Ogilvy & Mather Bike Share

Although some bike commuters would be happy with a shower at work and a safe space to store their steed, advertising, PR and marketing Goliath, Ogilvy & Mather just upped the ante by launching New York City’s first corporate bike-sharing program.

The program includes the creation of 150 covered bicycle spaces in the agency’s new location on 11th Avenue to house the 50 Breezer bicycles the agency purchased. The 100 extra spaces will accommodate the growing number of agency employees who bicycle to work.

But O & M didn’t stop there: they also offer a bike safety course led by NY Bikes, which discusses the ins-and-outs of urban cycling as well as a primer for riding in Gotham, which is often intimidating for new cyclists. 200 employees have already completed the program.

The company — http://www.ogilvy.com — offers free helmets to employees who want to use the loaner bikes in the OgilvyBikes program.

The impetus to the program? “When we moved to our new building we purposefully incorporated as many green elements as possible, underscoring sustainability as an important business objective for Ogilvy,” explained Gunther Schumacher, Chief Operating Officer of Ogilvy & Mather North America.

Shower facilities are available on site, and the city’s cycling czars are impressed. “Ogilvy and Mather is starting to make the rest of New York City’s bike commuters green with envy,” says a representative from Transportation Alternatives, an advocacy group.

Schumacher continued: “The OgilvyBikes program comes at a time when the City is opening up streets for bicycles and a greater number of our staff is looking to be part of a movement driving environmental change close to home, while getting fit and having fun at the same time.”

—Stephen Krcmar is a former NYC bike messenger who now lives and works in Mammoth Lakes, Calif.