Day 18--Research

I learned alot tonight about being an SD Bike Commuter. The online resources are endless. Although we currently don't have any "Bike Stations"...there are Bike Lockers several places in SD. The 2 that are downtown are in weird locations. Mission this weekend: check out these aforementioned bike lockers....I'm still not convinced.

This is an awesome website: www.icommutesd.com Check it out. You can go on TripTracker and evaluate the difference between 1 person in a car, vs. several carpooling. Also, it shows an entire list of what San Diego top public and private companies to for their employees that supports commuting. There are even financial incentives and tax breaks--links to IRS websites that outline. Something else that blew my mind...the Guarantee Ride Home Policy. If you're stranded somewhere without your bike, or have an emergency that you need to hop in a car...they have a GRH policy that you make a $3.00 co pay and 3 times a year, the GRH service will take you wherever you want to go. San Diego also gives an award to the top San Diego companies that are Best Places to work for Commuters.

Found another cool websiteL www.ridethecity.com Normally I use mapmyride.com to find the best routes. I've found that is not well versed on the 1 way streets, the streets without a bike route, and the streets that have no light. Ridethecity.com actually has 3 route choices: 1. direct route, 2. safe route 3. safer route. I re ran my most frequently traveled routes and still--Island Street--the best one---it's the safest, the quickest, and has a bike lane.

I sent 10 emails tonight to various people in SD Planning in SD local government to get advice on how we can get a Bike Station here...Stay tuned..who knows....maybe we'll email a list of all those HR people listed on the "Best Places to Work for SD Commuters" list....heaven help those people....

All this stuff about things employers are doing to reward their employees for riding safe and being socially responsibile got me to thinking, "What does my employer do for all this?"..So, I sent our HR person an email too. Along with that I posted a question on Facebook tonight. I haven't heard anything back yet..but, am dying to hear what other employers are doing to celebrate commuters....So...what does your employer do?