Comments on: Bike commuting all around

By: aullman

aullman — Sun, 27 Jul 2008 20:50:40 +0000

There are alot of people who would ride their bikes work if they could. In some cases it is just too far. For others, there is no safe route. The way to solve both of these problems is to work in a remote office. Remote Office Centers lease individual offices, internet and phone systems to workers from multiple companies in shared centers that are located near where people live. Remote Office Center allow people to work in an office down the street. Imagine how many more people could bike to work if they could their office to a more convenient location. ROCs make this possible. The concept is new, but there are already 350 centers posted on: http://www.remoteofficecenters.com

By: Mauricio Babilonia

Mauricio Babilonia — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 17:33:20 +0000

I’ve been commuting in Madison, WI since 1989, and the last 3 years have seen a steady increase in the number of bike commuters. But this year… this year has been something else altogether… the bike facilities have been downright crowded. Personally, I’d like to see gas go back down to 99 cents/gallon so I can have my bike paths back!

By: Joe

Joe — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 02:09:27 +0000

That friggin POS Kulongowski riding his bike to work. What a joke. He rolls around to meetings all day in big fat SUV’s. He’s a total hypocrite.

Ok. NUff about that. I’ve been seeing a few more bikers here in the less populated areas of the state of Oregon. We are 300 miles from Portland.

By: mtbman1

mtbman1 — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 01:05:06 +0000

Albany, NY chiming in. I’m definitely seeing lots more commuters on the streets especially from my middle/upper middle class burb to downtown where the primary “industry” is the state government. It’s about a 7 mile ride from where I live to downtown.

By: Paul

Paul — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 18:07:18 +0000

I’ve been doing the bike/ rail commute for about 4 months now and here in Los Angeles there is definitely an increase in bike commuting. I have about a 5 mile ride to the Redline (subway) station, and about a 2.5 mile ride from there to my job at the University of Southern California (USC). The campus is located in downtown Los Angeles, so the ride can be pretty hairy, but the streets are fairly wide and flat, so the ride itself is not that difficult.

Subway and bus ridership in general is way up here, and its customary to see at least 2-3 regular bikers in each car of the train I ride in on. There was an interesting article in Bicycling Magazine last month about the most bike friendly cities in the US, and I was surprised that Los Angeles was on the list of “five to watch” in the coming years. There is supposedly some type of master plan to integrate the 350 + miles of bike paths, bike lanes and bike trails in the city next year – it will be interesting to see what becomes of it.

By: locus

locus — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 19:44:36 +0000

I’ve been a DC bike commuter for over four years. I’m blessed with a relatively easy 2 mile ride into the office at the U.S. Dept. of Health. It doesn’t hurt to have an office that supports my efforts with showers and a garage where I can safely park my wheels.
It all started because I don’t have convenient access to Metro and the numerous buses that criss-cross my neighborhood drop me off pretty far from work. It literally is the fastest way to get in. I’ve kept it up and now ride yearlong (subfreezing temps) and other inclimate weather (rain). I just found over time that I had fewer and fewer excuses not to get on my bike and ride.
There are a number of fellow commuters that share the bike lanes in my neighborhood who become much more frequent in the spring and fall. It’s not uncommon to see cyclists in dress shirts and/or suits (myself included). Some use their bikes to ferry their kids to daycare before heading into the office (again, myself included).
I guess we’re lucky here in DC. We’ve got a relatively flat city, numerous bike lanes, and an active bike community (go WABA). The Mayor and Council support our efforts. It probably doesn’t hurt to have a large group of bike messengers either.

By: derrick

derrick — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 16:53:58 +0000

I live in Lexington, KY. I’ve been commuting for a couple years now and have never seen anyone else on the road… until now. There’s about three others out there on their bikes every morning. One on a recumbent packed with panniers. 3 may not sound like many. But for having never seen anyone before, it’s like Lexington’s commuting numbers have grown by 300%! We have way too much sprawl and way too few roadways that work for cyclists. So I’m pretty pleased to see more friendly faces out there.

By: Meghank

Meghank — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 15:18:45 +0000

Here in Memphis, Tn, there hasn’t been much of an increase in people who commute by bike, although there’s been a little. I see a lot more people bicycling for fun, though. And maybe I’m imagining it, but I think drivers are nicer to me than they were when gas was cheap (or at least when it wasn’t on everyone’s mind all the time).

By: Cafn8

Cafn8 — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 13:28:05 +0000

Chiming in from New Jersey: in the past few years of bike commuting, I can remember seeing (maybe) a handful of people on bikes during my commute, and most of them appeared to be “just out for a ride” and not necessarily riding for transportation. Within the past two or three weeks, however, I’ve begun to see people with backpacks, and even some people on bikes wearing dress shirts and pants. Not a lot, but some, which seems like a big relative change. Maybe we’ve reached a breaking point. It’s encouraging to see.

By: Stevep

Stevep — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 13:13:30 +0000

Bikers are everywhere, and it’s great!
My office has a couple of bike racks in back where there were always a few bikes parked. In the last year, the racks have started to overflow. There are clearly more people riding to work. Some people ride regularly and some just once in a while, but it’s more. I’m even seeing people riding who I never thought would do anything but drive to work.
Why? Hard to say. In addition to gas prices, I think a greener way of thinking is becoming a part of mainstream thinking – it’s not weird to ride a bike for transportation anymore. Ironic, right? Maybe some people will never get it, but most people I talk to think riding to work is a great idea even if they don’t actually bike – future converts I think.