Office supply giant Staples just announced their plans to build a LEED Silver certified store in Miami. One of the line items in the release made me green with envy, Staples plans to “Encourage alternative transportation by installing bike racks and showers”. WOW! A company actually taking some steps to encourage cycling, now that’s Man Bites Dog news.

If you think about it though, if you are a big box store, if more customers and employees can get to your facility on bikes, the fewer parking spaces you will need; a big savings in hot real estate markets like Miami. They will also have another tool to keep their employees healthy and fit, which will keep their healthcare costs down.

Now if only Denver could get more companies to offer these kinds of facilities…

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Add Boston to the list of cities that are aspiring to become more bicycle-friendly. Named to Bicycling Magazines “Worst Cities for Bicycling” in 1999, Boston has now seen the light when it comes to bicycling. A newly converted (to bicycling, that is) Mayor is jump-starting efforts to make the city a haven for bicyclists. His efforts include the hiring of a bike czar, former Olympic cyclist Nicole Freedman, and a first phase of improvements to include 250 new bike racks across Boston and an online map system. Read the article, watch the video, check out the link of the Mayor on his bike. Denver needs Mayoral support like this if it really wants to make progress as a bicycle-friendly city.

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Yahoo Real Estate presents a “10 greenest cities” list. Denver isn’t on it. Who made the list? Look here.

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Come see some art and get your bike parked for free!

Read the RiNo Article

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For “Ride the RiNo” (Saturday, October 5th from noon to four) more than 30 River North studios, live/work spaces, galleries & creative businesses will open their doors for your creative exploration. Be Green – discover this hidden gem of a district by bike or scooter! We are thrilled to partnering with RiNo to provide bike parking at 2 popular locations. BikeDenver’s mission is to promote and encourage bicycling as an energy efficient, non-polluting, healthy, and enjoyable transportation alternative within the City and County of Denver.

In addition to our advocacy for Denver cyclists and safety education, we provide community service, such as bike corrals for many metro events.

BikeDenver will offer free, secure bike checks at 2 popular destinations: Ironton Studios/Weilworks at 36th and Chestnut AND a 2nd location at 34th and Blake. At the Ironton Studios/Weilworks location, there are 6 studios, 2 gallery spaces, and metal fabrication workroom to explore. At the 34th & Blake location, you can visit The Pattern Shop Studio, The Fire Clay lofts and 4 studios/galleries within a 2 block radius.

Visit RiNo’s Website and scroll down to the magenta buttons Open Locations, Tips & Bike Valet

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While they are all over Europe (and Canada), NYC is planning to install its first separated bike lane. It’s only a few blocks long, but it’s in a difficult area for bicyclists and should provide some relief. Makes me wonder where something like this might work in Denver…

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This week The Texas Transportation Institute released its annual study on traffic growth in major metro areas of the United States.  In the “tell me something I didn’t know” category, it turns out Denver Metro traffic is getting worse, and it is getting worse faster than similar sized U.S. cities.  If you want to see the raw data backing up this claim, click here: Denver Congestion Tables

Some highlights from the study:

• Denver drivers used an EXTRA 42.5 Million gallons of gasoline due to traffic congestion in 2005.
• Denver has experienced higher than average congestion growth than other cities of similar size.
• Denver area commuters spend an average of 50 hours extra per year in their cars due to traffic congestion.
• Traffic Congestion cost the citizens of the Denver Metro area 1.2 Billion dollars worth of lost productivity.

If there was ever a time to arrange your life around a non-motorized two wheeler, it’s now.  My commute is always a breeze, I roll through my neighborhood, then onto the Cherry Creek bike path, and I’m at work and energized in 10 minutes.  And don’t get me started on parking… I park my wheels almost anywhere I want for free.  Talk about a bargain, the cheapest car parking in LoDo is $140 per month!  I can afford a lot of bike parts with the cash I save by not driving.  If you haven’t already, I highly recommend giving it a spin.

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Yet another example from Portland…Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi was in Portland recently for a global warming forum, and the bicycle community was on hand to relate the role of bicycles in meeting environmental challenges. Not only that, but there are economic benefits to bicycling, as well. There are many lessons here for Denver, but it remains to be seen if those lessons will be heeded. Are you listening, Mayor Hickenlooper?

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