Austin News
City unveils employee bike share -- but will they use it?
05:28 PM CDT on Thursday, April 2, 2009
>Austin city employees now have a new way to travel short distances. Thursday, the City of Austin unveiled its new bike-sharing program for employees.
"I think it's great in terms of public health,” said Reymond Estrella. “It gets people moving and that’s good news," he said.
"I think the idea is awesome! It doesn't make sense for city employees to drive a few blocks over the river for a meeting, park their car and then drive back," said Rob D'Amico.
The program works like this: Employees log on to the city's Intranet website and reserve a bike. They'll get an e-mail confirmation and access code. When they are all done, they return the bike to the same location.
There are 15 bikes city employees can hop on and pedal away for city business. The bikes are located at six downtown locations. They cost $256 each. The money came out of the Climate Protection Program funded by Austin Energy.
Austin's Transportation Director, Robert Spillar, said the goal is to cut down on carbon emissions, ease traffic congestion and get employees moving.
"I know my employees who use the bike-share program, or their own bikes, are some of the healthiest employees. It’s good business because it lowers our healthcare costs," said Spillar.
But the question remains -- will employees use them?
"A lot of times they will put these ideas in place and a lot of people won't use them. I think it's going to be great, if people use them," said Scotty Denney.
"I'd hop on a bike in a heartbeat -- even in a suit,” said Mayor Will Wynn.
The city considers this to be a test program. If the bikes are being used, it will consider buying more.
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