Bay Area bike program pays commuters to ditch their cars
Between surging gas prices and ransom-level parking fees, the cost of the daily grind adds up.
But AbdAllah Abou-Ismail has found a way to make the city foot the bill.
"I was like, you know what? This is my reason for biking every day," he said.
Every morning, he hops on his bike and pedals his way toward a free lunch. Call it a bit of roadside economics: The city of Palo Alto pays him to stay out of traffic. And instead of low-grade road rage, he starts his day on the right foot.
"Actually, my energy levels got a lot better once I started biking. Before I would get to work a lot more sleepy, but with the bike, I come into work 100% I can hit the floor. No downtime, no nothing," he said.
It's all thanks to a program called ," which tracks his commute and pays him $5 a day — up to $600 a year — to spend at local businesses. It's one of several efforts the city has rolled out to get drivers to shift gears. The initiative runs through an app called Motion, which tracks trips automatically on your phone, whether you're on a bike, e-bike or scooter.
Pat Burt, a Palo Alto city council member who serves on the Metropolitan Transportation Commission, said the goal is simple.
"We want this to be a means where they get addicted to biking and as a result, they're healthier, mentally and physically, and happier," he said.
According to the Palo Alto Transportation Management Association, the program kept nearly three million car miles off local roads last year and cut more than a thousand tons of greenhouse gas emissions.
Not everyone thinks it goes far enough. Billy Riggs, a professor at the University of San Francisco who studies transportation innovation, says these programs tend to target people who are already biking.
"This is cute, it just can't be about cute solutions," he said.
As for Abou-Ismail, the payoff is simple — and daily.
"By the time I reach work, I've already had a small little adventure, and five bucks into my account," he said.
