Free Bikes!!!!!
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skd at 02.15.08 - 1:19 pm
Wisconsin College to give incoming Freshmen free bikes (new Trek 820 Mountain bikes), if they promise not to drive a car to campus in their first year. Read the article about the
Velorution Program here
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Imagine if Employers did that for their Employees. Don't drive a car to work for a year and we'll give you a free bike. It would save the company money on parking fees, the employee would be healthier, traffic would be reduced and so would pollution.
skd02.15.08 - 1:52 pm
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Sure, if all your employees live 3 miles away, in which case a bike would probably be cost-effective anyway. Otherwise, there's no way a free bike is going to make up for all the time lost every day commuting.
Being in shape is cool, but spending, say, 2 hours a day commuting on a bicycle is just not cost-effective.
nate falls02.15.08 - 3:07 pm
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What makes you think a car is always faster than a bike? I'm sure frequent bike comuters have some tales to tell.
As teh traffic gets worse, I'm sure there'll be more & more instances where the bike makes better time than the car.
mr rollers02.15.08 - 3:29 pm
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Hollywood to Santa Monica in morning rush hour and opposite direction in the early evening, I win versus car.
GarySe7en02.15.08 - 6:19 pm
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"Being in shape is cool, but spending, say, 2 hours a day commuting on a bicycle is just not cost-effective."
1 hour and 15 mins gets me from silverlake to el segundo (and I take the scenic route along the beach to avoid sepulveda) a car does it in 30-45 mins in the morning.... when traffic is manage-able.... but evening I'm doing 45 to an hour to get back by car.... I'm just saying... cars are not that much of an advantage even if you literally work on the other side of the city.
Roadblock02.15.08 - 6:48 pm
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sometimes, sometimes not. I do know no bicyclist has ever beaten me to work on my motorcycle, though.
If you have a non-terrible freeway going your way, motor vehicle wins every time, though. Doubly so if you can use the carpool lanes.
nate falls02.15.08 - 6:55 pm
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In the end, all I'm getting at is: bribing someone into commuting on a bicycle is lame. If they thought it was feasible on a bike before, they'd already be doing it, and if they didn't, then an incentive as small as a free bike sure as hell isn't going to get them to abandon their car.
nate falls02.15.08 - 7:01 pm
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Having personally watched some people pick up biking to work who did not before, after our company introduced an incentive, I'm inclined to disagree. The incentive at my work is a cash out to give up a parking space, so it a bit different.
However I could picture some people trying it and thinking hey this might work. Or they might decide this is too tough to commute every day, but maybe I'll run some light errands with it, which still reduces traffic. I think it's rather pessimistic to assume all those recipients of free bikes will not be making use of them.
In the long run though I think the month to month cash out would have more impact as it gives a continual incentive, and shares some of the money the company saves by having one less car back with the employee.
GarySe7en02.15.08 - 7:54 pm
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What about taking the funds used for a set of parking spaces, and directing them towards free bikes and bus/transit passes for employees?
When you couple these two methods of transportation together, you really can't go wrong.
Ride the bike to the train/bus stop, use the bus/train to cut out the bulk-distance, then huff if to work from the stop/station.
Increase productivity, eliminate unnecessary construction costs, and make your employees not look like slobs.
bentstrider02.15.08 - 8:44 pm
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A bike ride from Los Feliz to Westwood and Santa Monica Blvd takes approximately 30 to 40 minutes, a ten mile trip. At an average speed of 15 to 20 miles per hour.
The equivalent drive during morning rush hour may take 30 to 40 minutes, along with increased blood pressure and frustration. You are traveling at about the same speed as a bike....in a car!!
I don't see how a bike is worse than a car. In fact most people spend about an hour and a half commuting daily. Then they get back into their car and go to the gym. Another hour of cardio/aerobic workout, not to mention the time it takes to commute to the gym and search for a coveted parking space.
In the broader scheme of things, you could save yourself time (as well as gas and car maintenance fees) by using a bike for that daily commute.
skd02.16.08 - 10:19 am
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Venice to downtown LA takes me 1hr5min taking it easy on a full stomach. When I drive, I only save 20 min on most days, I arrive less alert, and I am less effective in the workplace all day. Whoever says that hours would be lost every day on a commute longer than 3 miles is clearly not a bike commuter... or maybe even a cyclist.
Undercover Bob02.16.08 - 12:26 pm
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15-20mph??
I can honestly say that I will never feel safe enough to travel that fast by myself on the street. I rode down SM blvd a couple days ago going about 11-15 mph and almost got creamed 4 times in less than an hour. That noise is redonk.
hatehills02.16.08 - 4:53 pm
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The streets: Ride em like you own em.
kyber02.16.08 - 4:56 pm
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you can only go as fast as your legs (and your fear) will let you,
FuzzBeast02.16.08 - 5:10 pm
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My commute is a fairly straight shot, 4.5 miles to work, 5.5 miles to gym after work, then 1.5 miles to home from gym.
All in all, I'm usually stoking along at about 12-16mph, not to mention the 20-30lb bag of goodies on my seatback.
The only real thing I have to worry about is the afternoon traffic where everyone is pulling between 50 and 65mph on Bear Valley.
Then the late-night, light traffic where even though all, three lanes in each direction are clear, I still have to deal with chickenshits who need to speed in the #1.
So, it's safe to say that the "Fear Factor" could be one setback to someone afraid to commute by bike.
bentstrider02.16.08 - 5:15 pm
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This pic:
Bicycle Brigade in Burbank, CA at the Lockheed Vega Aircraft Corporation, in 1942. Employees living within four miles of Lockheed's plant were allowed to purchase bicycles through the company and resell them to the company when the need for them didn't exist anymore. (photo from the Library of Congress)
It can easily happen again if bicycles get treated with some respect by motorists and the people who design roads in L.A.
ubrayj0202.16.08 - 10:53 pm
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That's a great picture and story. Do we need a World War to get people back on a bike? I should hope not.
skd02.17.08 - 2:13 am
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By car, I can cover the 62 miles to work in a little over an hour. By bike, if I could sustain 15mph, it would take me over 4 hours each way. There is neither train nor bus transportation available that can get me to work during normal working hours. A free bike wouldn't do much for me.
mk452402.17.08 - 2:44 am
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@mk5424
You might, or might not live out in the sticks like I do.
Myself, I just choose to work and live in the same place.
Alot of people seem to want to commute for money reasons.
I'm not able to stop them, but I still see that as insanity to a degree.
Sad thing about the desert where I live, that's about 60-70% of the population up here.
bentstrider02.17.08 - 5:34 am
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"I can honestly say that I will never feel safe enough to travel that fast by myself on the street. "
I used to ride much slower than I do now and I find that the faster you ride the better off you are in traffic. cars respect you more if you are hauling in the 17-25mph area because you are essentially going their speed and they have less of a reason to be pissed that you are "holding them up"
Roadblock02.17.08 - 7:05 am
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i can agree i commute from montebello to santa monica just about every day i try and hold a pace of about 20mph and its usually a safe ride, just be alert at all times and carry a whistle sounds funny but that little piece of plastic has saved my ass a couple of times
elijah02.17.08 - 2:48 pm
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Montebello to Santa Monica is about 24 miles. So it takes a little over an hour to bike there. A car could get you there ten or 15 minutes faster, but you would be stressed from the drive and far more frustrated.
It would be great if all the people who bike to Santa Monica for work, met and rode at the same time once a week. It would definitely make a statement to all the cars on the road, and may garnish a few more bike converts.
skd02.18.08 - 4:39 pm
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