New bike commuter at work

The Rookie

Not sure I'm talking critical mass here, but we now have upped our game in the office friom 2 to 4 bike commuters, 3 regular and one who started today, OK he only has an old Probike MTB but then he only does 2.5 miles.....just need to get last years regular back on 2 wheels and we'll be upto 5! (Its only an office of 200.......but then we are an automotive engineering company!)

Simon

Agent57

Great stuff. Short distances like 2.5 miles are the sort that are ideally suited to cycling rather than driving; a lot of people will baulk at the idea of, say, 10 miles, but just about anyone can manage 15 minutes on a bike.

I work in quite an unusual office. There are 7 of us in here, and none is a regular private car user. Two of us cycle daily, one gets the bus, one cycles or uses the bus, one cycles or uses the car occasionally, and two walk. \o/

Kiblams

I think the size of the office/company has a big impact on how many are likely to take up cycling. The company I work for has only 17 people (including the directors/owner) and we have 3 regular cycle commuters and another 4 casual cycle commuters (1-2 times a week)

Only problem is that the office has no facilities and only 3 bike anchor points so can get crowded.

essex-commuter

The Beginner wrote:

but then we are an automotive engineering company!)

Do you think that makes a difference? I work for an automotive manufacturer, there are about 2,500 work here...and I reckon about 20 bikc commuters max. I've often wondered if that's why, and why they won't take on board the C2W scheme.

AndyManc

I reckon there are about 120 staff at my depot , I'm the only cyclist , disgrace really.

There are a number of people that live 3 or 4 miles away, they use the train :shock: , or a car :shock: .

The depot has a shower and plenty of indoor space for bikes but no-one, despite my efforts, can be bothered, well, one guy did 1 day last year before giving up ..... he lives 3 miles away. :roll:


.

The Rookie

essex-commuter wrote:

The Beginner wrote:

but then we are an automotive engineering company!)

Do you think that makes a difference?

Well cars are somewhat 'in the blood' of a much graeter number of people in the autmotive industry I think!

Essex=Ford by default surely? (I worked at Dagenham for a year)

Simon

essex-commuter

The Beginner wrote:

Essex=Ford by default surely?

Yep. Was in Dagenham for 5 years and have been at Basildon and then the Dunton Technical Centre for the past 8.

The Rookie

Ok....I was at Dagenham (or Dage-Naam as we called it) Diesel Centre, lovely office..

Another bike in the stairwell, Raleigh on Tourney X labelled kit, no rider seen though!

Simon

Matt the Tester

Agent57 wrote:

Great stuff. Short distances like 2.5 miles are the sort that are ideally suited to cycling rather than driving; a lot of people will baulk at the idea of, say, 10 miles, but just about anyone can manage 15 minutes on a bike.

I work in quite an unusual office. There are 7 of us in here, and none is a regular private car user. Two of us cycle daily, one gets the bus, one cycles or uses the bus, one cycles or uses the car occasionally, and two walk. \o/

you would think most people could last 15 minutes on a bike at their pace! but i know someone who can't evensit on a bike without getting a sore arse and thats with the thickest padding ive ever seen in my life!

pastryboy

Out of 1100 employees there were probably single figures in the winter. Probably three times that in the summer but still not a lot. Perhaps it's because we're right next to the DLR station so people are lazy.

Kieran_Burns

I've just had to go to the Site Manager and ask him to extend the bike facilities as we've run out due to all the new cyclists (moved in and starting)

Mike400

Our building has maybe 600 staff, and around 10 staff cycle regularly, so almost 2%.....

even then I think im the only one that does it everyday

biondino

We've just been warned that on July 3rd the bike racks in our work garage will be cleared so not to leave our bikes there over the weekend! I want to know what'll happen to the ones that get removed - there are some passable looking machines down there, albeit neglected. Wonder if I can find out?

Oh, and in my office there are I think 5 daily cyclists out of 30 employees, with another couple of occasionals.

cjcp

Two cyclists at my place, out of 17 or so.

fjellrunner

I work for a small company,only 7 in the office, 6 of us ride bikes and the one who doesn't lives nearby.
When working hours coincide with good weather it's not rare for us to have an empty car park. And that's in spite of 2 of us living over 20 miles away and another 17 miles away.
If it wasn't for modern bike materials we'd have a tiny corporate carbon footprint!

roger_merriman

though the company is large, we work in small sites, so of the 6 of us, there are 2 who ride to work the rest drive or train it. other sites have had nearly 50% on bike as it's often sub 2 miles to work and back.

The Rookie

biondino wrote:

I want to know what'll happen to the ones that get removed - there are some passable looking machines down there, albeit neglected. Wonder if I can find out?

You can but ask! They should retain them for at least a month (in case they were last moved the day before the notice came out) as I understand it, most places now have charitable centres recycling older bikes into useable machines, (my daughter volunteers at our local one, the experience helped her get her job in Halfords).

Simon

surreyxc

2.5miles, what did he do before. I am always amazed that some people who live so close to work, use anything else than a bike, run or walk.

mattsaw

I thought far more people would cycle. We're based in West London, and out of our small office of 9 7 of us cycle in reguarly.

People live anywhere from a couple of miles away to me and another guy who do a 25 mile round trip everyday.

We're not really incentivised to either, no cycle scheme or even showers