The City of Pensacola is excited to announce the launch of an Employee Bikeshare Program at City Hall on May 19, in conjunction with National Bike to Work Day.
The city invites the public to celebrate this new program and National Bike to Work Day with a short bicycle ride around downtown on Friday, May 19. Members of the public are invited to meet at City Hall with their bicycles at 10:45 a.m., and the ride will start promptly at 11 a.m. The ride will leave from City Hall, go to Community Maritime Park, come up North Palafox Street, and then head back to City Hall via Romana and Spring streets.
Through the Employee Bikeshare Program, six bicycles will be available to City of Pensacola employees to check out for professional and personal purposes during business hours.
The benefits of a bikeshare program include:
- Mobility for employees – Providing transportation options that assist city employees to conduct their duties and responsibilities in an efficient, environmentally-friendly manner.
- Reduced motor vehicle traffic – Reducing the amount of motor vehicle traffic in areas with complicated infrastructure or high pedestrian volumes.
- Health through increased physical activity – Providing methods for employees to add more movement into their daily routine, thus impacting alertness, health, longevity and more.
- Environmental benefits of reduced motor vehicle traffic – Internal combustion engine vehicles emit harmful greenhouse gas. Taking a bike instead helps reduce these emissions.
This program is funded by the Florida Blue Wellness dollars received from the Health Plan to incentivize wellness initiatives. The city is excited to add a third pillar to the city’s wellness program, which already includes a physician engagement incentive and annual health fair.
Resources on bicycling confidently and understanding the rules of the roads can be found at the League of American Bicyclists website and FDOT’s Pedestrian and Bicycle Focused Initiative.
For more information about the Bike to Work Day event, please contact City of Pensacola Transportation Planner Caitlin Cerame at ccerame@cityofpensacola.com
