Please. Mr. Motorist. Watch. Out. For. Me. ?
(Source: v-e-l-o-l-o-v-e)
Dero Bike Racks is promoting a new technology called the the Dero Zap that will allow employers to track the number of times employees commute by bike.
On January 1, 2009 The Bicycle Commuter Act was passed that allows bicycle commuting the same tax benefit as other forms of transportation covered in section 132 (f) of the Internal Revenue Service Code, meaning that companies can now pay their employees to commute by bike and receive a tax credit from the IRS.
The Dero Zap unit is set up so that bike commuters are given an RFID tag for their bike, and every day they pass a reader that is set up in a location set by the employer, a commute is counted and a web site gets updated. Employees can log in to see how many times they have commuted by bike, and employers can log in to see how many people are riding into work and run reports.
This seems like it would be a pretty good idea for large employers that have a lot of bike commuters, and a way to encourage more bike commuting.
The League of American Wheelman has a page with more information about the Bike Commuter Tax Provision.
Do you live in a bicycle friendly city? Virgin Vacations has published a list of the their 11 most bicycle friendly cities in the world. Their list was largely based on the criteria and list of Bicycle Friendly Communities from the league of American Bicyclists. Here are Virgin Vacations top 11 cities:
1. Amsterdam, Netherlands
2. Portland, Oregon, USA
3. Copenhagen, Denmark
4. Boulder, Colorado, USA
5. Davis, California, USA
6. Sandnes, Norway
7. Trondheim, Norway
8. San Francisco, California, USA
9. Berlin, Germany
10. Barcelona, Spain
11. Basel, Switzerland
The number seven city on the list Trondheim, Norway has a “bicycle lift” that helps cyclists up a hill.
I wouldn’t mind having one of these on some of my rides!
It may be cold in many northern cities in the U.S. but that did not stop Chicago’s Active Transportation Alliance from celebrating Winter Bike To Work Day
Winter Bike to Work Day celebrates the coldest day in Chicago history — Jan. 20, 1985, when the official temperature at O’Hare International Airport was 27 degrees below zero with 36 mph wind gusts, producing wind chills as low as 93 degrees below zero.
Although the Winter Bike To Work Day celebrates Chicago’s coldest date on record, today’s temperatures called for a high of 31 degrees. With a little planning and the right cold weather clothing it is possible to commute by bike through most of the winter.
Speaking of winter cycling, Team Sky recently posted some photos of Edvald Boasson Hagen training in his native Norway on a winter training ride in the snow. That makes for some motivation for those living in cold winter climates.
A bike sharing program first planned in 2008 is set to start in the Twin Cities in June.
Plans call for the Minneapolis program to start with up to 80 kiosks, dispensing up to 1,000 bikes. It will operate in a way that planners say will deter the bike thefts that have plagued some earlier sharing programs. Kiosks will be concentrated mostly in downtown, Uptown and at the University of Minnesota. The city will join some 130 bike-sharing programs globally.
Users of the bike program can buy an annual key card, or pay by credit card. It will be interesting to hear if this program is successful.
