Making Your Event Bicycle-Friendly

Portland, Oregon. Or as one might otherwise call it, Bike City, USA . With the possible exception of Copenhagen, there’s no town on earth that has such passion and respect for the bicycle. It’s a love that extends from soup to beer, a testament to the belief that anything that can be done can be done on two wheels (which is not to say that you should). So here in Portland, integrating bicycles and bike culture into the event environment is common practice. But for those of you in less bicycle-friendly areas of the country, you may not have given much thought to the benefits of encouraging your guests to consider alternate modes of transportation. In fact, helping them leave the car at home will not only promote health and sustainability, but with reasonable planning will help tremendously with your traffic and parking operations.

If the location of your event site makes cycling feasible (sorry, Burning Man), here are a few ideas that can help encourage your guests to ditch the Dodge for the night:

Designated bike parking - In lieu of simply installing bike racks, consider creating a complimentary bike parking “corral” at your event. Make sure this area is close to the facility, well-lit, and continuously monitored by event personnel. As an added bonus, bicycle corrals are excellent sponsorship opportunities for a local bike shop, and I’ve found them to be an easy sell. They may even consider offering tune up services while guests are at the event increasing both promotional or revenue opportunities.

Recommend bike routes - Although there are several sources online that offer recommended point-to-point bike routes, these are often out of date and decidedly questionable. Instead, consider positing a list of recommended bike routes from various locations on your event’s website. I recommend developing these in conjunction with your local law enforcement, or at a minimum notify them to expect the possibility of increased bicycle traffic. Printed maps may also be distributed to local bike shops, and could include additional marketing opportunities for appropriate clients (healthcare, grocery, or fitness).

Offer free parking and/or rebates - If you charge for parking onsite, promote the fact that bicycle parking is free. If the cost of vehicle parking is included in your event ticket price, offer those riding bikes a rebate in the amount of the parking charge which can be utilized onsite. For example, when a guest checks their bike at the bike corral, have the attendant stamp their ticket. The guest may then show their ticket stub at any concession stand for a free bottle of water or soft drink. The concession stand will then punch a hole in their ticket stub directly over the stamp to prevent re-use.

Use bike shops as distribution points - If you’re conducting special ticket promotions (ticket vouchers, coupons, etc), consider using local bike shops as a primary distribution point. Doing so not only drives customer traffic to a potential sponsor (see above), those utilizing the promotion would be exactly the demographic most likely to cycle to the event.

Or be really ambitious and just power your event with bicycles.