Today, Champaign-Urbana will host its first Bike to Work Day in honor of National Bike Month.

The event was organized by Champaign County Bikes, who was in partnership with the cities of Champaign and Urbana, the University, Champaign-Urbana Mass Transit District and the village of Savoy.

A total of four bike stations were set up early this morning: a campus station located on the Engineering Plaza across from the Illini Union and other locations in Champaign, Urbana and Savoy.

Stations will offer bicycle commuters a light breakfast and free giveaways. The first 500 participants to arrive at a station will receive a free t-shirt, according to the Champaign County Bikes’ website.

Bike to Work Day, a national event created by the League of American Bicyclists, is created to promote the many benefits of bicycling as a viable mode of transportation, and many community members are hopping on board. Rick Langlois, Champaign County Bikes chairman, said there were just over 650 people registered for the event as of noon Monday. He added that events such as Bike to Work Day help raise awareness of certain problems that exist in the community.

“The problem is that traffic, especially motor-vehicle traffic, has negative impacts on the community,” Langlois said. “Motor vehicles are far more hazardous to pedestrians and each other than bicycles.”

Langlois and Champaign County Bikes are encouraging people who commute five miles or less to try commuting via bicycle. He said bicycling, for any able-bodied adult, is easier than one might think.

“And once people see how enjoyable and liberating it can be, we hope that they will use it more and more as a mode of transportation,” Langlois said.

Morgan Johnston, University transportation demand management coordinator, said helping the environment is another incentive to participate in Bike to Work Day. “If we can get some people to occasionally leave the car at home, that will make a huge difference in the greenhouse gas emissions on campus and the health of our employees and students,” she said. “It benefits us in many ways.”

Johnston, who said she is not a regular bicycle commuter, added that she is participating in the event. She even put together a bicycle trailer to tote her daughter to preschool.

“If you have not ridden a bicycle to work, this is the day to try it,” she said.

Johnston said most of the volunteers for the event are members of Champaign County Bikes, The Bike Project or other bicycle groups in the community. Very few are students, and she said she hopes to change that in subsequent years.

Anthony Santarelli, senior in ACES, is one of those few student volunteers. Santarelli, Champaign resident working in Urbana, said he bikes to work almost every day. He said Bike to Work Day can be a great opportunity to do something different.

“This seems like one of those things where if you don’t try it out, you won’t ever think to do it,” Santarelli said. “That will change if people participate and see others participating.”