Read the full story here Web Link posted Wednesday, October 12, 2022, 8:54 AM
Town Square
New bike-to-work app incentivizes Palo Alto workers with cash rewards
Original post made on Oct 12, 2022
Read the full story here Web Link posted Wednesday, October 12, 2022, 8:54 AM
Comments (5)
a resident of Another Palo Alto neighborhood
on Oct 12, 2022 at 10:21 am
Bystander is a registered user.
I would suggest that bike security would help. There are daily reports of bikes being stolen around town.
a resident of Embarcadero Oaks/Leland
on Oct 12, 2022 at 10:48 am
Online Name is a registered user.
Restore library hours instead! Why are we paying the commuting expenses of commuters coming to PA when they already outnumber residents 4:1??
Everything for the business community and nothing for residents is getting very old.
a resident of Crescent Park
on Oct 13, 2022 at 12:49 pm
Steve Raney is a registered user.
Bike Love is the US's first “active first mile to transit” commute incentive program (Bike Love also rewards bike-to-downtown and bike-to-Cal-Ave). As far as bike-to-work incentives, we've only come across two other TMAs and 8 employers that provide bike-to-work incentives.
No PA residents were taxed to fund this program!
The City’s 2012 Bicycle + Pedestrian Transportation Plan has an unrealized goal to double bike commute trips, and Bike Love helps achieve that goal. In a carbon-neutral 2030 PA, we're all going to be biking much more.
Caltrain has undertaken an ambitious program to increase first-mile biking to Caltrain, by installing more than 330 electronic bicycle lockers at 22 stations. Caltrain has funding for hundreds of additional e-lockers. This effort gives commuters a secure place to park their bike, increasing Bike Love’s chances of success. Pre-pandemic, Caltrain was overflowing with bikes on board trains and sometimes prevented cyclists from boarding due to full capacity. Because Palo Alto job sites typically require only a three-block walk to work from Caltrain (six blocks is about the maximum), the majority of bike-plus-Caltrain commuters will park their bike at Caltrain, rather than bring the bike on board a train.
a resident of Mountain View
on Oct 13, 2022 at 1:51 pm
SRB is a registered user.
This might be a good program but this claim seems a bit incorrect:
"No PA residents were taxed to fund this program!"
since the program seems funded (in part?) via a federal grant (tax dollars some coming from PA one would presume).
a resident of Barron Park
on Oct 21, 2022 at 12:55 am
Cedric de La Beaujardiere is a registered user.
The Bike Love pilot program seeks to get drivers to start biking. The hope is once they discover biking is fun & feasible they'll continue to choose bikes and feet over cars. Participants need not be commuters, they can be residents swapping out their local driving for biking (or e-scooting, etc) trips.
The Bike Love program was sponsored by the Palo Alto Transportation Management Authority (PATMA). The TMA is not a City agency. It is a non-profit organization made up of local businesses and institutions that provide funding for and management of transportation programs. PATMA's mission is to reduce Single-Occupancy Vehicle trips, reduce traffic and demand for parking in the downtown and California Avenue business districts. This is why those areas are part of the geo-fenced area. Historically PATMA received most of its funding from some of the revenues from the downtown parking garages, though COVID's shift in commute patterns may alter that funding arrangement. PATMA might explore the possibility of interested businesses sponsoring the Bike Love program to expand the area and number of people who can participate.
Reducing traffic, reducing spillover parking, reducing carbon emissions by getting people out of their cars and onto transit, bikes, and feet, and incentivizing people to shop at local businesses, these actions improve the quality of life of all Palo Alto residents, not just "the business community".
Griping that PATMA is working to get people out of their cars and onto bikes instead of expanding library hours is under-informed, but now you are better informed. PATMA's mission is transportation related, and there are other organizations whose mission is to support libraries, etc. If libraries are your thing, head on over to www.fopal.org... The myriad mission-driven groups and passionate people of Palo Alto each pull their individual colored threads to collectively weave (and mend) the city's beautiful tapestry.
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