Cycle friendly work place: Level Portland

Have you ever heard people talk about a cycle friendly employer and wonder what that would really mean? Would you like to be a cycle friendly employer but you don’t have any ideas on how to achieve that?

Well check out what one company in Portland has done to make itself more friendly for cycling employees.

The perks at New Relic include:

• inhouse cycle mechanic tune ups
• 1,000 square foot (93 sqm) of cycle parking onsite
• a shoe-drying rack that during the winter had inserts with built-in heating elements
• a rack of personalized shower bags hanging in the adjoining locker room (with shower, of course)
• a wall of rubber coat-hooks that are actually handlebar grips

This has resulted in less than 10 of New Relic’s 180 employees driving to work in downtown Portland.

It isn’t mentioned, but I am willing to bet that the employees also take less than the average number of sick days (a big deal in a country where health insurance is an expensive necessity) and their staff turnover is low. How much is that worth to the bottom line?