City of Boston celebrates annual bike friendly business awards

The City of Boston celebrated the annual Boston Bike Friendly Business Awards with a ceremony on Monday, August 3. The awards applaud the role of Boston based businesses in supporting and advancing the growth of biking in Boston. They also recognize Boston businesses that have pledged to make the city better for cyclists by providing facilities, services and benefits to employees and customers who bike. Over 150 businesses, ranging from small two-employee firms to large corporations consisting of tens of thousands of employees, have participated in the program since the awards were first initiated in 2008.

“The City of Boston is committed to making sure our streets are safe and friendly for bicyclists,” said Mayor Martin J. Walsh. “I want to congratulate this year's winners and thank them for their efforts to promote healthy, sustainable and efficient transportation options."

“I’d like to congratulate all of our Bike Friendly Business Award winners and thank them for their contribution to the city and the environment,” added Boston Transportation Commissioner Gina Fiandaca. “No matter their size, every organization can help Boston to achieve its bike friendly goals.”

This year saw the introduction of more demanding qualifications to compete for the award. Businesses were rewarded for their creation of initiatives that benefit the public and points were added for the establishment of on-site bike repair stations and for providing discounts to customers who bike.

A “Chocolate Award”, named to acknowledge the belief that nothing is better than chocolate, was introduced this year to honor the first-place winner. Harvard University and the Harvard Longwood Campus took home the 2015 Chocolate Award as the Most Bike Friendly Business in Boston. Harvard was credited for the following.

Providing discount Hubway memberships to their employees and sponsoring Hubway stations.
Offering guaranteed rides home to employees who bike in the event of an unexpected personal emergency.
Participating in the MassCommute Challenge and Boston’s annual bike events, along with sponsoring their own bike event each year.
Providing tax-free reimbursements of up to $20 a month for expenses related to bike purchases, improvements, and repairs
Making bike cages available for Harvard affiliates.
Installing multiple fix-it stations in locations that are accessible to the public.

Harvard was joined by 54 other local companies that were honored with gold, silver and bronze awards.

Award winners represent a diverse group of businesses who together have helped to pave the way for Boston’s tremendous growth in biking. Award winners have designed many of Boston’s bike lanes, provided critical funding for the Hubway bike share system, developed creative incentives to encourage employees to bike to work, implemented innovative safety campaigns, and more.

The following organizations were named as 2015 Boston Bike Friendly Businesses.

Chocolate - Most Bike Friendly Business

Harvard Longwood Campus

Harvard University

Gold

Beacon Architectural Associates

Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center

Boston Children's Hospital

Dana-Farber Cancer Institute

Digital Lumens

Landry's Bicycles

Perkins+Will

Sandulli Grace, PC

Toole Design Group, LLC

Urban AdvenTours

Silver

A Better City

Appalachian Mountain Club

Boston Organics

El Pelon Taqueria

Emmanuel College

Fenway Health

Foley Hoag LLP

MASCO

McMahon Associates

Motivate

NaviNet, Inc.

Next Phase Studios

Stantec, Inc.

Storiant

The Gillette Company

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc.

WGBH

Bronze

Adi's Bike World

Back Bay Bicycles

Bikes Not Bombs

Boston Global Investors

Boston Health Care for the Homeless Program

Brigham and Women's Hospital

Carbonite, Inc.

Community Boating, Inc.

Cornerstone Research

DiMella Shaffer

ERG - Boston

HNTB Corporation

Howard Stein Hudson

Hyatt Regency Boston

Institute for Justice & Democracy in Haiti

Jacobs Engineering Group

John Hancock Financial Services

JWA-Architects, Inc.

Linea 5, inc. Architects

Nelson\Nygaard

Nutter McClennen & Fish

Public Consulting Group

Simmons College

Treeturn, inc.

United Way of Massachusetts Bay

Wediko Children's Services

Wellframe

For additional information on Boston Bikes and how to become more bike friendly, visit www.cityofboston.gov/bikes.