Riding bicycles are a hobby for some and a sport for others, but to a growing number of Austinites with a downtown destination, it's become a more viable mode of transportation.
"Those who say that the bicycle is their primary mode of transportation going to work, has increased 60 percent from 1990 to 2000," Annick Beaudet with the City of Austin said.
And that's good news for the City of Austin.
City leaders said projects like a commuter rail, a bike bridge across Mopac Expressway are the future of transportation in Austin.
And future projects could be an indication of the direction the city is headed in regards to city transportation.
"We can't discount the need to have end use facilities which means bike parking and showers because if you think about it in Austin, eight months out of the year, if you're riding your bike you need a place to freshen up," Beaudet said.
The City of Austin received a federal grant of $340 thousand for a project that could offer a solution.
The plan is to match that grant with city dollars to put showers and lockers at five city owned buildings.
"It's an answer to the bigger picture of a true multimodal transportation system," she said.
So what do cyclists think?
"It really adds some different opportunities for people to get around town," Brian Toronyi said.
Bicycle commuter Hoke Jenkins used to take advantage of a similar program offered in Florida.
"I used to ride my bike to work in Florida and we had showers to get cleaned up and I think it's a wonderful idea," he said. "I think people would do it."
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Biking to Work
With congestion and gas prices, biking to work could become a more viable mode of transportation.
 
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Carl Reynolds said it would be great it's a great way to encourage people to ride their bikes more. He lives close to downtown and said he would bike if they had showers and lockers.
"I always think it would be great if they'd do more things to
encourage people to ride," Reynolds said.
"Every person on a bike is one less car on the road," Beaudet said.
"Maybe some people won't even have a car or they'll have a bike and their feet and get around that way in the downtown area and that will make the our air quality better and quality of life better," Beaudet said.
It's one more piece of the transportation puzzle and one more incentive to get people out of cars and onto bikes.
The City of Austin may install these facilities at Parks and Recreation headquarters and the city's Health and Human Services main building.
They're looking at other buildings too.
Showers and lockers should be built within the next two years and will be ready for public use.
