Hundreds of St. Luke’s employees hit the streets on bicycles and walked to work as part of alternative transportation activities throughout the month of May.

In the Wood River, St. Luke’s sponsored the annual Bike to Work Day on May 20. Despite a cold, rainy morning with a high of 41 degrees at 9 a.m. employees of St. Luke's Wood River braved the weather and biked to work. St. Luke's Wood River offered CLIF bars, fruit and lip balm as a reward for those on the "path" to a healthy lifestyle.

St. Luke Magic Valley employees rode their bikes to work and learned cycling tips on-site from the experts at Cycle Therapy, a Twin Falls bicycle shop.

St. Luke’s McCall employees encouraged each other to ride or walk to work for Bike to Work Week, and to make bicycling to work an everyday form of transportation for the summer, fall and beyond. The week included free bike clinics presented by local bike shop Home Town Sports and a drawing for a new bike and prizes.

In the Treasure Valley, St. Luke’s partnered with the Ada County Highway District (ACHD) and other organizations for May in Motion and promotion of the ongoing employee transportation program.

For May in Motion, 260 St. Luke’s participants signed up to walk, ride or use the bus or vanpools to get to work. Hosted by ACHD, Commuteride, Valley Regional Transit and Boise Greenbike, May in Motion is designed to get employees moving, discover alternative transportation options, improve health and positively impact the environment.

As part of the St. Luke’s-sponsored ongoing Employee Transportation program, 177 participants have started using My Commuter Crew, a new online tracking system hosted by ACHD at www.sharetherideidaho.com. The new statewide tool provides information about carpools, vanpools, one-way trips and other data.

In April-May, the data shows some impressive outcomes for participating St. Luke’s Treasure Valley employees:  

• 9,503 miles logged using carpool, vanpool, bus, biking and walking
• 8,043 pounds of greenhouse gases (GHG) saved
• Walkers & cyclists burned 369,685 calories getting to and from work

“This is an amazing group of people who are dedicated to improving their own health, creating a healthier community by lowering their environmental footprint and relieving parking pressure within the workplace,” said Eric Selekof, St. Luke’s Occupational Health & Well-Being wellness coordinator.