Commuters All Across the Bay Hop on Their Bikes for Biggest Bike to Work Day Yet

Tens of thousands of Bay Area residents packed up their briefcases, backpacks, kids and dogs to bicycle to school, work and errands yesterday. While their ranks included veteran bicycle commuters, for a good many of Thursday’s cyclists, the act of getting around by two wheels instead of four was a novel and uplifting experience.

Early numbers show a significant increase in Bike to Work Day participation across the Bay Area compared to last year -– as much as 10 percent across the board, according to Bike to Work Day Coordinator Andrew Casteel, who is also executive director of the Bay Area Bicycle Coalition.

Casteel reported brisk business at the morning Energizer Station at the Marin County side of the Golden Gate Bridge. “We were pretty packed for most of the morning over there,” he said.

In San Francisco, bicycles accounted for 75 percent of the morning roadway traffic on Market Street, according to the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition and the city of San Francisco. That equates to one-third more people choosing to pedal to their jobs in San Francisco on Bike to Work Day this year compared to last year’s event, based on counts at Market and Van Ness from 8 a.m. to 9 a.m. Advocates for bicycling attribute this record-breaking increase to the newly separated, green-painted Market Street bike lanes (between 8th and Gough streets) and other improvements that are making streets all across the city safer.

San Mateo reported a 19 percent increase in bike traffic at its Energizer Stations during the morning commute compared to last year, while Alameda County was showing an average 10 percent increase in traffic at select Energizer locations, according to reports from the East Bay Bicycle Coalition. Bike traffic at Energizer Stations in Santa Clara County was up 12.5 percent over the prior year.

The free pancake breakfast for bicycle commuters at Oakland’s City Center was a sell-out affair, while the free, all-day valet parking for bicycles was packed by 8:30 a.m. In a greeting to the crowd, Oakland City Councilmember Rebecca Kaplan vowed to make Oakland “the bicycling-est city” in the nation.

The month-long Team Bike Challenge is also picking up steam, with the 2,220 participants registered to date already logging 129,016 miles by midday on Bike to Work Day – enough to circle the globe over five times, while saving the planet over 71 tons of harmful toxic emissions. Participants form groups of up to five members, recording their daily bike trips in an effort to earn the most points and win prizes. This year’s Team Bike Challenge contestants have a cool new tool in the form of a free GPS-enabled iPhone app (iBikeChallenge) that lets them record their trips and miles while on the road. Casteel said that based on the mileage to date, participants are on track to log nearly 300,000 miles by the end of the May competition, which would be a 10 percent increase over last year’s Team Bike Challenge.

Santa Clara County Supervisor and MTC Commissioner Ken Yeager did his part for the planet by not only bicycling to his office at San Jose’s county government center yesterday, but also cycling an additional 12 miles for an appearance at another event.

Bike to Work Day is a project of MTC and the Bay Area Bicycle Coalition, with major underwriting this year by Kaiser Permanente, and sponsorship by a number of other cities, local bicycle coalitions, bike shops and the like. 

– Brenda Kahn

Bike to Work Day and Team Bike Challenge by the Numbers

10 percent: overall increase in participation in Bike to Work Day compared to 2009

75 percent: bicyclists’ share of morning traffic on Market Street in San Francisco on Bike to Work Day

281: number of Energizer Stations fueling riders around the region on Bike to Work Day

7,655: number of people regionwide who pledged to make at least one trip on two wheels during May

562: teams competing in the month-long Team Bike Challenge

2,400: number of riders participating in Team Bike Challenge

316,359: miles collectively recorded by Team Bike Challenge riders (40,000 more than in 2009)

1,926: miles recorded by the Team Bike Challenge winners, Team Nom Nom Nom of San Francisco

24,264: miles traveled by employees of Apple Inc., winner of the Company Bike Challenge (which coincided with Team Bike Challenge)

174: tons of harmful emissions avoided by the Team Bike Challenge participants

17,059: virtual medals accrued during May by users of the iBike Challenge phone app, a GPS enabled tool for recording bike trips

SFMTA Counts More Than 1,000 Bicycles on Bike to Work Day

Annual Ride Comes as City Increases Cycling Infrastructure

San Francisco—The San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA) announced that more than 1,000 cyclists traveled eastbound on Market Street during this morning’s commute on Bike to Work Day (BTWD) 2010, based on a count taken between 8 a.m. and 9 a.m. at the intersection of Van Ness Avenue and Market Street, an increase of 34 percent over last year. A total of 1,038 bicycles were counted, compared to 307 automobiles. Bicycles made up 75 percent of the total vehicles headed eastbound, while automobiles came in at 22 percent (transit and taxis accounted for the remaining 3 percent of the vehicles). In 2009 bicycles accounted for 66 percent of the vehicles and automobiles for 32 percent.

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