I've got a friend who takes the subway to his job at an ad agency downtown. At the end of the month, he gets a credit on his paycheck. I've also got a friend who bikes to work because she finds it faster and healthier (and because the last time she rode the subway some drunk puked on her). You know what she gets at the end of the month? Nothing.
Corporate America has long provided incentives for employees to take mass transit, from rebates to quarterly bonuses to picking up the tab entirely. Cyclists typically don't get squat, and it isn't fair.
It's also starting to change.
Part of the problem is perception. People look at guys (and gals) on bikes and figure they're getting a free ride -- no gas, free parking and the ability to zip through gridlocked traffic. What's the problem?
Sure, bikers don't pay for gas, but cycling is hardly free. They spend plenty on shoes, lights, mirrors, helmets and other equipment. They've gotta pay for maintenance and repairs. You think inner tubes are free? How is it fair that people who ride the train get rewarded -- as they should -- but those pedaling to work get nothing? It's a question more employers are considering as more and more people ditch their cars for bikes. At long last, bike commuters are getting some love.
The National Institutes of Health provides employees with a "bike buck" for every 100 miles they rack up riding to work. The scrip can be redeemed at two local bike shops, and the 125 people enrolled in the program earned 1,655 bike bucks during the first half of the year. One guy at the National Library of Medicine, which also has adopted the program, earns more than 200 bike bucks a year. That's almost enough to cover a pair of bike shoes.
Other companies are waking up as well. Discovery Communications, the corporate parent of Discovery Channel, reimburses employees $350 the first time they buy a bike. A school in Palm Beach Florida pays its bike commuters 20 cents a mile. And health insurance giant Humana provides bikes so employees can ride around its massive campus. They're all following the example set by Google, which started giving away bikes and helmets to its full-time employees last year.
It's safe to say that we'd see more companies stepping up if Uncle Sam helped them out. The Renewable Energy and Job Creation Act of 2008, which would among other things allow bikers to claim an employer-based reimbursement benefit of up to $20 a month, died in the Senate earlier this year. The government ought to do more to encourage people to bike to work.
Until then, it's up to employers to do the right thing.
Photo by Flickr user damonabnormal.
