By Larry Lagarde

If you're in the 1% of commuters in the USA that bicycle to work, you're doing yourself a favor, improving your health, mental attitude and budget but did you also realize you're improving your employer's bottom line too?

According to "Time to get the boss in biking mode" (a story that appeared this week in the Oxford Mail), bicycle commuters are more alert, less stressed and healthier (performing better and taking fewer days for sick leave). Additionally, in commercial areas where parking is a high priced commodity, employers don't have to pay for a parking space for commuters that ride their bicycles.

Just Think For A Moment...
If the monthly rate for parking is $150, you could easily be saving your employer $200-300/mth (between parking savings, decreased sick days and higher productivity), but does your employer realize this?

Now Is The Time To Ask
With gasoline prices inching upward yet again, more people are considering commuting by bike, making now an excellent time to approach your employer about improving the conditions at work for bicycle commuters. The Mail suggests starting with basics like offering shower facilities for cyclists to clean up at work and secure bike parking (but since folding bikes fold up and stay beside your desk or cubicle, YOU don't need secure bike parking, do you).

Bicycle Commuting Incentives Companies Offer
Other incentives proposed by the Mail include discounts on buying bikes, interest free loans for buying a commuter bike, paying cyclists for each mile they bicycle on company business and even giving bikes to employees for commuting - hey, if IKEA and Google can do it, so can your company, right...

Labels: bicycle commuting, bicycle commuting incentives, bicycle friendly workplace