Please join us for a great event for Florida Bicycle Month: Kissimmee Bike to Work Day on March 4.

Riders will enjoy a slow-paced 3-mile route, starting at Ruby Plaza, 201 Lakeshore Blvd., Kissimmee, Florida 34741.

Participants are asked to check in at 7 a.m. and the bike ride begins at 7:30 a.m. Bicycle helmets are required for everyone’s safety and will be available on a first come first served basis at the event.

Event sponsors include the City of Kissimmee, Osceola County, MetroPlan Orlando, Bike/Walk Central Florida, Evolve Bicycles & E-Bikes, and reThink Your Commute.

Registration for the event is available at https://fdot.tips/Kissimmee or by calling 866-610-RIDE (7433).

Hope you can join us!

Part of the Florida Department of Transportation’s 2021 Mobility Week celebration, the Love to Ride Florida Challenge motivated Floridians to get pedaling for a second year. Born in 2020 when the pandemic put in-person events on hold, the challenge encouraged individuals and organizations to remember the joy of riding a bike while climbing the leaderboards for prizes.

During the challenge period (Oct. 29 – Nov. 30), nearly 500 people and 44 organizations across the nine counties that make up FDOT’s Central Florida district (District Five) participated. Take a look at the District Five organization winners:

2000+:            City of Orlando

500 - 1999:    Osceola Board of County Commissioners

200 - 499:       District 5 - FDOT

50 - 199:         Inwood Consulting Engineers

20 - 49:           JMT - Tampa Office

7 - 19:             Palm Beach TPA

1 - 6:               Collaborative Art Editions

One big win from the challenge is the increase of people biking to and from work! The percentage of bike commutes recorded rose from 6% in 2020 to 13% in 2021. It’s no wonder why more people are joining the bike to work trend: it provides a way to get exercise, reduce your carbon footprint, and may even save you money on gas and parking. Take it from Sanford commuter Jessica, who made the switch in June 2021 and is loving every minute of it. Read her story at https://fdot.tips/jointhetrend.

If you missed the Mobility Week challenge, the Florida Bicycle Month Challenge is taking place March 1–31, 2022, at lovetoride.net/florida. You can keep earning rewards all year long when you reThink Your Commute. Record your trips (like biking, working from home, and carpooling) in the reThink Your Commute web or mobile application to earn points. Redeem those points for rewards like free entrées, ticket discounts, and premium commuter benefits like Reimbursable Rides. Find new ways to get around and record your trips at https://https://reThinkYourCommute.com.

Active members of reThink Your Commute have new peace of mind, thanks to the Reimbursable Rides reward.

The reward reimburses qualified commuters the cost of transportation to or from work when their carpool, vanpool, bike, or other regular alternative commute is not available.

To qualify for the Reimbursable Rides reward, commuters must live or work in FDOT District Five, which includes Brevard, Flagler, Lake, Marion, Orange, Osceola, Seminole, Sumter, or Volusia counties.

Commuters must maintain an active account at https://https://reThinkYourCommute.com by regularly recording commute trips to earn points. Points can be redeemed for a variety of rewards, including reimbursement for the expense of travel to or from work up to six times a year, capped at $600 per calendar year.

Situations when commuters may request reimbursement include personal illness, family illness, a change in work schedule, unscheduled overtime, or other appointments.

More details are available at https://https://https://reThinkYourCommute.com/earn-rewards/.

The 2022 list of Best Workplaces for Commuters (BWC) was announced Jan. 27, breaking records as BWC’s largest membership to date. BWC has members in 22 states, with the highest membership ranking belonging to Florida. As the Commuter Assistance Program for Central Florida’s workforce, reThink Your Commute is proud to announce that 32 Central Florida employers made the cut for the 2022 list.

Employers receive national recognition from Best Workplaces for Commuters, which is free to apply to for all Florida employers. reThink Your Commute is a partner with BWC, which promotes environmentally friendly commuting by encouraging multi-modal transportation and alternatives to reduce stress and traffic congestion. Workplaces that receive admittance into the BWC membership program are a part of an exclusive and innovative group that receives national recognition for offering outstanding commuter benefits.

To qualify to become a member, employers must meet a National Standard of Excellence and meet all BWC’s respected criteria. reThink Your Commute helps facilitate the conversation to get employers on the right track to meet these qualifications. BWC demonstrates that options for commuting – such as transit, carpools, vanpool, and working from home – are economically and environmentally beneficial, yielding value to workers, employers, and our communities.

A special congratulations to all 32 Best Workplaces for Commuters members from Central Florida who were accepted into the 2022 list. Among the 2022 list include Central Florida workplace staples including Orange County Library System, Orlando Utilities Commission, Orlando VA Healthcare Systems, LYNX – Central Florida Regional Transportation Authority, MetroPlan Orlando, Florida Department of Transportation – District 5, City of Orlando, Space Coast Area Transit, and Greater Orlando Aviation Authority, to name a few. To see the full list of 2022’s BWC membership recipients and information on how to apply for 2023 membership, go to bestworkplaces.org

It’s easy to automatically record your regular commute and earn rewards through reThink Your Commute.

Watch our video to learn how.