Biking is paying off for some employees in the Washington region.

Jessica Forres reports.

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For some, free parking and metro benefits are job perks. But for Angela Atwood-Moore, a biologist, it’s bike bucks…a program she started for commuters who cycle to work at the National Institutes of Health.

PEOPLE ARE SO HAPPY TO GET SOME MONEY BACK IN THEIR POCKET BUT THEY’RE ALSO REALLY HAPPY THAT CYCLING IS GETTING RECOGNIZED BY SOMEBODY.

She says employees get five bike bucks for every 1-hundred miles they commute, which they can cash in at two local bike stores.

[NAT: Bike noise]

At City Bikes in Bethesda, Shawn Blumenfeld says they have a similar program but with a few local companies.

AS A BIKE STORE IT’S WORTH OUR WHILE AT CITY BIKES TO CONTRIBUTE TO THAT KIND OF PROGRAM CUZ IT GETS THOSE COMMUTERSTHOSE EVERYDAY RIDERS INTO THE STORE.

Henry Mesias is with the Washington Area Bicyclist Association. He says shower facilities and lockers are some other employee benefits.

LIKE YOU’RE SEEING WITH NIH THEY’RE STARTING TO BECOME MORE PRESENT BUT THEY’RE NOT AT WHAT THEY NEED TO BE YET.

Mesias says federal legislation allowing incentives for bikers has passed in the House. It still has to be approved by the Senate.

Jessica Forres WAMU 885 News