BlueCycle Campaign Kicks-off on National Bike to Work Day

BlueCycle, a new bike sharing program for employees at Eagan-based Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota was officially launched on Friday, May 20 to coincide with National Bike to Work Day. 

3,500 Eagan Blue Cross employees will be able to check out a bicycle to ride between buildings, get some exercise before or after work and at lunch, run errands, or ride to a nearby restaurant for lunch.

Eighteen bicycles have been distributed between four of the seven Blue Cross office buildings in Eagan and another two are available for use at their Virginia, MN office.

BlueCyle has been in the planning stages for a about a year and is sponsored by the company's human resources and prevention groups.

"We've had really high interest," says Sarah Marcum, wellness program consultant. "One hundred fifty people signed up right away and we've had about 20 additional people ask for a [BlueCycle] user name and PIN every day since."

Once an employee has registered, they may use their PIN to access a key box holding keys to the bike locks. 

The bicycles are specially designed to accommodate riders in business attire and include a step-through design, fenders, chain guard and a large front basket.

HR Systems Specialist Joan Wang thinks Blue Cycle is a great idea. She registered and got her pin right away and is planning on using the bikes on her lunch hour and to commute between buildings whenever the weather permits her to do so.

Marcum said BlueCycle fits in with the company's "Do" campaign that promotes 10 minutes of exercise three times a day and also their commitment to wellness.

"We wanted to do this and give our employees an easy way to be active at work," says Vice President and Chief Prevention Officer Dr. Marc Manley.

Chief Executive Officer Pat Geraghty said, "We are very happy to have the bikes here after successfully launching Nice Ride. It's nice to be able to do that on our campus and is one more step in the continuum of being a health company and supporting health and wellness."

Blue Cross is the major sponsor of Nice Ride Minnesota, which launched last year in Minneapolis and will soon expand to St. Paul. There currently are 1,200 green Nice Ride bikes available for the program's more than 2,500 subscribers to pick up and return at 113 stations located throughout Minneapolis. 

Geraghty was immediately supportive of employee requests to have a bike sharing program at Blue Cross and gave the direction to "find to how to make it work on our campus." Geraghty said, "I will be riding between buildings as much as possible." He sees BlueCycle as creating opportunities for people not to need to use their cars during the day.