Wednesday, May 12, 2010

Bike to Work Day and Car Free Challenge

Tomorrow is Bike to Work Day, to encourage more people to bike (and take public transit as needed) instead of driving to work. To make the idea more palatable, Walk Oakland Bike Oakland (WOBO) and the Bay Area Bike Coalition (BABC) have set up energizer stations around the city. You can even ride into Downtown with your council member (and eat pancakes)! Can't bike all the way? AC Transit is supporting Bike to Work Day and has bike racks on the front of buses. Bikes are allowed on BART with some restrictions.

More reading:
WOBO's Bike to Work Day hub
BABC's Bike to Work Day hub
map of the energizer stations
post at Today in Montclair

As wonderful as it is, Bike to Work Day is a one-day event. Hopefully it will encourage more people to consider biking (possibly in connection with public transit). But if you want to show you're really committed (or some would say, really should be committed), take part in Bike to Work Day tomorrow and then take part in TransForm's Car Free Challenge the first seven days of June. Ideally you'd not ride in a car at all that week, but that may not be practical. So instead you register (for prizes, a t-shirt, and an after party) and then set your mileage goal as low as you can. This event also supports the work of TransForm. Join up with other Oakland bloggers and be part of the Blogoaksphere Car Free Challenge Team.

As a reminder for both events, Google Maps now supports directions via bike. That feature is still in development, but between that and the WOBO and BABC resources you should be able to figure out a bike route or bike + transit route to your destination.

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