By Jim Shivers,
District 5 Public Information Officer
Caltrans District 5 Transportation Engineer Scott Morris commutes with a fold-up bicycle.
What do you do when there is no more room on the bicycle rack of your commuter bus? Well, if you are Caltrans District 5 Transportation Engineer Scott Morris, you simply fold it up, place it on the bus and kindly take your seat.
Morris is participating in a program through San Luis Obispo County’s Back N’ Forth Club, which promotes alternatives to driving to work in a car by yourself.
“Sometime the bicycle rack is full and you have to wait for the next bus and hope they have room on the bike rack,” Morris said. “With a folding bicycle, I can fold it up, carry it onto the bus and place it under a seat.”
He added that this folding bicycle is also convenient on the sailboat on which he lives in Morro Bay, about 10 miles north of the district office in San Luis Obispo. Morris says the bike benefits from not being left outside in the fog.
The club offered Morris the bicycle with a $50 deposit. If he logs 40 trips after six months that began on May 1, he can keep the bicycle – which retails for $490 – for free.
As of late May, Morris had already logged 14 trips, allowing him to stay healthy while doing his part to ease congestion in the area.