Bicycle Friendly America
Peter Kotses is more than a bike shop owner. He is the owner of a Gold-level Bicycle Friendly Business, and, most recently, a candidate for city council in Athens, Ohio. We talked with Peter to learn a little bit more about his bike-friendly endeavors this week. Read more about the latest round of Bicycle Friendly Businesses here!
This week, we’re sharing some highlights from our latest round of 100 new and renewing Bicycle Friendly Businesses. Today, we take a deeper dive on how the Tampa, Florida, region has grown from 0 BFBs to 11 in one fell swoop! We talked with the two people behind that development to learn more about their connection to bicycling and what they envision for Tampa’s future. Karen Kress is the director of transportation and planning at the Tampa Downtown Partnership and Christine Acosta is the founder of Pedal Power Promoters, LLC.
This week, we’re sharing some highlights from our latest round of 100 new and renewing Bicycle Friendly Businesses. Today, we take a deeper dive on the strides Kaiser Permanente’s Folsom, Calif., Medical Offices has taken. We spoke with Anthony Retodo, MD, who is an Internal Medicine physician and avid cyclist. He also is the medical services director of Kaiser Permanente Folsom Medical Offices, in Folsom, California.
Today, the League of American Bicyclists has awarded 100 new and renewing Bicycle Friendly Businesses in 31 states and Washington, D.C. With this announcement, the program has grown to include 1,050 visionary local businesses, government agencies and Fortune 500 companies from across the country that are changing the script on what it means to provide a top-notch experience and atmosphere for employees and customers alike. There are now BFBs in 47 states and DC.
The League of American Bicyclists, a Washington DC-based advocacy organization representing the interests of the nation’s 57 million cyclists, is seeking an intern to assist with the Bicycle Friendly America and membership programs. Each year, through its Bicycle Friendly America program, the League evaluates hundreds of applications from across the country, and designates Bronze, Silver, Gold, and Platinum-level Bicycle Friendly States, Communities, Businesses, and Universities.
On its maiden voyage, the Taco Bike in Nashville caused quite the scene. Cayla Mackey managed to pull the 200 lb trailer up one of Music City’s steepest hills while, coincidentally, her mom and sister drove past. They couldn’t help but laugh at the sight, Mackey said. “They drove past me laughing, and I screamed ‘I’m doing it! I’m doing it!’ ” Mackey said.
Admittedly, we have an unfair advantage in Fort Collins. With New Belgium Brewing Company being the drum major of the literal and metaphoric bike parades in our town, the bar was set high a long time ago for what it means to be a bicycle friendly business. To a large degree, New Belgium is responsible for the creation of our city’s bike culture and identity, and for demonstrating that bikes are good for business. For Kim Jordan and Jeff Lebesch, founders of New Belgium, this was a key part of their corporate plan and culture goals when they founded the company nearly 25 years ago. And, now in its 16th season, the company’s Tour de Fat festival — taking places in 11 cities in 2015 — has raised nearly $4 million for bicycle non-profits nationwide. So, in a spirit of fairness, perhaps Fort Collins should have been issued a handicap before we were announced as the new top-ranked city for the most Bike Friendly Businesses.
Earlier this week, we re-launched the new and improved Bicycle Friendly Business application, and it’s got a lot of exciting improvements. Since the Bicycle Friendly Business program originally launched in 2008, nearly 1,300 businesses have applied, and over 960 businesses have been awarded the BFB designation. Like the other Bicycle Friendly America programs, BFB applications have been on the rise in recent years, and we don’t expend this trend to change any time soon. Here at the League, we have been thrilled to see growing enthusiasm for bicycling from among the private sector, and so we’re working hard to accommodate continued growth in demand for the BFB program.
If you ask League Bicycle Friendly Business staff what the most surprising and encouraging trend from recent rounds of awards is, they’re quick to shout, “hospitals!” Several hospitals across the United States are providing patient care in new and innovative ways by bike — and they’re encouraging and supporting the health and wellness of their employees by offering bike commuting classes, incentives to ride and more. One hospital that stands out among all the Bicycle Friendly Businesses is Seattle Children’s Hospital, which is a new Platinum-level BFB. They’re using bicycles to boost the health of employees and the experience of patients in many ways.
Far too often bike shops are at the margins of the conversation about improving and increasing bicycling. Advocates and elected officials are focused on infrastructure — bike lanes and cycle tracks and multi-use trails. Many would argue it’s time for that definition to change. At the 2013 National Women’s Bicycling Forum, Adonia Lugo, now the League’s Equity Initiative Manager, shared the concept of “human infrastructure” — the existing social networks, community groups, and shared ideas about transportation that make bicycling possible for more people.