By Howard Williams

Thursday, May 10 was the City’s 18th Annual Bike to Work (BTW) Day organized by the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition (SFBC). As mentioned in last year’s BTW Day article on mosquitosf.com, this event is both a celebration and a political statement. This fact is reflected by the presence of the Mayor and other prominent city leaders joining this year’s BTW rides. For bike riders on the Mosquito Abatement Courier (MAC) team, the day offers a chance to enjoy the benefits of BTW Day as well as an opportunity to introduce our work to more cyclists than on any other day of the MAC season. For MAC riders, BTW Day is always good “infotainment.”

Last year’s article mentioned that “we who bike at work have a slightly different take on Bike to Work Day, which we hope our commuter friends will consider.” We who bike on the job believe that increasing the number of jobs done on cycles in San Francisco will offer numerous economic and environmental benefits to the residents, businesses and the City.

But before talking about that, let’s review the day itself. Because Pestec’s MAC team covers the entire city, our riders were able to reach most of the 27 bike stations set up by the SFBC for BTW day.

I was hurt that day with a bruised thigh and didn’t work but I did manage to get out to the station at 19th and Holloway in front of SF State University. There I saw just two people – Matt and Carolina – enthusiastically run a busy station. As usual, the station at 3rd and Cesar Chavez was the one most visited by MAC riders. Coming straight out outta Hunters Point north on 3rd Street brought most MAC riders to that strategic corner. Valencia at 17th was another popular one with delicacies donated by the nearby Belgian fries place. Donovan saw about 40 people there at one time. This was just one of 5 stations that Patrick hit. As a result, he didn’t have to buy lunch that day. Donovan was impressed by the classy crew at Cesar Chavez and Harrison who donated food to schoolkids even if they were on foot instead of bicycles. Juliette and other riders appreciated the support the stations offer for cyclists and the increased awareness of bike commuting by the general public in recent years.

Finally, I’m happy to say that our “different take” about biking at work has been taken seriously by both the SFBC and City Hall. Marc Caswell of the SFBC reported that 15 San Francisco government agencies will soon get bicycles for on the job use by City workers. The SFBC will offer bike education classes to facilitate bike use. City workers will calculate the distance they travel on bikes instead of motor vehicles and use the information to determine the amount of money saved on fuel and te amount of carbon reduced through bike use. Such research can then be used to help promote other ways to use bikes to work more efficiently.

Thanks to the SFBC and the rest of the City’s cycling community, Bike to Work Day really does get better each year!

Howard Williams is a Veteran MAC Team member.

The SF PUC MAC Team provides mosquito abatement throughout the City and County of San Francisco.

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