As we all know by now, May is officially bike to work month. And you should also know by now what Wend is doing in honor of this. (We’re giving away giant schwag bags each week to the winners of this month’s ‘Bike to Work’ Friday Photo contest!) That said, one West Coast city is doing something that rivals our celebration of Bike to Work month.
San Francisco’s Mayor, Gavin Newsom, as well as the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA) and some local businesses have partnered up to promote (in addition to biking to work) shopping by bike. In coordination with the I Bike SF Campaign, several businesses in Hayes Valley, a neighborhood that has voted to literally ban chain stores, are offering discounts throughout the month to cyclists who ride to shop (or ride to eat out). All they have to do is bring in their helmets or bike lock keys as proof.
“The idea simply is to encourage cycling and support local businesses,” says Mari Hunter, an intern who organized the campaign for the Mayor’s Climate Protection Initiative. She added that the focus for the Mayor’s office was to make the program easy for the businesses to participate in, and to have them benefit by boosting their sales.
[Via: SF.STREETSBLOG.org]
[Photo Via: jasewong]
