BICYCLES GET COMMUTERS PUMPED UP : Converts Roll In After Workers Pedal to Job

By DONNETTE DUNBAR

May 20, 1992 12 AM PT

TIMES STAFF WRITER

SANTA ANA —

It’s fast. It’s efficient. It’s healthy, economical and even fashionable.

In these times of smog and traffic congestion, hundreds of people across Orange County are trekking to work on two wheels. They say it’s more healthy, less stressful and environmentally safe.

Tuesday was National Bicycling Day, and about 60 people rode from their homes to work in Santa Ana at McDonnell Douglas Electronic Systems Co. and Novadyne Computer Systems Inc. The event was part of an ongoing effort to get more commuters out of their cars and onto the seat of a bicycle.

For both regulars and first-time bicycle commuters, the trip was rewarding.

“I’d rather spend time riding a bicycle than fighting traffic any day,” said Paul Sue, a 32-year-old McDonnell Douglas employee who lives in Huntington Beach and cycled to work for the first time. It took him one hour, compared to 35 minutes by car.

“I think I could cut out 15 minutes easily once I know the route,” he said. Sue said that based on his experience Tuesday, he plans to ride three times a week.

Mike Mott, 46, of Midway City has been biking to work for eight years. An avid cyclist, Mott sold his car and now cycles to the Santa Ana office of McDonnell Douglas every day.

“It’s cheaper,” said Mott, who works in the software department. “It changes your whole attitude, makes you more patient and more civil. You can pull up alongside someone and strike up a conversation.”

“Bikers don’t shoot at each other,” Mott said. “We talk.”

Aside from economics, many bikers say, riding to work is a great way to exercise.

John Kesler, 45, has been riding a five-mile route from Irvine to Santa Ana for about a year.

“I decided I needed to give myself a heart bypass the easy way, without the surgery,” said Kesler. “It forces me to exercise.”

In Southern California, employers have encouraged bicycle commuting since the South Coast Air Quality Management District began requiring larger businesses to discourage solo commuting.

Although the latest census figures show that less that 1% of Orange County residents get to work by bicycle, a number of companies have offered incentives to help fight air pollution.

Statewide, McDonnell Douglas pumped $100,000 into a program of loans and grants last year to increase the number of employees who ride bicycles to work. The number of cyclists quickly increased from 85 to 308, but then fell to 133 within three months.

At the Santa Ana facility, cyclists rose from one to 15 in less than a year, according to Rita Linsey, employee transportation coordinator. At the McDonnell Douglas facility in Huntington Beach, more than 100 employees cycle to work.

Several firms have installed showers and lockers for cyclists. McDonnell Douglas offers other incentives, such as gift certificates and free lunches in the cafeteria.

Employees who participated on Tuesday received a free breakfast after their morning trip, and free T-shirts with the inscription TRIP (Transportation Reduction Incentive Program) on the back. Others received gift certificates.

Linsey is hoping to increase the numbers of bikers to about 40 at the Santa Ana facility and entice the Orange County Transportation Department to put bike racks on buses. She is also on a mission to educate drivers about the rights of bike riders.

“Many of them don’t know that (cyclists) have the same rights as people who drive in their cars,” she said.

Studies have shown that automobile and truck emissions are responsible for more than 80% of the region’s smog and that drivers are never taxed or charged for the full environmental cost. Cycling to work once a week, according to research, avoids the emission of more than 1,100 pounds of carbon dioxide a year.

Biking to Work

Although the bicycle is far from the most favored mode of transportation in Orange County, more than 12,000 people pedal to their jobs. How Orange County’s work force, 16 years and older, gets to work:

Drive alone: 981,436

Car pool: 174,624

Bus: 30,946

Walk: 28,560

Bicycle: 12,140

Motorcycle: 6,612

Other means: 9,961

Work at home: 34,382

The county’s commuting picture:

Drive alone: 79%

Car pool: 14%

Bus: 2%