The LCRA Bike to Work Fridays program began as an employee suggestion that people would Bike into work more often if they felt more confident riding on city streets. From that came the idea of recruiting employees who were experienced bikers to lead groups of employees on Friday rides to and from the office until they build that confidence. As many of our personnel live too far to Bike, we set up two locations approx. 7 miles from the office, where people could meet, park, and Bike in safely. To that end, we asked our employee Bike experts to plan a route which we then mapped and included hazards and level of difficulty (North Route, South Route). Groups of employees would meet at 7am at each location and be guided in to the office by at least two experience riders. As an added incentive, folks got a free breakfast taco and cup of coffee when they got to work. Guided rides back left the office at 4pm. The formal Friday guided rides were put on hiatus throughout the winter and were begun again this May.

To also aid employees we installed three fully enclosed bike lockers for those worried about security in addition to our already existing wire Bike racks, full size clothes lockers in our locker-rooms, soap/shampoo/conditioner dispensers in the showers, and t-shirts. Last but not least, we hold a monthly random drawing for a $25 gift certificate to the Bicycle Sport Shop for all those getting to work by biking, walking, and other non-motor means

The program kicked off on National Bike to Work day May 20, 2005, and in little over a year has recorded 339 employee trips with over 5,950 miles avoided, compared to 65 trips and 1,177 miles recorded in all three years prior to the Bike to Work program combined!

CONTACT FOR MORE INFORMATION:
Maia Corbitt
Environmental Coordinator
LCRA Environmental Leadership
(512) 473-3200 x.2920
Maia.Corbitt@lcra.org