Press Releases

For Immediate Release

Bay Area to Celebrate Bike to Work Day May 20

10th Annual Event Promotes Clean Air and Congestion Relief

CONTACT:

Susan Heinrich
510.817.5822

John Goodwin
510.817.5862

OAKLAND, Calif., May 17, 2004...As part of its ongoing effort to reduce air pollution and ease traffic congestion, the Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC) will team up with local bicycle coalitions, city and county governments, corporate sponsors and hundreds of volunteers to host Bike to Work Day 2004 on Thursday, May 20 at more than 150 sites across the nine-county region. The day-long celebration marks the Bay Area’s tenth Bike to Work Day and is being held in conjunction with California Bike Commute Week, which begins today and continues through Friday.

“Bike to Work Day makes it fun and easy for people to give bike commuting a try,” said MTC Chair and Marin County Supervisor Steve Kinsey. “ Once they’ve tried it, we expect a lot of people will discover that almost every day can be a Bike to Work day.”

A key element in making it fun and easy to participate in Bike to Work Day is the establishment of more than 150 “energizer stations” at strategic locations around the Bay Area on Thursday morning. Bike to Work Day musette bags, ZonePerfect energy bars and Bullfrog sunblock will be available for free at each energizer station, and many stations will feature more elaborate offerings. Bike commuters who stop by the energizer station near City Hall in downtown Oakland’s Frank Ogawa Plaza between 7 a.m. and 9 a.m. will be treated to a complete pancake breakfast.

“Fresh pancakes, gourmet coffee and juice — first class all the way,” said Robert Raburn of the East Bay Bicycle Coalition, who is serving as Alameda County coordinator for Bike to Work Day. “And it’s not just breakfast — the downtown Oakland station will have all-day attended valet bike parking so riders don’t have to worry about bringing a lock or finding an available rack.”

In addition to free food and drinks, Bike to Work Day participants can win prizes and collect giveaways donated by event sponsors. Riders who fill out an official Bike to Work Day 2004 registration form will be eligible to win two grand prizes of a round-trip flight for two to the Hawaiian island of Kauai, courtesy of Pleasant Holidays. Other prizes include a “Muirwoods” model urban bicycle from Marin Bikes, two Palm Tungsten E handheld devices, and a folding bicycle from Dahon. Online registration is now available at MTC’s www.511.org Web site. Paper registration forms will be available at many Bike to Work Day energizer stations on Thursday morning.

“Bicycling is a viable commute option for huge numbers of Bay Area residents,” observed Kinsey. “More than a million people in the Bay Area live within five miles of their workplace, which is considered an ideal distance for bike commuting. If every one of these people rides a bike to work on May 20, we’ll take more than 600,000 vehicles off the road and tons of pollution out of the air.”

Currently some 38,000 Bay Area residents use a bicycle as their primary means of getting to work. Thousands more occasionally commute to work by bike.

“Bike to Work Day has a proven record of getting cars off the road and pollution out of the air,” said Deb Hubsmith, executive director of the Marin County Bicycle Coalition and a member of the Bay Area Bicycle Coalition board. “Over the years we’ve seen many people become regular bicycle commuters after making their first ride to work on Bike to Work Day.”

For more information on Bike to Work Day 2004, just call 511 and use the voice-activated system to ask for bicycling information at the first menu prompt. Or go to MTC’s www.511.org Web site and click on the bicycling icon.

MTC is the regional transportation planning, financing, and coordinating agency for the nine-county San Francisco Bay Area.

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Note to editors: A complete of list of county Bike to Work Day coordinators is attached, along with contact information for each county coordinator and a list of “energizer station” locations.

Attachment

Bike-to-Work Day 2004 County Coordinators

Alameda County
Coordinator Robert Raburn
Organization East Bay Bicycle Coalition
Phone (510) 433-RIDE, press 2 then #
E-mail robertraburn@csi.com

Contra Costa County
Coordinator Lisa Bobadilla
Organization Contra Costa Commute Alternative Network
Phone (925) 973-2651
E-mail lbobadilla@sanramon.ca.gov

Marin County
Coordinator Kim Baenisch
Organization Marin Bicycle Coalition
Phone (415) 456-3469, press 6 then #
E-mail kim@marinbike.org

Napa County
Coordinator Anna McLaughlin
Organization Solano Napa Commuter Information
Phone (707) 427-5104
E-mail amcloughlin@sta-snci.com

San Francisco County
Coordinator Michael Calfee
Organization San Francisco Bicycle Coalition
Phone (415) 431-2453, ext. 21
E-mail michael@sfbike.org

San Mateo County
Coordinator David Nelson
Organization Peninsula Traffic Congestion Relief Alliance
Phone (650) 588-8170
E-mail david@commute.org

Santa Clara County
Coordinator Celia Chung
Organization Valley Transportation Authority
Phone (408) 321-5716
E-mail celia.chung@vta.org

Sonoma County
Coordinator Christine Culver
Organization Sonoma County Bicycle Coalition
Phone (707) 545-0153
E-mail scbc@att.net

Solano County
Coordinator Anna McLaughlin
Organization Solano Napa Commuter Information
Phone (707) 427-5104
E-mail amcloughlin@sta-snci.com

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