Bike Sharing Expands

Washington (DC) Business Journal // Tuesday, January 6, 2009

Park Service rolls out bike sharing

About 300 National Park Service employees have the opportunity to getaround D.C. in an environmentally-friendly way. In a one-year demo program between the NPS and Lousiville, Ky.-based Humana Inc., the health-benefit company is giving 30 bikes to NPS employees to help them cut down on auto gas emissions. Employees will be able to cruise around three NPS spots, including the National Capital Region headquarters at 1100 Ohio Dr. SW, the National Mall Memorial Parks headquarters at 900 Ohio Dr. SW and the National Capital Parks-East headquarters at 1900 Anacostia Dr. SE. Participating staff will first have to complete a bike safety program.

I am excited to promote this environmentally friendly program, said Mary Bomar, director of the National Park Service, in a statement. It 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.

Humana launched a similar bike-sharing program for its 10,000 employees at its headquarters in late 2007. During the 2008 national political conventions, Humana teamed with Bikes Belong to take 1,000 bikes to each convention. Convention delegates and local residents clocked more than 42,000 miles with bikes during the eight convention days.