How did Louisville, KY wind up with a bike loan program called “Freewheelin’?” The answer is Nate Kvamme, a former football player at Colorado State University who left college with a degree in Civil Engineering and an MBA. Kvamme found himself at Humana’s Louisville headquarters’ “Innovation Center,” with a drive to make positive change.

Humana is the third largest health insurer in the United States and has more than 8,000 employees at its Louisville, Kentucky headquarters. The Freewheelin’ bike loan program was launched in September and more than one quarter of Humana’s associates signed up to use the bikes.

According to Kvamme, “I wanted to do something with bikes because it’s a great symbol of what’s good for your body and good for the environment. I see bicycling as a vehicle for communicating what Humana supports and something that Humana would love all our associates and members to participate in.”

Freewheelin is a philosophy, not just a bike loan program.

“For us, the bikes are a way for our associates to incorporate a bit of a release or opportunity to experience some freedom during their workday. There are no rules to the program; you can check out a bike and bring it back that day or the next day.

Humana’s Freewheelin’ program features 27 bikes that are locked to a docking station. Associates who signed on to use the bikes are given a magnetic card which they swipe at the station to release a bike from the locking system. The bikes are Trek Lime and FX models.

The biggest surprise of the program, says Kvamme, has been the participation rate, with 27% of Humana associates in Louisville signing up. The most common question asked in the early days of Freewheelin’ was “Can I really just use this bike and bring it back?”

When asked where he sees a program like Freewheelin’ going in the future, Kvamme said: “I feel that a program like Freewheelin’ has more than just words behind it—it really works. When 1,800 people signed up for the program in the first two days, we knew we had something special. This program means a lot to people because it makes them feel special and allows them to connect to the environment and to each other.”

Interest in the Freewheelin’ program has kept Kvamme hopping. He’s criss-crossed the country answering questions from organizations, businesses and universities that are looking for ways to alleviate auto traffic issues. Stay tuned to the 1world2wheels.org blog for news on Freewheelin’ because this program has a big future.