March 9, 2010

UCSB Receives Bicycle Friendly Business Gold Award

George Foulsham

The League of American Bicyclists has named UC Santa Barbara a Bicycle Friendly Business Gold Award winner. UCSB will be among 51 new Bicycle Friendly Businesses announced at the 10th National Bike Summit in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday, March 10.

According to a statement by the League of American Bicyclists, UCSB serves as an example for best practices and innovations in bicycle friendliness at the workplace. UCSB promotes bicycling as a viable form of transportation and gives its employees choices and options that make biking to work easy and fun, the statement said.

According to James Wagner, program manager for Transportation Alternatives at UCSB, the award is focused on employee behavior and the incentives offered to those who commute by bicycle.

"I am thrilled to learn that UCSB has been selected for the 2010 Bicycle Friendly Business Gold Award," Wagner said. "Nationally, UCSB leads the way in terms of percentage of the campus community that commutes by bicycle."

According to Wagner, 49 percent (10,215) of UCSB's students commute by bicycle, as well as 9 percent (420) of the faculty and staff. UCSB also features seven miles of Class I bicycle paths, more than 10,000 secure bicycle parking spaces in bicycle racks, 40 secure bicycle lockers, six bicycle roundabouts, and free showers for bicycle commuters.

About UC Santa Barbara

The University of California, Santa Barbara is a leading research institution that also provides a comprehensive liberal arts learning experience. Our academic community of faculty, students, and staff is characterized by a culture of interdisciplinary collaboration that is responsive to the needs of our multicultural and global society. All of this takes place within a living and learning environment like no other, as we draw inspiration from the beauty and resources of our extraordinary location at the edge of the Pacific Ocean.