2015
Bicycle Friendly Santa Monica YEARBOOK
Building a [ B i c y c l e F r i e n d l y A m e r i c a ] – LEAGUE OF AMERICAN BICYCLISTS
TABLE OF CONTENTS
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….3 CRITERIA OF A BICYCLE FRIENDLY BUSINESS………………………………………………………………………………………………………..4 BENEFITS OF BECOMING A BICYCLE FRIENDLY BUSINESS……………………………………………………………………………………..5 STATISTICS……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….6 Na#onal, California, Santa Monica, Timeline ABOUT THE SANTA MONICA CAMPAIGN…………………………………………………………………………………………………………….9 NEIGHBORHOOD ORGANIZATION BOUNDARIES MAP…………………………………….…………………………………………….10 SILVER BICYCLE FRIENDLY COMMUNITY…………………………………………………………………………………………………………..11 City of Santa Monica BRONZE BICYCLE FRIENDLY UNIVERSITY/COMMUNITY COLLEGE……………………………………………………………………….12 2014: Santa Monica College PLATINUM BUSINESSES……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..………13 2014: Bike and Park Santa Monica GOLD BUSINESSES……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..14 2014: City of Santa Monica SILVER BUSINESSES…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..……....................15 2014: Areal Restaurant , Crossroads School for Arts & Sciences, Phelps 2015: Giant Santa Monica BRONZE BUSINESSES………………………………………………………………………………………………………….………………………………18 2013: Helen’s Cycles , REI Santa Monica 2015: AIKA for urban cycling, Cyclepathic Fitness, RPA Adver#sing MOST POSITIVE OUTCOME OF COMPANY’S SUPPORT FOR BICYCLING………………………………………………………………21 CONTACT INFORMATION……………………………………………………………………………………..…………………………………...22
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This Bike Friendly Santa Monica 2015 yearbook is a living document and collabora#ve eort between the Santa Monica Bike Center, Sustainable Streets, the City of Santa Monica, the City of Santa Monica Transporta9on Department, and the League of American Bicyclists Bike Friendly America Program. Thank you to everyone involved, especially the businesses for valuing bicycle friendliness and leading the way to a more Bike Friendly Santa Monica. It is with this collabora#on that we are able to develop a list of poten#al BFB candidates and keep the cycling culture of Santa Monica pedaling forward!
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CRITERIA OF A BICYCLE FRIENDLY BUSINESS Encouragement • •
Business provides incen1ves for employees to commute to work by bike. Business works with local advocates to improve cycling accessibility in the community.
EducaWon • •
Business offers bicycle maps, 1p sheets, rules of the road and other educa1onal materials are available on a regular basis. Business encourages a?endance of bicycle educa1on classes.
Air BNB San Francisco
Engineering • •
Safe and convenient bike parking is provided. Showers located on site for employee use.
EvaluaWon and Planning • •
Business has bike coordinator to help promote cycling. Business sets and evaluates annual goals to increase ridership. DERO racks
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BENEFITS OF BECOMING A BICYCLE FRIENDLY BUSINESS Becoming a BFB benefits your boDom line while also enhancing quality of life in your community. Benefits for your business: • • • • • • • •
Increase morale, culture of wellness and quality of life for employees. Foster sense of community and camaraderie in the workplace. Enhance health and wellness benefits, and reduce costs of healthcare. Catalyze a more alert, ac1ve, produc1ve workforce. Reduce absenteeism. Showcase social responsibility, a commitment to sustainability and reducing environmental footprint. Cut transporta1on spending by company, individual and community. Support long term health benefits, both physical and mental.
Benefits from the League of American Bicyclists: • • • •
Gain na1onal recogni1on for being a leader in wellness, sustainability and corporate responsibility. Business will receive quality, customized feedback from League staff. Be part of an elite network that shares peer-to-peer communica1on and best prac1ces. Employees and customers want to invest in businesses that care about the environment, health, wellness, and the community.
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NATIONAL STATISTICS
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2015 CALIFORNIA’S BICYCLE FRIENDLY STATISTICS
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SANTA MONICA’S BICYCLE FRIENDLY TIMELINE 2009 Santa Monica receives Bronze BFC designa1on
2011 Bike Ac1on Plan adopted
Santa Monica Bike Center and Bike Campus opens
2011
2012
2014
2014
Helens and REI SM receive Bronze BFB designa1on
SMBC upgrades to Pla1num BFB (1 of 17 na1onwide)
Santa Monica moves forward with Bike Share!
SMBC receives Silver BFB designa1on
2012
4 new BFBs; City of SM (Gold), Areal Restaurant (Silver), Crossroads School (Silver), & Phelps (Silver)
2014
SMC designated as Bronze BFU
2014
Cyclepathic, Aika, RPA receive bronze award, Giant SM recieves Silver award
2015
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ABOUT THE SANTA MONICA CAMPAIGN BICYCLE FRIENDLY AMERICA PROGRAM The Bike Friendly America program has widespread applica1on in any community, and we are con1nually searching for unique ways to engage our local Santa Monica businesses with the program. The Santa Monica campaign aims to iden1fy, cer1fy, and assist local businesses that may be eligible for the Bicycle Friendly Business designa1on. Each business has dis1nct opportuni1es to incorporate bicycling into their overall business model, and we see our role as being facilitators for understanding and u1lizing those opportuni1es. Being in the bicycle industry, bike friendliness is in our DNA, and sharing that knowledge and exper1se with local businesses helps ensure bicyclists are be?er accommodated communitywide. Our goal is to provide informa1on and professional assistance to businesses that want to be more bicycle friendly, and to promote businesses that have already achieved measurable bike friendly results. We aim to help designate 25% of businesses in each Neighborhood Organiza1on area. See Neighborhood Organiza1on Boundaries map on the next page.
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Bicycle Friendly Businesses in rela1on to SM Neighborhood Organiza1ons
CITY OF SANTA MONICA 2009 – 2017 Silver Bicycle Friendly Community Upgraded from Bronze to Silver! Santa Monica’s 20-year plan calls for walking, biking and transit to replace new car trips at a rate of at least 1 for 1 by 2030. The vision will make Santa Monica one of the most bike friendly ci1es in the country. Encouraging the community to cycle as a means of travel is a key element of this strategy. Santa Monica has been encouraging car-lite commu1ng for decades, through employer regula1ons, bike week promo1ons, and a bike valet program that has provided free parking for more than 100,000 bikes. The city has also seen a decrease in the number of bike collisions since 2011, and recently approved the installa1on of a public Bike Share system.
Bike friendly accomplishments: •
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Engineering: Completed bike infrastructure improvements on approximately 70 miles of bike networks. Increased bike lane mileage by 25%. Introduced quality improvements such as green lanes, bike boxes, side paths, intersec1on and crossing treatments, and 100 new bike parking spaces. EducaWon: Bike repair/maintenance and riding skills classes through SMBC and Sustainable Streets Encouragement: Subsidized largest full service bike center in the country, in what was 27 car parking spaces. Enforcement: Biking on sidewalk ban. EvaluaWon: Seen an increase to 5% in bike commu1ng, bike count increased to 51%.
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SANTA MONICA COLLEGE
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2014 – 2018 Bronze Bicycle Friendly Community College One of the first Bike Friendly Community Colleges in the na9on! Santa Monica College (SMC), California’s first ever designated Bicycle Friendly Community College, boasts of several bike friendly features and infrastructure that allows them to shine among many forward thinking bike friendly universi1es. As a bronze level BFU, SMC has shown dedicated effort toward making campus a more invi1ng place for bicyclists and a more accessible place for ac1ve transporta1on.
Bike friendly accomplishments: • •
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• • SMC Bike Corral, built in 2013.
Engineering: Provides locker rooms, free shower facili1es, bicycle work stand, maintenance supplies, dedicated bike maintenance person. EducaWon: Weekly bike maintenance offerings and mechanic support in the Bike Corral, educa1onal bike tours of campus, bike informa1on (route, safety) in all incoming student packets, traffic skills 101 classes offered. Encouragement: SMC Bike Campaign, quarterly bike tours, ‘Get Lit’ light give away campaign, mentoring program for new riders, commuter events, cash incen1ves for bicycling, recrea1onal bike club. Enforcement: Transporta1on Task Force collabora1on, offers bike registra1on/locking demos/impounded bike recovery, appointed law enforcement to interact with bicyclists. EvaluaWon/planning: Implementa1on of comprehensive Bike Ac1on Plan, manual bike counts, annual sa1sfac1on survey, bike parking master plan.
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BIKE AND PARK SANTA MONICA Operators of the Santa Monica Bike Center 2012 – 2018 PlaWnum Bicycle Friendly Business Bicycle Industry – 11 employees Bike and Park Santa Monica is pioneering a commuter cycling movement and has become a focal point of various bicycling ac1vi1es and advocacy efforts in Santa Monica. SMBC is also the hub for the Bike Friendly America program, and dedicates employee hours to further the programs mission and help local businesses become eligible. From the beginning, the Bike Center has con1nually added new programs and services to encourage more bicycling community wide. At the core of Bike and Parks mission is to appeal to and serve both visitors and locals. This allows visitors to feel like biking in Santa Monica is accessible and doable, while also suppor1ng daily bike commuters. Employees are trained to help local cyclists and visitors plan their routes and are knowledgeable of safe cycling rules and local laws. Since the Bike Center opened, Santa Monica has seen a 67% increase in bike count data and the citywide bicycling mode share has increased to 5.2%.
Bike friendly accomplishments: • •
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Encouragement: Commuter Credit program for employees; get paid to bike to work! Free tune-ups for employees, free Commuter Bike Loaner Program. Engineering: Safe, secure, monitored 24 hour access bike parking with showers, lockers, and bathrooms as a members only service. Daily bike valet, located on bike route system. EducaWon: Offers bike maintenance and cycling skills classes, free DIY and air sta1on, Senior Social Rides. EvaluaWon: Tracks membership reten1on, number of bikes rented and valeted, annual membership survey, use Na1onal Bike Challenge plajorm to track employee mileage for Commuter Tax Credit.
CITY OF SANTA MONICA 2014 – 2018 Gold Bicycle Friendly Business Non-profit/Government – 1235 employees The City of Santa Monica exemplifies a commitment to cycling accessibility and sustainability unmatched by surrounding ci1es. The team at Santa Monica City Hall ac1vely strives to be?er bike transporta1on and engage City Hall staff with the benefits of bike commu1ng. Santa Monica City Hall has been encouraging car-lite commu1ng for many years through employer regula1ons and cash incen1ves. Through con1nued encouragement programs, educa1onal offerings, and improved engineering, Santa Monica City Hall hopes to reach Pla1num status in the coming years.
Bike friendly accomplishments: •
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Encouragement: Bikes @ work program offered to employees for on the clock bike travel, par1cipated in the Na1onal Bike Challenge, bike week/month promo1ons, bike valet program at the Santa Monica Bike Center. Engineering: Maintenance necessi1es such as pumps and tools are available, free APBP standard bike parking. EducaWon: Mechanic, maintenance, and educa1onal opportuni1es offered in partnership with Bike and Park Santa Monica. EvaluaWon: Con1nued evalua1on of bike commu1ng sta1s1cs to improve condi1ons for cyclists, both business and community wide.
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AREAL RESTAURANT
2014 – 2018 Silver Bicycle Friendly Business Hospitality/Food/Retail – 58 employees Areal is the first restaurant in the city and first business in the Main Street district to receive a Bike Friendly Business designa1on. Areal Restaurant has a variety of ways they encourage bicycling internally, including priori1zing poten1al hires by proximity to the restaurant, and incen1vizing employees who bike to work. Areal has a secure bike room where employees can store their bikes during their shim, as well as APBP approved U-racks.
Bike friendly accomplishments: • •
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Encouragement: Guaranteed ride home program; staff who bike to work receive one complementary meal for each shim they ride too. Engineering: Free secure bike parking, locker room, maintenance tools, employees can park in workspace. EducaWon: Provides bike commuter and route info through newsle?er, company orienta1on program, and new hire packet. EvaluaWon: Set goals for business wide bike use; increase by 25% from last years transporta1on survey, have a designated bike coordinator, commuter survey results were adapted to hiring process to stress the value of staff biking to work, collect data on number of bike commuters, hours biked, miles traveled, and track sick days.
Areal Restaurant hosts Na1onal Bike Challenge Handlebar Happy Hour June 2014
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CROSSROADS SCHOOL FOR ARTS AND SCIENCES 2014 – 2018 Silver Bicycle Friendly Business Non-profit/Government – 344 employees The Crossroads School for the Arts and Sciences encourages bike use among its employees in many ways, and they are the first private Middle School to receive a BFB designa1on.
Bike friendly accomplishments: •
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Encouragement: Cash incen1ves for bike commuters ($700 a year paid in two installments for employees that cycle to work at least 4 1mes a week), $65 gim vouchers for a local bike shop are also given to those who bike, free secure bike parking, guaranteed ride home program, $500 interest free loan offered to staff who want to purchase a bike (repay through salary deduc1ons), profile employees that cycle to work on message board. Engineering: Locker room and shower facility, maintenance supplies, working with local government to improve condi1ons for bicyclists (donate property/provide easements to improve the public bike lane network). EducaWon: Informa1on provided on safe cycling, help finding bike routes, calendar of local bike events, bike info in new hire packet, safety info posted on bike racks. Bike coordinator offers services as trip planner, general mo1vator for staff and gives personalized advice for gepng started biking to work! EvaluaWon: Commuter survey results help to iden1fy who in the workplace was cycling so a bike user group could be established for future consulta1on, and a ques1onnaire for cyclists to determine where people are traveling from (15 employees par1cipa1ng).
John Climaco, lem, the physical educa1on department chair
PHELPS 2014 – 2018 Silver Bicycle Friendly Business Professional Service – 92 employees
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For Phelps, a marke1ng and communica1ons firm on Wilshire Blvd in Santa Monica, biking to work starts with biking to lunch. “ChewBika has truly become a part of our company culture, we have our weekly Friday lunch ride, our own T-shirts, and we help others with informa1on regarding all sorts of bike ques1ons, from rules of the road, to fun places to ride around the area,” explains Wesley High, Phelps IT Specialist and designated Bike Coordinator, “most important, it has inspired and given people who haven’t ridden in years a chance to throw their leg over the saddle and get moving.” Phelps is the first marke1ng agency in Santa Monica to be a designated Bicycle Friendly Business.
Bike friendly accomplishments: •
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• ‘Chewbika’ lunch crew
Encouragement: ChewBika (employee bike club) Friday lunch rides, Bike commuter reimbursement program offers $20/month for anyone who rides to work by bike or walks (3x week/month), Bike Commuter Tax Benefit, promotes Na1onal Bike Month/Bike to Work Week, vested interest in SM Bike Share. Engineering: Covered bike parking, ability to park at your desk, shower and towel service, pump and basic tools available, directly correspond to elected representa1ves on behalf of bicyclists, bike coordinator a?ends public mee1ngs. EducaWon: Bike route map, safety and proper riding equipment informa1on available, bike coordinator readily available to assist colleagues with bike-related ques1ons, u1lize internal social networking site (Yammer) to post bike related info. EvaluaWon: Distributes Commuter Survey, 9% of employees bike to work more than twice a week, avid bike coordinator.
GIANT SANTA MONICA
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2015 – 2019 Silver Bicycle Friendly Business Bicycle Industry
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Giant is one of Santa Monica’s newest Bicycle shops! They sponsor local bike club NOW/GIANTSM and volunteer their mechanics for the BikeMS Coastal Challenge charity ride! They support the Santa Monica Family Bike Fes1val by offering test rides of their bikes, giving free bike safety checks, and hos1ng a helmet raffle! In 2015 they helped 50 out of state riders ship their bikes home amer the Arthri1s Founda1on Bike Classic charity ride! They host FREE interac1ve presenta1ons about bike riding techniques! This year they had Robert Forster, PT discuss how to train your metabolism to improve performance, health, and maintain ideal body weight while bicycling!
HELEN’S CYCLES AND REI SANTA MONICA ………………..
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2012 – 2016 Bronze Bicycle Friendly Businesses REI SM – Bicycle Industry – 70 employees Helen’s Cycles – Bicycle Industry – 45 employees • • • •
REI Santa Monica. Photo: LN/Traveling Local
First two Bike Friendly Businesses in Santa Monica. Featured in LA Streetsblog from Bike to Work Week 2009. Provide bike maintenance and repair services, as well as advice and route guidance. Naturally lend themselves to the bicycle community by offering mechanic services, commuter gear, advice for safe routes, proper riding gear, and they support bicycle clubs and host regular group rides.
Bike Commuter gear available at REI
Helen's Cycles in Santa Monica. Photo: Lisa Newton/Traveling Local
AIKA for urban cycling
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2015 – 2019 Bronze Bicycle Friendly Businesses Bicycle Industry – 5 employees AIKA for urban cycling is a specialty bicycle store showcasing the best of urban Dutch bicycle brands. With a wide variety of op1ons to accommodate even the largest family, AIKA has been a welcome addi1on to the booming bicycle culture of Santa Monica.
Bike friendly accomplishments: •
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Encouragement: Values bike friendliness for environmental and health reasons, and provides flexible scheduling, bike friendly dress code, and the op1on to telecommute to be?er accommodate their employees. They are ac1ve promoters of Na1onal Bike Month and Bike to Work Day, and even their top management commutes to work by bike! Engineering: Provides APBP approved secure bike parking for both their employees and customers, offers a public bicycle work stand equipped with maintenance supplies and an on staff maintenance person for guidance, and par1cipates in community mee1ngs on behalf of bicycling. EducaWon: Offers informa1on on safe bicycling, route guidance, and other valuable printed materials regarding bicycling safety in Santa Monica. EvaluaWon: Discounts offered to employees who purchase a bike, with over 75% of daily commutes to Aika on a bicycle!
CYCLEPATHIC FITNESS 2015 – 2019 Bronze Bicycle Friendly Business Fitness Industry – 10 employees Cyclepathic Fitness is a state of the art spinning studio in the heart of Santa Monica. They truly value the health benefits of cycling, and prac1ce it in their everyday mission.
Bike friendly accomplishments: • • • •
Encouragement: Bicycle available free for employees to use during work hours. Engineering: APBP approved bike parking that is more convenient than car parking. EducaWon: Offers printed materials regarding bicycling safety and accessibility in Santa Monica EvaluaWon: Happier, healthier staff as a result of encouraging bicycling both in the spin studio and on the streets!
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Rubin Postaer and Associates AdverWsing
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2015 – 2019 Bronze Bicycle Friendly Business Professional Service – 500+ employees
Give Back Bike Program: For every mile an Associate pedals on a Give Back Bike, the agency donates $1 toward a bike purchase for a child in need. This program has helped encourage their employees to ride more, adding value to the use of their company bikes.
The task was to build a mulW-plagorm user experience that allows associates to
checkout, inspect, and return agency bikes. In addiWon, we had to create a mobile interface for administrators to manage the bike fleet.
rpa_adverWsing: Our first Give Back Bike donaWon went to 9 year old ChrisWan who now has his first bike in Wme for #NaWonalBikeMonth
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What is the most posiWve outcome of your company’s support for bicycling?
Santa Monica Bike Center
“The 2013 Annual Household Travel Survey revealed that Santa Monica's bike ridership has increased from 3.4% in 2012 to 5.2% in 2013, a huge leap and indicator that car trips are being reduced. We believe it is partly through our efforts that Santa Monica was able to achieve this success. The success of the bike center exemplifies the 'proof of concept' for future bike centers in the Los Angeles area.”
Santa Monica College
“Santa Monica College has developed a goal towards accomplishing all around sustainability. We are confident that we are one of the leading educa#onal ins#tu#ons in the state of California devoted to reducing our ecological footprint. Our Bike program is one example of this movement, since the Bike SMC Campaign was ini#ated by the Center for Environmental and Urban Studies in 2012. We now have a dedicated cycling culture on our campus and we feel we can only grow from this point on.”
Crossroads School for Arts & Sciences
“Staff morale. School philosophy about doing things differently and being an exemplary place and it is reflected in all areas, including transport. Prac#ce what we preach.”
Areal Restaurant
“Staff arrive on #me for work, and are more dependable. We no#ce there are fewer 'traffic' excuses for being late. There is also improved staff morale.”
Phelps Agency
“Our most posi#ve outcome has been more people taking up riding. Not only to and from work, but in their off-work lives too. One example is our recrui#ng specialist. She hadn't ridden a bike in years. We convinced her to come out to lunch with us on Friday and found her someone's bike to ride. She was smiling ear to ear the whole #me. Since that #me, she has bought her own bike, which she first drove into with her car. Now she rides the 10 mile route twice a week and as of this week is aiming to get it up to 3.”
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CONTACT INFORMATION THANK YOU!
Sustainable Streets
Abbey@sustainablestreets.org www.susainablestreets.org www.bikeleague.org