During the first quarter of 2009, more bicycles were sold in the US than cars and trucks. While the Great Recession is hurting bike sales, they didn’t fall as fast as automobiles. Around 2.6 million bicycle purchases were made, compared to less than 2.5 million cars and trucks that left our nation’s lots.  See the full story here.

The New York Times today took a cue from BikeDenver in pointing out the irony and circumstances surrounding passage of the Bike Commuter Act as part of the Economic Recovery Act. It goes into more detail on why the Bike Commuter Act’s sponsor, Rep. Earl Blumenauer, ultimately voted against the package. Read the full text here.

In the near future, BikeDenver will be providing information to local businesses, and materials which employees can take to their HR departments to explain how the benefit works and how you can take advantage of it. Stay tuned for the details.

On Friday, the president signed the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act. One clause in the Act amended the transportation fringe benefits in the US Tax Code to include an employer incentive for bike commuters. Here is the pertinent section of the tax code in it’s entirety for all you policy wonk cyclists out there:

USC 26 §132 (f) as amended by the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act[1]

(f) Qualified transportation fringe

(1) In general

For purposes of this section, the term “qualified transportation fringe” means any of the following provided by an employer to an employee:

(A) Transportation in a commuter highway vehicle if such transportation is in connection with travel between the employee’s residence and place of employment.

(B) Any transit pass.

(C) Qualified parking.

(D) Any qualified bicycle commuting reimbursement

(2) Limitation on exclusion

The amount of the fringe benefits which are provided by an employer to any employee and which may be excluded from gross income under subsection (a)(5) shall not exceed—

(A) $115 per month in the case of the aggregate of the benefits described in subparagraphs (A) and (B) of paragraph (1),

(B) $215 per month in the case of qualified parking, and

(C) the applicable annual limitation in the case of any qualified bicycle commuting reimbursement.

(3) Cash reimbursements

For purposes of this subsection, the term “qualified transportation fringe” includes a cash reimbursement by an employer to an employee for a benefit described in paragraph (1). The preceding sentence shall apply to a cash reimbursement for any transit pass only if a voucher or similar item which may be exchanged only for a transit pass is not readily available for direct distribution by the employer to the employee.

(4) No constructive receipt

No amount shall be included in the gross income of an employee solely because the employee may choose between any qualified transportation fringe other than a qualified bicycle commuting reimbursement and compensation which would otherwise be includible in gross income of such employee.

(5) Definitions

For purposes of this subsection—

(A) Transit pass

The term “transit pass” means any pass, token, farecard, voucher, or similar item entitling a person to transportation (or transportation at a reduced price) if such transportation is—

(i) on mass transit facilities (whether or not publicly owned), or

(ii) provided by any person in the business of transporting persons for compensation or hire if such transportation is provided in a vehicle meeting the requirements of subparagraph (B)(i).

(B) Commuter highway vehicle

The term “commuter highway vehicle” means any highway vehicle—

(i) the seating capacity of which is at least 6 adults (not including the driver), and

(ii) at least 80 percent of the mileage use of which can reasonably be expected to be—

(I) for purposes of transporting employees in connection with travel between their residences and their place of employment, and

(II) on trips during which the number of employees transported for such purposes is at least 1/2 of the adult seating capacity of such vehicle (not including the driver).

(C) Qualified parking

The term “qualified parking” means parking provided to an employee on or near the business premises of the employer or on or near a location from which the employee commutes to work by transportation described in subparagraph (A), in a commuter highway vehicle, or by carpool. Such term shall not include any parking on or near property used by the employee for residential purposes.

(D) Transportation provided by employer

Transportation referred to in paragraph (1)(A) shall be considered to be provided by an employer if such transportation is furnished in a commuter highway vehicle operated by or for the employer.

(E) Employee

For purposes of this subsection, the term “employee” does not include an individual who is an employee within the meaning of section 401 (c)(1).

(F) Definitions related to bicycle commuting reimbursement

(i) Qualified bicycle commuting reimbursement. – The term ‘qualified bicycle commuting reimbursement means, with respect to any calendar year, any employer reimbursement during the 15-month period beginning with the first day of such calendar year for reasonable expenses incurred by the employee during such calendar year for the purchase of a bicycle and bicycle improvements, repair, and storage, if such bicycle is regularly used for travel between the employee’s residence and place of employment

(ii) Applicable annual limitation – The term ‘applicable annual limitation’ means, with respect to any employee for any calendar year, the product of $20 multiplied by the number of qualified bicycle commuting months during such year.

(iii) Qualified bicycle commuting month – the term ‘qualified bicycle commuting month’ means, with respect to any employee, any month during which such employee – “(I) Regularly uses the bicycle for a substantial portion of the travel between the employee’s residence and place of employment, and “(II) does not receive any benefit described in subparagraph (A), (B), or (C) of paragraph (1).”

(6) Inflation adjustment

(A) In general

In the case of any taxable year beginning in a calendar year after 1999, the dollar amounts contained in subparagraphs (A) and (B) of paragraph (2) shall be increased by an amount equal to—

(i) such dollar amount, multiplied by

(ii) the cost-of-living adjustment determined under section 1 (f)(3) for the calendar year in which the taxable year begins, by substituting “calendar year 1998” for “calendar year 1992”.

In the case of any taxable year beginning in a calendar year after 2002, clause (ii) shall be applied by substituting “calendar year 2001” for “calendar year 1998” for purposes of adjusting the dollar amount contained in paragraph (2)(A).

(B) Rounding

If any increase determined under subparagraph (A) is not a multiple of $5, such increase shall be rounded to the next lowest multiple of $5.

(7) Coordination with other provisions

For purposes of this section, the terms “working condition fringe” and “de minimis fringe” shall not include any qualified transportation fringe (determined without regard to paragraph (2)).

[1] See page 200 of the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act, available here: http://www.rules.house.gov/110/text/110_hr4221_text.pdf

If this doesn’t get to the point of how confusing and complex the legislature can be, nothing will. So after the initial defeat in the house of the $700 billion bailout, the senate rewrote the bill, adding all sorts of unrelated things in an attempt to gain the votes of the house members who initially opposed the bill. One of the things they added was the Bicycle Bill, which was actually written by our best friend in Congress, Earl Blumenaur. Of course, the senate also added things to attract republican votes, such as subsidies for coal gasification and oil shale development, as well as a subsidy for racecar track owners and an import duty exemption for arrow importers, among other things.

This version passed the senate, and today passed the house, but one vote they didn’t get was Earl Blumenauer’s. I must say I am impressed by his stand on principle, voting against something very dear to his heart because it was bundled in what he considers bad policy.

We all owe Mr. Blumenauer a debt of gratitude for his support of the Bicycle Commuter act, and while I can’t get behind some of the other earmarks in this bill, I’m sure glad the cyclists get something out of it.

We’ll provide the details of how the bicycle fringe benefits will work in the coming tax year, and when they go into effect when we get them. Cheers!

Okay, so I know you guys don’t necessarily care about biking in New York City. But here’s some big news!

We’re getting those awesome chartreuse (as they call it, I think they’re mint green) bike lanes through Times Square.

Here are a few pics:

I don’t actually use the bike lane on my commute, but I actually work right next to it. It is useful on some of the recreational rides I do, and I’m excited that they’re repaving and painting. The color makes the lane very visible to drivers and pedestrians, which I’ve noticed results in respect for cyclists.

Kryptonite, makers of fine locking apparatus,  have once again released their list of the worst cities for Bike Theft.  While it’s still a drag that some adults choose to spend their time and energy stealing from the rest of us, this is one bicycle ranking for which I’m proud we are behind Portland.  Here’s the breakdown according to Kryptonite:

1. Philadelphia, PA
2. Chicago, IL
3. New York City, NY
4. San Francisco, CA
5. Tucson, AZ (tie)
Portland, OR (tie)
7. Denver, CO
8. New Haven, CT
9. Cambridge, MA
10. Austin, TX

The big mystery this year… Where’s Seattle?

I think this also indicates that our bike culture is big enough and awesome enough to have thieves preying on our equipment, so you see, there’s a silver lining after all.  So why don’t I just get to it and tell you how to best avoid getting your bike lifted:

-NEVER LEAVE YOUR BIKE UNLOCKED IN A PUBLIC PLACE – seriously, don’t do it if you want to keep it.

-Lock Your Bike With A U-Lock or Heavy Duty Chain or Cable – descending degrees of protection in that order

-Get the lock around the frame of your bike – no, the seatpost doesn’t count.  Get the lock through the frame so only cutting the lock or cutting the frame can free it.

-If you want to keep your wheels and seat post, get rid of the quick releases – sure they are convenient, for thieves too.  Upgrade to locking skewers if it’s going to be left outside for any duration of time.  You can also try locking your front wheel with the lock if there is room, but lots of posts are too wide to get your frame and wheel within the lock.

-Don’t abandon your bike for more than a day – I see a lot of bikes still chained to a post, but missing any component that can be stripped (what thieves would carry bottom-bracket tools?).  Don’t leave anything you treasure outside, or it could be picked clean by vultures.

-Lock your bike inside your garage or apartment bike room – If a thief gains access, your bike is as good as gone if it’s unlocked.  This happened to my roommate when she left the garage open and unattended for an hour, her bike was gone… but, guess whose bikes were safely locked with a long cable through all the frames and were still there when she got back… that’s right, lock your bikes in any detached structure… if it’s in your bedroom under your covers, it’s probably OK unlocked.

It looks like Portland’s Sunday Parkways program was a rousing success! This is a fantastic effort with a lot of neighborhood support and provides an excellent example for what could be done in Denver. I can envision a park-to-park connection from Washington Park to Cheesman Park to City Park with roads between them closed to auto traffic. Anyone with me?

Six miles of public thoroughfare in Portland will be shut entirely to traffic in the hopes people show up on foot and by bike to mingle, dance, shop and dine. Read: no cars allowed, but mass transit routes through the area will remain open to pack ‘em in.

This bold experiment, modeled after a popular street shutdown in Bogota, Colombia, is timed to a conference starting today in Portland where hundreds of planners from around the world converge to discuss how they can create cities with no cars.