During the month of September, more than 12,000 individual riders from 1,450 workplaces teams in Oregon and SW Washington participated in the BTA’s 2011 Bike Commute Challenge. Together, participants logged over 1,360,000 miles of bike commuting. More than 2,000 participants identified themselves as new bike commuters.
Watershed Sciences accept their award with style...and bagpipes
Every September since 1995, workers in Oregon and SW Washington have competed to see who can bike to work more in the BTA’s Bike Commute Challenge. Individuals register on their workplace’s team, log their bike commutes online, and at the end of the month the BTA does the math and honors the winning companies.
The winners in 2011 were announced at an awards party at Portland’s Veterans Memorial Coliseum on Thursday, October 6, 2011. Portland-area teams biked together from work to enjoy the party, with bike parking provided by Bike Racker, pizza from Hot Lips and Hopworks beer.
The 2011 team winners are:
Category & Size |
Winner |
Commute Rate |
| Business/Non-Profit 500+ | Reed College | 10.14% |
| Business/Non-Profit 100-499 | SERA Architects | 49.54% |
| Business/Non-Profit 25-99 | Community Cycling CenterWatershed Sciences, PDX | 91.14%89.51% |
| Business/Non-Profit 5-24 | Cast Iron Coding | 100% |
| Business/Non-Profit 2-4 | Grapheon Design | 100% |
| Public Agency 500+ | Oregon Department of Environmental Quality | 11.91% |
| Public Agency 100-499 | City of Portland Bureau of Planning and Sustainability | 36.64% |
| Public Agency 25-99 | U.S. Geological Survey | 42.88% |
| Public Agency 1-24 | Oregon DHS – SPD Program | 58.75% |
| Bike Shop 16+ | Bike Friday, Eugene | 51.8% |
| Bike Shop 9-15 | Bike Gallery, Downtown | 99.07% |
| Bike Shop 1-8 | Ashland Cycle Sports | 96.73% |
All final team standings are posted on the Bike Commute Challenge site results page.
Oregon Health Sciences University (OHSU) received special recognition for having the most new bike commuters logging trips.
Amanda from 21st Ave Bikes kept the tunes going strong
Two individual awards were announced:
Brad Buchanan Team Captain Award, presented by Emerita:
Winners: Frank Charron and Derwyn Harris of Jama Software Inc.
Frank and Derwyn motivated and supported riders with a photo contest, group rides, homemade smoothies, and mechanical support. They created lasting institutional change to support biking at their company with the installation of a new custom bike rack and the acquisition of office bikes for employee use.
Brian Reynolds Distance Award to commuter with highest mileage:
Winner: Dave Weber of NW Natural with 1096 miles in 20 days of commuting.
Dave commutes from his home near Mulino, OR to the NW Natural office in Portland.
About the BTA
The Bicycle Transportation Alliance (BTA) is a statewide 501(c)3 non-profit organization that creates healthy and sustainable communities by making bicycling safe, convenient, and accessible.
More information
www.btaoregon.org
www.bikecommutechallenge.com
50 new BTA members in one night means Rob Sadowsky loses his beard
* Roadway costs for cars: $.056/mile; for bikes: $.002/mile. Source: Todd Littman, Whose Roads, 2004. http://www.vtpi.org/whoserd.pdf
About the Bike Commute Challenge
Taking more trips by bike saves Oregonians money on transportation expenses, health care, and road maintenance. Studies show that 1.3 million miles biked could result in Oregon saving $73,400 in road maintenance costs alone. *
Dance party!
More and more people in the Portland Metro area, and around Oregon and SW Washington, are finding that biking to work is a practical and enjoyable choice. The BTA’s Bike Commute Challenge helps support new bike commuters as they try out a new way of getting to work and recognizes bike friendly workplaces for their efforts.
all images © Ty Chance, do not use without expressed permission