Lake County, OH — On Friday, May 20, 2016, Laketran will be offering free rides to encourage Laketran riders to bike to the bus stop for a healthy and environmental friendly commute as part of National Bike to Work Day. Passengers on Local Routes 1-6 and Park-n-Ride Routes 10-13 who ride their bikes to the bus stop on Friday, May 20 will ride for free.

“Laketran is participating in the national effort to promote alternative transportation options to driving a car,” shares Julia Schick, director of communications and marketing for Laketran. “There are many benefits to biking and riding. There are the obvious health benefits, but biking and riding public transportation also has an impact on local air quality and fuel consumption.”

Transit buses serving local Routes 1-6 are equipped with two on-board bike racks for riders to secure their bikes before boarding the bus. All Laketran Park-n-Ride lots have bike racks for riders to lock their bikes to before commuting to Downtown Cleveland. The 10 new Park-n-Ride buses that Laketran recently purchased are also equipped with exterior bike racks. These buses will be put into service this week.

Laketran’s Rack-n-Roll program has carried 1,936 bikes through April of this year. In 2015, Laketran carried 7,005 bikes, which averages about 135 bike riders each week.

“Many commuters would prefer not to use a car at all. This was taken into consideration when we decided to include exterior bike racks on the new Park-n-Ride buses,” explained Ben Capelle, Laketran Deputy General Manager. “We want to encourage commuters to try riding their bikes to the Park-n-Ride lots and take advantage of this new amenity.”