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Sunday, March 23, 2008

Fuel prices driving more to bikes

Image from the Rapid Transit Bike Shop
From the Bulletin (Bend, OR), 03.23.08:

Driven to change the commute
As gas prices take a bigger bite, more employees - and employers - are shifting gears on the way to work

It cost $51.65 to fill a 15-gallon tank with regular unleaded gasoline in Bend last Friday, according to the AAA Fuel Price Finder Web site. A year ago, it cost $43.07.

That kind of pain at the pump is spurring more Central Oregon employees to find new ways to reduce their commute costs--and more employers are trying to help them out.

Sunnyside Sports, which sells a range of road, mountain and hybrid bikes in Bend, saw a 50 percent spike last year in its commuter bike sales, said Mike Schindler, co-owner and service manager. Sales of commuter bikes, which typically have fewer gears and are easier to ride in an urban environment than a mountain or road bike, have started slower this season, which Schindler attributes to weather.

"There's more overall awareness of gas prices," he said. "It can be a tipping point for deciding to ride your bike more and cut down on car trips." (Read more.)
Article about the diverse options motorists in Central Oregon are adopting to avoid painful fuel addiction, including bicycling. Local employers trying to improve options for their staff are doing so with the assistance of the agency Commute Options, which has seen a 400 percent increase in participating companies over the past five years.

Image: Web capture.
Visit: Skyrocketing gas prices prompt Bend commuters to explore alternatives, The Oregonian
Visit: Commuters change their habits in Bend
Visit: As gas prices rise, some turn to bicycles to get around
Visit: Gas prices lead to bike commuters
Visit: Paul Dorn's Bike Commuting Tips Site
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1 comment:

clark said...

i know skyrocketing fuel prices affect me in every way possible, but i also now see [after more than a year of bike commuting 99% of the time] that i've undervalued this aspect. it's been great to be outside, in all kinds of weather and conditions. it's been great to see people in cars take notice of me [even if they smile and laugh, it's mostly in a good way these days, because by now i'm experienced and it shows... and i visualize them thinking to themselves, man, that actually looks fun, i wonder...]. and other bikers give me a nod and a wink and i am part of their hippie, freaky little group of misfits. and i still do drive a little, but not very much. and it is a pleasure to open that statement from shell and find my balance is zero [or maybe forty bucks lingering from that out of town trip a couple months ago], and i made zero purchases in the last monthly billing period. [last year i was paying them 200 a month some months]. pretty liberating feeling on multiple levels.