An early wave of New York City companies is willing to foot the bill for workers who plan to commute with Citi Bike.




"It seemed like no one else had done this," he says.

Whether or not it's the very first, Percolate is certainly part of an early wave of New York City companies willing to foot the bill for workers who plan to commute by bike-share. In May, Alex Goldmark at WNYC reported that more than 30 companies had contacted Citi Bike about possible corporate memberships, including the non-profit Regional Plan Association. Crain's New York also reported that media giant Hearst would let staffers use part of their annual health account toward Citi Bike costs.

Of course, corporate memberships aren't exclusive to Citi Bike. Capital Bikeshare (Washington, D.C.), B-cycle (Kansas City and Denver), and Hubway (Boston) are just a few U.S. bike-share programs that describe company options right on their website. Then again, no U.S. bike-share has been greeted with as much vitriol as Citi Bike, so it bears repeating that not everyone is an enemy.

Gross sees Citi Bike as the latest perk in the broader recruiting pitch New York City is making to tech industry workers — right up there with Cornell's new tech campus on Roosevelt Island. San Francisco is set to launch its own bike-share program soon, but workers could hardly ride in from the city to Silicon Valley. Beyond that, Gross sees bike-share culture as commuter catnip to the engineering mind.

"It's geared toward people who really care about things like understanding how networks work, and understanding how traffic patterns flow, and understanding how bikes can really change a city in a positive way," he says. "I just think these are the types of things smart people really are attracted by."

Percolate's SoHo office has three bike-share stations right nearby, and Gross says he's already noticed several employees riding into work who didn't bike in the past. That's exactly the type of person he hoped the company benefit would encourage. Though Gross owns a bike, he's been taking Citi Bike from his apartment in the West Village to set an example — something he hopes the company itself will become.

"The more [bike riders] that are out there makes a much safer city overall," he says. (Indeed, research does support the safety-in-numbers theory to bike safety.) "It's great if Percolate can help make that movement happen."

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