Bicycle Friendly America Fall 2017 - 22

BICYCLE FRIENDLY BUSINESS

promote the program, we created two
infographics - one for employees and
one for employers, a program logo that
can be customizable to each participating department and we are set to launch
a toolkit this summer for government
agencies at any level. The BikeShare
Toolkit will include lessons learned, important steps to consider before launching and a slew of helpful sample forms
and support materials. Now each year
in May, the CDPH team and our colleagues at sister agencies throw a BikeShare Birthday party to celebrate the
employees and the bikes they love. The
2017 fest included a cameo by California's own "Poppy" the State Fair mascot
who grabbed the limelight by eagerly
hopping on the CDPH adult tricycle
(with helmet) to take a spin.
The HMO partner came back at the
end of that first year and offered to collaborate again with enough funds to
launch five new BikeShare fleets for other government agencies. We pulled together an application for other agencies

to use and provided key lessons-learned
to aid the new applicants. In the end, five
agencies were selected and provided with
similar bicycles, locks and racks as the
initial CDPH pilot bicycle fleet. Once
launched, each new employee BikeShare
system took off. The coordinators all
meet quarterly to share successes, ride
data, promotion and outreach ideas. Another state department even filmed my
one-hour safety presentation and uses
that to certify new BikeShare users. Last
year, the HMO partner offered again to
fund more BikeShare systems, and five
more agencies were added to the growing bicycle rolls. Today there are 12 state
agencies that are participating with a
total of 90 bicycles primarily located
in Sacramento's downtown core. Combined, the participating agencies house
over 15,000 employees that now have
access to a free, healthy, green mode of
transportation in the middle of their day.
I definitely leaned on the skills gained
through being a League Cycling Instructor at key junctures while launching the

program. The League's LCI program carried weight and respect, and I was able to
open a lot of doors with that credential. I
credit it for much of our success.
Now it is not uncommon to see the
hunter green, seafoam and navy blue city
bikes being pedaled around downtown
Sacramento. I hope that this is just the
beginning. Separately, legislation has
even been introduced in the California
State Senate (SB 702, Stern) this year to
institutionalize a similar program at all
state-operated buildings. And to quote
one CDPH employee: "[this is] worksite wellness at its finest ... [I'm] using
the bikes for exercise and I love it." The
nicks, scratches and wear on the bikes
show how much they are truly used and
enjoyed. Hopefully someday, every new
state employee will simply just be shown
where the bikes are kept - as a sign of
California's culture of wellness.
Jeffery Rosenhall is LCI #2312 and
Health Program Manager at the California Department of Public Health.

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22 BICYCLE FRIENDLY AMERICA

https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=201720180SB702 http://www.castatefair.org/poppy-bears-appearances-california-state-fair/ http://www.castatefair.org/poppy-bears-appearances-california-state-fair/ http://dero.com/

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Bicycle Friendly America Fall 2017