San Diego celebrated the annual Bike to Work Day Thursday with more than 10,000 participants, event organizers said.
The event, which has been held for more than 20 years, is organized by the San Diego Association of Governments in partnership with several local businesses, said Jay Faught, senior business analyst for SANDAG.
"Today was an opportunity for people to try biking for the first time if they haven't done it before," Faught said. "Many times people try biking to work with a co-worker or a friend on Bike to Work Day and realize how enjoyable it can be and they make it a regular habit."
Participants were given T-shirts, free snacks and bike tune-ups at more than 100 pit stops across San Diego.
Regina Choy, a La Mesa resident, participated in Thursday's event, but she also bikes to work almost every day. She said it saves her the more than 30 minutes she used to spend searching for parking.
“If we could get more people to ride to work, we could get more bike lanes, and then maybe less cars,” she said.
The San Diego’s Climate Action Plan expects six percent of commute trips in "transit priority areas" to be made by bicycle by 2020.
