it should have been £500, and the payment is taken directly from your wages over 12 months.
I am cycling into work some days but not everyday as it's a 30 mile round trip, so quite knackering. Takes me just over an hour to get in.
Not a lot of people know about this scheme and your employer has to apply for it before you can take advantage of it.
this is the link for how it works for anyone in teh UK thats interested. [evanscycles.com...]
Do you have parking / security issues with such an expensive bike?
I recently bought a new wireless speedometer which I am pretty pleased with but the shops here do not yet stock GPS bike computers which is what I wanted.
No i havnt got any security problems with it. I keep it in my house when i'm there and in the office when i get to work. We have room inside for it, but i do have a good lock for when i need to lock it up in public.
I have a simple computer on mine, but a gps one would be nice, but they are expensive.
One of the big issues is that since things have been this way for some time, the drivers are used to co-existing with bikes. That means most fo the drivers are more courteous and tolerant towards bikes than in other communities.
The main problem that I see is that I love it here and would be hard pressed to adapt if I have to move elsewhere. :)
I would like to see more work done in providing parking/storage areas for bikes. I rarely use my bike to go to the grocery store (or other stores in the area) because of a lack of places to lock a bike. And even though it's a safe area, I am not going to leave it unattended "just for a sec." However, I have taken my bike inside the bank with me several times and leaned it against the wall while waiting for a teller. No dirty looks or being asked not to do it again.
Currently, I commute by bike 3-5 times/week. I put my bike in my office. There is no shower in the building, but I can do a decent enough wipe down in the bathroom when I start in the morning and come back from my lunch rides.
The company is moving to a new bulding soon, so not sure what to expect yet. The boss wants to find a building with a shower (doubtful) or near a health club (possible). Hopefully, I'll still be able to store the bike in the office- I don't like the idea of having to chain it up outside. (Plus it's a pain to have to take off the seat bag, pump, and any other items not tightly attached to the bike.
I am not aware of anything the city does specifically to encourage biking (other than creating a good environment to do so), but the local clubs have a strong voice at transportation-related meetings at the county level.
