Bike Commuting

BY HEATHER DOLAN

With traffic around the NIH Bethesda campus getting worse by the day, biking to work could be a less stressful alternative to navigating rush hour. Only trouble is, there aren’t enough conveniently located, sheltered bike-parking areas, and there’s limited access to places where people can change, shower, and store their gear.

NIH’s Office of Research Facilities (ORF) is coming to the rescue. Last summer, ORF launched the Facilities Support for Cycling Program, which aims to improve the bicycle commuting experience by providing more accessible bike parking as well as improved shower and locker facilities.

Existing bike racks, which can accommodate about 1,000 bikes, will be conveniently relocated by the end of spring 2012. Some have already been moved to outside Buildings 31C and 33, and another is slated for the west side of Building 10. Once the relocations are complete, an online map will be prepared.

As for the changing rooms, Project Officer Dave Derenick and Surveyor Bobby Klosowski assessed 84 locker and shower facilities campus-wide and submitted maintenance requests to address plumbing, lighting, and safety issues. By April 2012, 97 percent of these requests had been completed. Twenty-four showers—12 women’s and 12 men’s—are also being added in Building 10’s F wing on floors 2 through 13.

To learn more, visit the NIH Bicycle Commuters Club Web site at http://www.recgov.org/r&w/nihbike/index.html. For more information on the ORF’s program, contact Dave Derenick (derenickda@mail.nih.gov).

Happy bike trails.

Team members helping to carry out the program include Derenick, Klosowski, Jeff Jones, Diane Bolton, Glen Stonebraker, Colleen Barros, Dan Wheeland, and members of the NIH Bicycle Commuters Club.