Participants in Bike to Work Day 2008 rode into the sunset June 25 in record numbers.
Metrowide, 25,130 people registered for the event, up from 15,497 in 2007, according to data from the Denver Regional Council of Governments (DRCOG), which organized the event.
Organizers estimate that an additional 30 percent participated but did not register. When a factor for those who registered but didn’t ride is tallied, the bottom line is more than 30,000 participants, says DRCOG Marketing Coordinator Sarah Carroll.
Carroll says the number of first-time participants was up 76 percent over last year, and the number of companies participating was up 51 percent. Riders who have a positive experience their first time are likely to continue using alternative transportation, says Linda Dowlen, program manager for DRCOG RideArrangers.
On the DU campus, 105 people were counted at the Bike to Work breakfast station set up near Driscoll North. The number includes DU employees who walked to work instead of riding or driving or used mass transit.
The University has about 2,500 benefitted employees and 800 adjuncts, according to Human Resources.
“It went very well,” says Chris Meyer, senior parking enforcement officer. “Attendance was greater than I expected.”
Bike to Work Day in Colorado is the fourth Wednesday in June, which the legislature has declared Bike Month. The program is a grassroots effort to promote bicycles as a commuting alternative to motor vehicles.