Dan Beard, Chief Administrative Officer of the
U.S. House of Representatives, with Representative
Earl Bluemenauer (Oregon) in background
This past week saw the National Bike Summit here in Washington, D.C. where advocates, transportation professionals, and others came together to discuss all things bike-related and share ideas. There, the Chief Administrative Officer of the U.S. House of Representatives made an announcement about their plans for an employee bike fleet. BikePortland.org
reports:
"Just hours after news outlets reported that oil prices have hit an all-time record high, at a rally for the National Bike Summit on Capitol Hill this morning, Congressman Earl Blumenauer and Dan Beard, Chief Administrative Officer of the U.S. House of Representatives, announced a new [employee] bike-sharing program. Dubbed 'Wheels4Wellness,' the new program will initially place 30 bikes at three locations around the U.S. House offices on Capitol Hill and will be available for free to the House’s 7,000 DC-based employees."
"Beard says they hope to have the program in place by Earth Day (April 22) and that 'Plan B' would be to have it ready by National Bike Week (May 31st)."
While not of Velib' size, it's an important start for the nation which will lead to bigger and better things, such as the 435 elected representatives and their staffs taking the concept with them back to their home jurisdictions.
The audio of the House announcement can be found here.
photo credit: Office of Representative Blumenauer
A long over due concept for alternative transportation - bicyling to run errands and commute to and from work. I am glad that the U.S. House of Representatives are on board, and soon we will see Senator Robert Byrd of West Virginia and his colleagues on this magnificant but simple two-wheel frame and chain called bicycle. Who knows we may live to see a legislation giving tax cuts, not for the wealthy, but for those who commute by bicycle!
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