It seems like there are going to be more officials using bicycles across our country in their line of work. The government has recognized across the board that bicycles take up less space, give much needed exercise and are easy to use on many forms of transportation.
First there is Wheels4Wellness, which is a Federal Hill based program that utilizes Trek Pure bikes in a bike sharing program. The program places 30 bicycles for the House of Representatives to use during lunch, to grab a cup of coffee or get exercise when not working.
Another player is Freewheelin, which you’ll remember from the National Democratic and Republican conventions. This was the most wide spread bike-share program to date of my knowledge. If you watched the convention there is a good chance you knew or watched the bike-share in happen. There were blogs, online streaming video and stories in the news.
Finally, the one that caught my eye yesterday was that 30 bicycles are going to the Park Services in Washington, DC.
The program “provides a wonderful opportunity for our employees to get out of their cars and ride a bicycle, and in the process promote cleaner air and good health,” Mary A. Bomar, director of the National Park Service, said in a news release.
Does this mean we will see more bike lanes down the main arteries in DC. I hope the positive vibes that various levels of the government are feeling towards bike-share goes directly into positive vibes towards all people on bikes.
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Humana and/or Bikes Belong are the driving force behind many of these programs. With the success of the Freewheelin program at the National Conventions I think many of these programs will be used during expo’s, conventions and maybe inaugurations.