Fair Trade Bike to Work Day Success

Thank you to everyone who turned out for San Francisco Bike to Work Day, Thursday, May 14th, 2009. The event was a big success with bikes constituting more than double the cars on Market Street for the second year in a row.

More elected officials participated than ever including Board of Supervisors President David Chiu, Supervisors Eric Mar, Carmen Chu, Ross Mirkarimi, Bevan Dufty, David Campos and John Avalos as well as SF MTA Director Nathaniel Ford, SF MTA Board Chairman Tom Nolan, City Attorney Dennis Herrera, Director of the Department of Public Works Ed Reiskin, Mayor Newsom's Director of Greening Astrid Haryati and Assessor-Recorder Phil Ting.

Hundreds of cyclists stood up for bikes on the steps of City Hall to show support for the 50+ projects that will double the miles of bike lanes in San Francisco. More than 200 SFBC member-volunteers cheered on cyclists at 27 Energizer Stations throughout San Francisco and hundreds of new people showed their support for the work of the SFBC by becoming new members.

For the first time ever, all of the coffee for SF Bike to Work Day was Fair Trade Certified thanks to the hard work and dedication of our six, Bay Area Fair Trade coffee roasters, America's Best Coffee Roasting Company, Capricorn Coffees, De La Paz Coffee, Mountanos Brothers Coffee Company, Wild Card Roasters, and Equator Estate Coffees & Teas.


Many thanks to our illustrious sponsors, donors and volunteers who got up at the crack of dawn to brew 85 gallons of coffee to serve 1,813 cups of coffee to SFBC supporters at the 17 morning Bike to Work Day energizer stations in honor of Bike to Work Day and World Fair Trade Day, which took place the previous Saturday, May 9th.

With your help, we helped set the new record for World’s Largest Fair Trade Break, with over 56,892 participants, 450 events and 70 media articles nationwide, thereby surpassing Finland's previous record of 52,061 participants in October 2008.

For a taste of what the event looked like, check out the Bay Area Fair Trade Coalition Bike to Work Day photo set on flickr:

Click to view the entire photo set

Or you can upload your own to the San Francisco Bike to Work Day Photo Pool:

Click to view the entire photo set

Need more inspiration? Check out these photos from World Fair Trade Day nationwide!

Click to view the entire photo set

For more information on Bike to Work Day and to become a member of the SFBC please visit:
http://www.sfbike.org

For more information on World Fair Trade Day and to learn more about how you can get involved visit:
http://www.fairtraderesource.org