This May the County Executive Office’s Sustainability Division hosted Cyclemania-a month full of events encouraging employees to commute by cycling- in celebration of national bike month. Cyclemania included Welcome Stations where the Division welcomed County employees heading into work with coffee, snacks, and information on how to get started on cycling to work. Employees heard about the commuter benefits available to them like bike lockers, carpool parking permits, use of electric vehicles for business trips, and the Transportation Benefits Reimbursement Program. Employees can learn more about the commuter benefits at https://hr.ventura.org/benefits.

Cyclemania also featured a short presentation on the commuter and health benefits available to employees like the VC-Well Program and learned how cycling can get them a chance of earning up to $400. Cyclemania ended with a presentation by the Public Works Agency and Ventura County Transportation Commission titled “The Future of Active Transportation” where employees will learn about the County’s Active Transportation Plan and VCTC’s Regional Bikeway Wayfinding Plan and their new project on family-friendly bike routes. Past information and recordings about Cyclemania and employee programs are available on the Employees webpage.

Why is the County encouraging its employees to bike and use active transportation?
The County of Ventura has a mission to being more sustainable. Cyclemania is a part of the County’s Climate Action Plan program, PFS-F: Trip Reduction for County Staff. The program is intended to incentivize County employees to reduce their trip emissions by not using single-occupancy vehicles. The County’s Climate Action Plan has 81 policies and programs aimed at reducing the region’s fossil fuel use and adapting to climate change.