{"467441":{"#nid":"467441","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Tech Wins Atlanta Bike Challenge","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp class=\u0022p1\u0022\u003EGeorgia Tech employees took to two wheels in droves during the month of October, beating out more than 30 other employers to win this year\u2019s Atlanta Bike Challenge.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p4\u0022\u003ETech won first place in its category of organizations with more than 2,000 employees.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p5\u0022\u003E\u201cTo win, we had to get existing cyclists to ride and to encourage new riders,\u201d said Johann Weber, a graduate student in public policy who also served as an ambassador for the Challenge. \u201cIn the end, Georgia Tech earned 60,000 points with 18 new riders, 145 total participants, and 12,000 miles ridden.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p5\u0022\u003EThe Challenge awarded points based on the number of existing riders, new riders, miles, and days ridden for each participant. Staff members in Parking and Transportation Services used the challenge as an opportunity to take group bike rides as a team.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p5\u0022\u003E\u201cI ended up using a bicycle at least once every day of the Challenge for trips to work, meetings, and lunch,\u201d said David Crites, transportation operations manager. \u201cWe had weekly lunch rides on Wednesdays to local destinations like the BeltLine, Ponce City Market, Centennial Olympic Park, and Piedmont Park.\u201d Crites placed first among Tech\u2019s 145 riders and 12th among the nearly 2,000 total participants in the challenge from around the Atlanta area. \u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p5\u0022\u003EThe competition was hosted by Love to Ride, a nonprofit that works with local communities to advocate cycling, along with Georgia Commute Options, the Atlanta Regional Commission, and the Atlanta Bicycle Coalition. Tech placed third in the 2014 challenge.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EA celebration will take place Monday, Nov. 9, at 5 p.m. in President Suite C of the Bill Moore Student Success Center. The event will include pizza and information about the Campus Bike Master Plan, as well as campus groups Starter Bikes and the Bicycle Infrastructure Improvement Committee.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p5\u0022\u003EThis year\u2019s win comes at a time when Parking and Transportation Services is working to accommodate a growing number of campus cyclists.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p5\u0022\u003E\u201cWe believe that the numbers of students, faculty, and staff commuting by bike has been increasing, and we\u2019re monitoring that now,\u201d said Lisa Safstrom, campus transportation planner. \u201cWe\u2019ve made great efforts over the past few years to improve our cycling infrastructure on campus, install more bike racks, and generally accommodate people biking in order to support our sustainability goals as an institution and to provide a great option for those who can\u2019t drive to campus or don\u2019t want to.\u201d Tech is recognized as a silver-level Bicycle Friendly University by the League of American Cyclists.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p5\u0022\u003EThose who commute to campus by bike or are interested in learning more about bike commuting can join a campus Listserv at \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.c.gatech.edu\/bikecommute-subscribe\u0022\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003Ewww.c.gatech.edu\/bikecommute-subscribe\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp class=\u0022p1\u0022\u003EGeorgia Tech employees took to two wheels in droves during the month of October, beating out more than 30 other employers to win this year\u2019s Atlanta Bike Challenge.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Georgia Tech employees took to two wheels in droves during the month of October, beating out more than 30 other employers to win this year\u2019s Atlanta Bike Challenge."}],"uid":"27469","created_gmt":"2015-11-09 10:15:33","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:19:54","author":"Kristen Bailey","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2015-11-09T00:00:00-05:00","iso_date":"2015-11-09T00:00:00-05:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"467461":{"id":"467461","type":"image","title":"Parking and Transportation Employees Ride Bikes","body":null,"created":"1449257147","gmt_created":"2015-12-04 19:25:47","changed":"1475895216","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:53:36","alt":"Parking and Transportation Employees Ride Bikes","file":{"fid":"203795","name":"20151021_121525.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/20151021_121525_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/20151021_121525_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":3444912,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/20151021_121525_0.jpg?itok=vfHHmUx_"}}},"media_ids":["467461"],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/pts.gatech.edu\/Alternative_Transportation\/Pages\/Bicycling.aspx","title":"Bicycling Transportation Information"},{"url":"http:\/\/bike.gatech.edu\/","title":"Bike GT"}],"groups":[{"id":"1281","name":"Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts"}],"categories":[{"id":"129","name":"Institute and Campus"}],"keywords":[{"id":"181","name":"alternative transportation"},{"id":"147231","name":"atlanta bike challenge"},{"id":"6451","name":"bicycle"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71871","name":"Campus and Community"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:kristen.bailey@comm.gatech.edu\u0022\u003EKristen Bailey\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EInstitute Communications\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":[],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}