Brett Governanti has been biking since he was a kid.

He continued biking in college as an efficient way to get around.

Now 30, Governanti still rides his bike nearly every day to his job as a GIS technician for the city of Casper.

"It takes 20 minutes to ride to work and about 15 minutes to drive," he said. "I like riding my bike because I can feel good about not burning up gas for that day."

The city of Casper is hoping more people bring out their bikes this week as part of the Wyoming Department of Transportation's Bike to Work Week.

The city is encouraging people to leave their cars at home this week and take a survey about their experiences. Surveys are available at city hall, the library, Casper College and at other various locations. The surveys ask participants questions about how easy it is to ride, cross streets and use sidewalks.

Governanti said he enjoys riding along the river during his commute from Mills and recently bought a new mountain bike so he could ride outside of town.

Besides his commute, he enjoys going up to the Bear Trap area on Casper Mountain with friends for some real mountain biking.

"It's fun to grind up hills and I enjoy the fast ride on the way down," he said.

Leah Reeb, a planner for the Casper area Metropolitan Planning Office, said she regularly rides her bike the two miles to and from work.

She said her bike ride to work can be a little bit faster than by car, but a little slower going home because it's uphill.

Curb your car

In addition to the bike to work effort, Reeb said Thursday is Curb Your Car day, where all employees, department heads and city council members are encouraged to find alternative means of transportation, including biking, walking, using public transportation and carpooling. Both The Bus and the Casper Area Transportation Coalition will provide free rides Thursday.

"We are challenging the community to try to go one day without using your vehicle," said City Manager Tom Forslund. "We are hoping people will provide input to us on the challenges you face in getting around community and help us identify areas where we need to make improvements."

Bike to Work Week and Curb Your Car are part of a $40,000 study to determine how easy it is to walk or bike in Casper and what possible changes could improve non-vehicle traffic.

Governanti not only plans to curb his car, he plans to curb his bike, and canoe the North Platte River to downtown Casper. One city worker promised to make him a "canoe parking only" sign.

Forslund said he has been walking to and from work for 15 months and thoroughly enjoys it.

He said the 15 minutes it takes to walk to and from work is enough time for him to mentally prepare for the day or decompress at the end.

Forslund said there are two intersections he crosses on his commute that are difficult, mostly because drivers are not used to pedestrians.

"Drivers are looking for cars and not pedestrians, so you have to be on guard when you're crossing the street, even in a crosswalk," he said, recommending that pedestrians try to make eye contact with drivers before stepping into traffic.

Reporter John Morgan can be reached at (307) 266-0614 or john.morgan@casperstartribune.net.