we have the mayor here, where is mayor lee? i want to invite all of the supervisors, 10 of the members of the supervisors are here. all of the departments are here and all the great business supporters in the house. my name is lia shayam, and the regional director of the san francisco bicycle coalition. happy bike to work day. we celebrate not only the eighteenth annual his bike to work day, but the greatest increase this city has ever seen in the number of people bicycling and the number of viking -- biking improvements. how many people saw more bikes this year than ever before? more happy, smiling people than they have ever seen before. more people loving our city and appreciating our neighborhood.

you are not imagining it. we are seeing literally, just in the past year-and-a-half, 23 miles of new bikeways added. thank you mta, thank you, supervisors. literally a 71% increase in just five years from the number of bikes and the city. i want to highlight a couple of areas. market street alone in the last one-year, 43% increase in by traffic. when you look back over the last five years, market street has seen 115% increase in bike traffic. solid ofell street, half a milln bike trips a year.

half a million are biking over that stretch of this year. i want to highlight how much more business support we have seen this year. we will talk about that. the mayor will help us handout the first-ever bicycle friendly business award. we are thrilled to have the time of the vote here today, highlighting how good bicycling is for the city. i will ask mayor lee to speak and members of the board of supervisors. but we rode on the new innovative bike project. the first parking protected by way -- bikeway on jfk drive. mayor lee, it could not have happened without him and it could not have happened without the leadership of phil ginsburg, somewhere here biking with us.

at the recreation and parks commission. he is now a regular bicyclist. he started writing last year, but his bike on bike to work day, and is writing a couple times a week here in the city. we are thrilled. we could not have done this without the city leadership here today both political and business. we could not have done it without the strong commitment of mayor lee. sometimes these bikeways hit snags. jfk drive bikeway is a great example of that. now we are looking throughout the city and counting on the mayor's leadership. we know we will have it because he is such a strong supporter. he will tell us about his ride today. >> thank you, lia.

i had too much fun so i will not make a long speech. i will say that when you're working in the office and doing as many meetings as i get to do for the city, it is really a great opportunity when you have this kind of weather and you get to join the bicycle enthusiasts, employee is going to work. it is wonderful to make sure you are exercising. it is fine, safer than years before because we are working together to make it safe for everybody, and it is healthy. i think we will have a more productive work force if we get out there and bike. everybody knows this is a huge contributor to reducing greenhouse emissions. lia, we made a promise last year to do jfk. it is not finished, we have a lot of details to do. maybe getting the paint to make sure that is a dedicated lan.

phel and oak will be another great challenge. i would like to have something on vaness so that i can get to work easier. i want to say thanks to the supervisors, the departments, the mta, the police department, we are so lucky to have so many agencies when it comes to bicycle safety increasing. i also want to say thank you to the businesses that are supporting us to make it more bicycle friendly. the reason we are experiencing a 71% increase in the last year, 7businesses are stepping up as well. they are making bicycle racks, parking, encouraging employees. i want to give a shout out to

all the local businesses. and thank you very much for your bicycle friendly policy. lia, thank you. >> thank you. we realize this year will see so much business support, we wanted to recognize the businesses that are stepping up the most and showing the way for other san francisco companies. as the mayor said, we are seeing a staff of of improvement or commitment from businesses. one thing is being able to walk, like, take transit to work. you don't have to make an hour- and-a-half commute. we can have lunch, go shopping, work and play here in san francisco. there is no better way than on a bicycle. and thank you to all the businesses. we were amazed with how many companies responded and proposed that they were by a friendly businesses. -- bike friendly businesses.

we want to recognize six that we believe are being really innovative and going above and beyond. i will ask the mayor to help me hand out these awards. these six folks are with us today. the first company is lacien, and katherine is here. jay is here, too, good. they are doing a great job of securing bike parking, providing office bikes, and they have a great buddy program. congratulations. [applause] some of them are going to speak after. the second company is air b and b. they have secured like parking, lockers, and showers. you can get your bike fixed during the day with mechanics.

they have palms and spare parts right there in the office to share. somewhere -- nathan is here. want to speak after? the third company is a great longtime worker company, their edible vegetable. they have wonderful secure parking in the office and lockers, they award stipends to their employees that bike. they show great support for the cesar chavesz separated bikeways. and a whopping 30% of employees bike to their edible vegetable. kirin is here somewhere -- veritable vegetable. karen is here somewhere. they offer bike parking for employees, they also have in house repair and the offer

discounts to their employees. great. [applause] our fifth company has been here a long time, you might have heard of levis. they have secured parking and showers for a growing number of employees. they participated in the original challenge and they are creating new products that make sure we looked great and can ride easily. jason is here from levi's, thank you. [applause] thank andyou, jason -- thank you, jason. and finally, zynga. amazing creative bike parking. check it out. they are offering workshops on employees -- for employees on the right skills, maintenance, and they have declared may official zynga loves biking

month. thank you, ellen. we will ask a couple of the folks to take the time to join us. katherine and jay, want to join us? >> thank you for the recognition and the honor of inviting us today. we moved offices to 45,000 square feet on seventh and harrison, and we had the choice when we moved to dedicate vehicle parking or bike parking. based largely on improvements the city has made for bicyclist in the city, we chose bike parking. we have almost -- thanks. we have almost half of the 130 people we have in san francisco commuting by bike. with the money we save don that parking, we will buy bikes form rom mike's bikes for dedicated

bikes for people that don't have any to ride. keep it up. [applause] >> thank you. i want to welcome mason from air b and b. >> the employees really depend on the bike-friendly nature of this city. half of them ride to work each day. we are located in the design district and we only have five parking spots of our own. not many people drive to work and there is not a lot of working in the neighborhood. biking is good for the employees, good for the neighborhood, reduces congestion. myself, i have been biking to work for four years, it is part of my everyday routine. i lived in palo alto, i would

put it on the train and then bike to work. i would like to thank the mayor, everyone in the city that has supported by culture -- bike culture. and everyone that participates in it, it is only through participation that we create this culture. thank you for being here. >> thank you, and a thin, and thank you, companies, for being an example. -- thank you, nathan, and thank you, companies, for being an example. the next is from veritable vegetable. >> thank you for making san francisco one of the best cities in the country to bike. 37% of employees bike in. we provide lockers for them. people come from the east bay on bart, people come from the very

end all parts of san francisco. -- ferry and all parts of san francisco. they are improving the bike lanes throughout the city. thank you. >> i am thrilled that we have 10 of the members of the board of supervisors with us today. each of them wrote from their district to city hall. hubble's the -- i will start with president chiu. >> good morning, the sun is shining on cyclists today. thank you for not just walking the walk, but riding the ride. we have come a long way since the lawsuit, but does anyone think we can do better? san jose decided to segregate lanes, and davis, c -- can we do

better? i want to thank my colleagues and former mayor newsom for deciding that by 2020, 20% ou ght to be cycling. and you think 50% of city workers might be biking? we need to do better. we are spending about point to 5% on cycle improvements. -- .25% on cycling improvements. we are making the streets safer for 8-year-old and 80-year-olds. thank you for being here. >> good morning, happy bike to work day. i'm john avalos, i represented

district 11, the most southern part of an francisco. we are well past cesar chavez, and this morning we came from naples and geneva, close to the broken record. it is a great place there, some great food. 10 of us rode from there, about 45 minutes from that spot. i have been writing that way for about 12 years, and back then, we did not have any bike infrastructure whatsoever. now we have dedicated lanes, places to turn that are much safer than ever before. it is just the start of all the changes we need to have in the city. it is really exciting to hear from a lot of businesses that are contributing to the bike economy. we need that kind of partnership in the business community to be able to create greater space for

biking in the city. the board of supervisors had passed access to make it easier for bikers to enter buildings. they will not get stolen off the streets, and we are making more space for pedestrians as well. these are the small tools we are using to get to 20% by the year 2020. i am cooperating with the mayor to make that happen, thank you very much. . thank you very much. >> good morning, everyone. are you excited? this morning, i am happy to report that we came from the road house coffee that is located on third street. when people think that they view was nothing more than a community that is wrought with trouble, i am here to tell you that we are redefining our future and moving forward on

floods and on -- on foot and on bikes. i am excited to have the opportunity to test out the new bike lanes on cesar chavez. i want to give a shout out to my very faithful guide, neill. i look forward to riding with you again next year. i also want to thank the business community that came out with us. thank you cleveland, muhammed, the leader of dpw. your team is doing a good job, buddy. you guys are doing a great job, keep up the good work. we are committed and we stand with you, collectively. i love you and the viking community. -- biking community. >> good morning, buenos dias. i represent district 9 which

includes the mission and vernal heights, we had a great day writing to city hall. -- riding to city hall. i do want to go back to something president chiu said. if we meet our objective of 20%, we have to make sure that we are investing more money into our bike infrastructure. we have to make sure a higher percentage of the overall budget is spent on biking. i want to thank the coalition because one of the things they are doing in my district and other parts of the city is working with kids to get more kids on bikes. biking, to really be sustained, we need to make sure the next generation is part of that. the last thing i will say is that we need to take the message of what is happening here in san francisco to influence what is happening in the rest of the region. the supervisors wienr --

supervisor wiener and i are on the commission and we need to make sure that the objectives can be translated. we look forward to working on that. thank you very much. >> hi, everyone. i'm scott wiener, i represent district 8 on the board of supervisors. let's hear it for district 8. we came from the castro, i am more of a muni guy. but it is important for me to get on the road and remind myself of all the work that we have done and all the work that we need to do. it is easy to go down market street to city hall, that road needs a lot of work.

castro and market needs a lot of work. i was proud to partner with the coalition to get it passed. we need to keep working hard to them make the roads good for everyone. -- hard to make the roads good for everyone. >> i'm jane kim, i represented district 6. treasure island, north mission. i had the pleasure of riding for the very first time on my eliow. i never learned how to ride a bike as a young person and i spent six years as a youth organizer. most of the young people that i worked with that are growing up here in san francisco also don't know how to ride a bike. i am glad that the coalition is partnering with sto encourage or

young people to learn how to ride bikes as well. i had a small but mighty contingent, our legislative aide and people from the mta. they noticed my wheels had never been pumped. i had trouble at the beginning, but once we flagged down a biker coming down the vision that stopped on his way to work and offered his pump, it was moved riding all the way back to city hall. as someone who is learning on the bike, i will not be on the road until we have more separated lanes and indoor parking. as i visit under -- other

cities, we are not number one and everything. seeing all the green separated lanes and seeing how like -- bike lane highways in minneapolis, i want to have that type of infrastructure. the first -- the next project i am excited about working on is second street. bike lanes and pedestrian improvements there. i gave up my parking spot and i live really close. i walk and take muni, and i want to be able to bike to city hall one day. thank you. >> christine olague, i am proud to be representing district 5. it almost felt like we were cheating because we have the wiggle. i don't know. i will have to worry about getting back, but getting here was pretty smooth. a special thanks to markets for

guiding us safely -- marcus for guiding us safely. i wanted to mention that we are very committed to seeing the panhandle extension happen this fall, hopefully. i am saying that loud so we can keep our ears open. also, i believe it is sunday street closures long overdue. our office is committed to seeing that happen soon also. we're lucky in district 5, people from the mta were with us. people from the bike coalition. it is a wonderful district and we have cyclist's that are very devoted to the cause. we would like to see the panhandle extension happened this fall, breaking ground. and sunday street closures is the thing we are not next

committed to seeing happen. -- we'renext thing we are commid to seein happen. >> good morning, my name is carmen chu, i came all the way out from the sun set district. -- sunset district. we went down jfk, the beautiful roadway that was wonderful to see that happen. i think the feeling that i got was not only waking up really early but also a big sense of guilt. i want ask you to give a big hand to end andy thornly. andy gave me a ride into work today on a tandem bike. even for a person that doesn't normally ride a bike, i knew something was wrong when we were

going uphill. that guy was giving me a ride the whole way here. a big hand for andy tho my one d someone to teach me how to ride a bike. can i find someone that can do that? yes? thank you. again, i want to say congratulations to everybody for making san francisco and more by a friendly place to the -- bike friendly place to be. as someone who can barely stay straight on a bike at the moment, i want to thank you all for doing what you do and make sure that we keep this on our agenda to make sure we are making improvements. happy bike to work day. [applause] >> morning, everyone. a lot of richmond district

people here today. we had a great ride this morning. we had people from the eldeouter -- the efforts we are making safer for families. my daughter can ride on the jfk lane more safely. and the coalition workshops -- i have been wrriding since being a student at davis. can we beat davis? i don't know, we can try. we can change the culture so that families and parents feel safe is a critical thing. for the jfk drive implementation, i know it is painful to share the roadways. but all of these companies and businesses where we came from,

we need to work with everyone and make sure that we change the culture so that we are truly a bike-friendly city in san francisco. >> thank you all, supervisors, so much. it is not often we get this much political support for an issue, thank you for making san francisco a more livable city. i want to share with some folks in the city that we work closely with. thank you for being here. sf travel, thank you for being here. the building and a business association owners, thank you for being here. i want to highlight the hard work of the san francisco municipal transportation agency. we are thrilled to be working with you and your team. i want to thank the directors

nolan, heinicke, brinkman. i think i got everybody. from the recreation and parks department, thank you. making sure we are connecting the city and connecting the parks. i want to recognize charlie johnson from the mayor's office of disability. i know we have a guest from the department of public works. the commander from the police department, we are honored to be working with you. we have an sf frfolks from sf environment. an amazing showing. many friends here. you know our goal. is easy. we want to be doing this every day. make bike to work day every day, with your support we will make san francisco the must bike friendly city.

thank you for your support, have the bike to work day -- happy bike to work day. [applause] impossible. announcer: when you open a book, you can explore new lands... [bird screeches] meet new friends, and discover new adventures. there are amazing possibilities when you open your mind to reading. [roar] you can log onto he library of congress website and let the journey begin.