James Wagner, Transportation Alternatives, UC Santa Barbara

The League of American Bicyclists has named UC Santa Barbara a Bicycle Friendly Business Gold Award winner. UC Santa Barbara will be among 51 new Bicycle Friendly Businesses announced at the 10th National Bike Summit in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday (March 10).

According to a statement by the League of American Bicyclists, UC Santa Barbara serves as an example for best practices and innovations in bicycle friendliness at the workplace. The campus promotes bicycling as a viable form of transportation and gives its employees choices and options that make biking to work easy and fun, the statement said.

According to James Wagner, program manager for Transportation Alternatives at UC Santa Barbara, the award is focused on employee behavior and the incentives offered to those who commute by bicycle.

"I am thrilled to learn that UCSB has been selected for the 2010 Bicycle Friendly Business Gold Award," Wagner said. "Nationally, UCSB leads the way in terms of percentage of the campus community that commutes by bicycle."

According to Wagner, 49 percent (10,215) of UC Santa Barbara's students commute by bicycle, as well as 9 percent (420) of the faculty and staff. The campus also features seven miles of Class I bicycle paths, more than 10,000 secure bicycle parking spaces in bicycle racks, 40 secure bicycle lockers, six bicycle roundabouts and free showers for bicycle commuters.