Bike Everywhere Month: Becoming a bike and bus commuter

May is Bike Everywhere Month, a time for beginner and experienced cyclists to celebrate biking and to encourage biking to as many destinations as possible — work, school. running errands, and for fun. 

Christina Strand, a marketing coordinator at Community Transit, has made biking a part of her commute — rain or shine.

“Biking to work was something I had always wanted to do, but I wasn’t sure how to get started. I felt a bit intimidated by some of the roads and figuring out how to use the bike rack on the bus,” she says. Now, she bikes to work nearly every day. 

“Once you do it, you realize it’s not as hard as you imagined,” says Strand. “I also discovered that the bike racks on the Swift buses are super easy. The racks are inside the bus — right next to you — and it’s easy to keep an eye on them and they stay dry when it rains. Many of the things I felt anxious about turned out to be easy once I tried them.”

Strand’s usual commute is a combo of biking and busing. She rides her bike from North Everett to catch the Swift Blue Line and takes it to her worksite off of Casino Road in Everett. For her trip home, she bikes the entire way via the Interurban Trail. 

“Biking is a great way to decompress after a long day at work,” says Strand. “The interactions I have with people also helps me feel more connected with my community. Just this morning, a woman crossing the street yelled ‘Good morning!’ to me as I rode by. You miss those experiences when you drive to work.” 

Strand has also found that biking to work helps her forge new friendships with other coworkers who bike. 

“I’ve gotten to know coworkers who I chat with on the trail and the bus, and we even started a friendly competition for how many miles we ride for Bike Month,” she says. 

For Bike Everywhere Month, a group of Community Transit employees is participating in an informal bike challenge, logging the miles they have biked in a friendly competition using an app called Strava. 

“I just got a notification that a coworker passed me, so I need to get peddling!” she says with a smile.

Strand has also helped to plan a “bike show” — modeled after the concepts of a car show — at the May all-staff meeting to help showcase the variety of bikes and commutes that her coworkers use to get to work. 

“Hopefully it helps show how there are so many ways to ride — whether it’s on an e-bike or regular bike — to help make biking part of your commute,” she says.  

Another perk of her commute has been tracking what it has helped her saved over driving to work. Her app shows that she has saved $2,007 — that’s about 262 gallons of gas. She’s also reduced her carbon footprint by 5,148 pounds since she started tracking her biking. “It’s motivating to track that,” she says. 

Biking has also led to new volunteer opportunities. She has served on the board of Sharing Wheels Community Bike Shop, a nonprofit in Everett, for the past two years.

“I got my bike from Sharing Wheels. The more I learned about what they do for our community, the more I wanted to become more involved,” she says.   

“At Sharing Wheels, we get donated bikes, refurbish, and sell them. It is a great way to start biking without paying full price for a nice bike — and it’s for a great cause! We try to help make biking more accessible for everyone. We’ve helped refugees get bikes and we do a lot of free bike repairs — including for people with other mobility devices, like walkers. We also have a DIY section in our shop where people can work on their bikes, get assistance, and use our tools,” she says. 

“I just hope people take this month as an opportunity to get out there on a bike and connect with their community,” says Strand. She encourages new riders to check our Sharing Wheels Bike Shop and to explore the local Bike Everywhere Month events listed below.  

Celebrate Bike Everywhere Month 

Bike Month events

2023 Bike Everywhere Day
May 19 at Everett Station
8:00 a.m.–noon

Other Bike Everywhere Day celebration stations

REI Alderwood 
6:00 a.m.–9:00 am
40th Ave W & Alderwood Mall Blvd, Lynnwood, WA 98036

Edmonds Bicycle Advocacy Group 
7:00 a.m.– 9:30 a.m.
102 Main St, Edmonds, WA 98020

Plan your ride

Not only do our buses make it easy to take your bike farther, but our routes also serve many of Snohomish County’s amazing bike and pedestrian trails. Check out routes like the Interurban Trail, Centennial Trail, and more with our Community Transit bike maps.

Explore bike storage options

Worried about where to store your bike at a destination? We’ve got you covered – check out information on our bike lockers to learn how you can securely store your bike at park and rides or bus stations. 

Learn how to take your bike on the bus

Biking isn't just fun — it also easily combines with Community Transit bus routes to get you farther. Watch our tutorials on loading your bike onto Community Transit's different buses, including Swift. Best of all? Bikes don't cost extra to bring along!

Brush up on the basics

Check out some bike commuting basics to make sure you’re ready to get rolling.