What does your employer do to encourage you to cycle

rplavery

I am trying to formulate some suggestions to my fairly large employer that could reasonably easily be done to encourage people to cycle to work. Since we have a car park which is normally full to capacity, I think they may be receptive to suggestions.
So, what has your employer done to encourage cycling to work? - we have a cycle to work scheme, showers and secure parking, but is there more that can be done?. Offering freebies like coffee and breakfast to regular cyclists, having a discounted, mobile bike servicing, or a prize draw for people cycling in- do these work and if there anything else that could be done?

thanks in advance.

daccordimark

They already have a cycle to work scheme, showers and secure parking and you still want more?!!!

I reckon if people are still hesitant over cycling to work then it's not for lack of trying on your employer's part. What might be useful is committed cycle commuters at your place getting together to encourage and support the car/bus/train commuters who just need a little push to get started. If you're lucky enough to have a workplace forum or Intranet then that's a good place to start in terms of advertising and hosting a CTW group.

mattsaw

They already have a cycle to work scheme, showers and secure parking and you still want more?!!!

+1

Personally I don't think freebees and facilities make too much difference. You're either motivated to ride in or you're not. In our office around 50% of us cycle in from distances of up to 15 miles away. The only concession we have to cyclists is a uncovered unlocked bike stand outside the office door.

Showers would be nice, but realisticaly, sadly, with a small employer with a lack of space it's not really practical to expect it.

mroli

My employer makes me work in central London, so I have a choice of car (hah!), underground (no thanks), Overground and bus (no thanks), Scooter (works ok) or Bike (by far the best option). We have free showers (but not very many so sometimes a queue), secure parking and run Cycle to Work. Even without Cycle to Work, I'd still cycle. I'd probably still cycle without the secure parking tbh, but I'd scoot if there were no showers. I do my own bike maintenance (and some of that for people in the office) and whilst there are any number of additions that would make life easier for me, actually the enjoyment of cycling and the horror(!) of the other options makes cycling a no brainer.

Cheers

re-cycles

How about some free training for the not so confident cyclists? For many adults the last time they'll have been on a bike was the day they passed their driving test, so a basic course might entice a few of them back in the saddle.

edb999

Not pay me enough to buy any petrol at £1.30 a litre

Verbal

They're the main sponsor of British Cycling and um.... a Pro Tour cycling team...

Needless to say, on-site facilities are excellent!

The Rookie

Nothing, nada, naff all, no C2W, no showers, minimal changing (disabled lav and 2 conf rooms that can be used at a push).

But then its not a big 'cycling to work' kind of area as traffic is never so heavy as to make driving slower, and we are a major car and truck manufacturer.

Simon

ndru

Nothing. And I think that with proper safe cycling infrastructure people would need no other encouragement. It would be fantastic to get employers to write letters to local councils asking for it. Businesses are listened to more keenly then individuals.

chunkytfg

TBH with my employer being a provider of public transport to millions of the public in london every day i'm lucky to have any facilities at all!

We have an area where we store our bike outside the office door(but still inside) which we get moaned at by the station staff as it obstructs the exit to an equipment room(one which only myself and my collegues have access to!!)

We have showering facilities but only due to the job we do meaning we have to have one.

Drying facilities consist of hanging the kit above the heaters off the conduit that dotted all over the office!

Not bad in the grand scheme of things but none of it is actually intended for use by people cycling to work.

On the bright side though we do tend to have plenty of time at work to strip down and maintain our bikes and make use of the excellent degreasers and lubricants we have onsite

Zziplex

They give us a carbon budget, but it just means we leave the office/house less.

Blue Meanie

We get a generous discount, C2W, showers, secure bike rack and lunch-break opportunties to revel in SCR victories.

crankycrank

Mine do nothing. No showers, nothing to hang any clothing, no racks. Though due to their terrible management skills, business is down, which means there is now excess storage space for my bike to sit unmolested. :P

gbsahne001

nothing, in fact actively discourages me in terms of the comments, "you must be mad", "off your head" etc.

No showers, changing rooms, drying rooms, lockers, bike security etc either but am I bothered, nort really.

Berk Bonebonce

If there are not enough car parking spaces for all the drivers, those that live within walking distance should be barred from using it (the car park).

Good bike parking indoors, like in a store room or vacant office, is a good thing. As is a clothes horse. As is somewhere to change. As is a shower.

P_Tucker

Have car parking issues such that if you arrive after 8:30 you'll be orbiting the car park for half an hour before giving up and parking miles away.

shouldbeinbed

OP you're doing pretty well, don't push it, you might really need something one day rather than wanting whistles and bells now and keeping goodwill onside in tough times is probably better than pushing for a croissant and a brew on the house.

I'm also not keen on making cycling seem some sort of inferior option that needs special perks to make it attractive and possibly incur the wrath of the motorised against cycling and cyclists. The constant albeit good natured quizzing and you must be mad/brave/super fit gets on my nerves, I'd rather just get on with getting about by bike

asprilla

We've got showers, secure parking, C2W, etc.

The other thing that they do doesn't really cost them anything, but they allow third parties to come on side and offer the likes of frame stamping, cycle advice from the police, bike servicing and cleaning, etc.

It's all good stuff (although i think the servicing guys broke my bike).

redjeepǃ

They've just installed a new bike shelter, where you hang your bike up by the wheel which I've never seen before in a shelter. This is at the closest corner of the car park to the building. You can't lock it, but nothings ever been stolen on the site (and people leave wallets and valuables on their desks all the time).

There are no showers and nowhere really where you could get changed in privacy.

There's only a few people who ever cycle in, but generally get treated with the respect and admiration we so rightly deserve....

Sounds like your company do quite a lot anyway.

straas

- Have 8 sheffield stands for ~ 1200 people, which you have to be on a waiting list for.

- Have no changing facilities, so I'm generally getting changed in a toilet cubicle to the lovely sound/smell of someone teasing one out

- Have forced me onto a shift which means I have to travel during peak travel flow both ways, and are being completely inflexible (for no discernible reason)

This is one of the biggest companies in the uk, striving for 'zero carbon emissions'

roger_merriman

none, I work at someones home so can leave bike in reasonably safe garden.

I don't change as it's only a few miles.

But to be honest there is no support for cars, no car park etc.

bakerstreet

My employer doesn't really offer us any incentive to cycle to work.

There are three of us now and we all have to get changed in a single toilette (Not at the same time!)

However, the bike parking is as secure as you are going to get as we can just put them in our warehouse and there is no need for us to lock them, which is great

I have asked my MD for a shower and maybe some lockers, but I didn't really get an answer and we do have a bit of a space issue.

I appreciate that the shower is a big ask in a company of 12 people, but lockers would be nice

mudcow007

my work started the "cycle 2 work" scheme and built showers. its only me who ever uses them though

Ad Hynkel

We have a shower room with a stand type radiator which I use to dry clothes. Not installed for cyclists but used by them, mainly me.

No-one has complained so far about me leaving my bike in the passage outside the toilets either, even the H&S manager!

I got a lot of jokey "banter" at the start, turning up in cycling gear but now there seems to be some general acceptance, even respect. But there is no encouragement from the management to cycle to work, nor has there ever been even when the car park was at bursting point. It's a company with vehicles at the centre of many of its contracts, few cyclists.

The head office did once send out emails/posters about C2W but no-one took it up in our office as far as I know.

Initialised

Burger all

richred_uk

Since I started to push it, they built a shower in the offices we were refurbishing, will be installing anchor points to lock bikes to, and in July the MD has suggested we do Dunwich Dynamo as a team bonding/ social thing.

tptvmbircn

I almost got killed in the car park by some bone headed builder trailing a chain across two bollards in my path, excellent incentive! :evil:

Avoneer

I think the main thing that would swing it is:

Pennies per mile for cyclists.

Getting the difference in time back in lieu between car and bicycle travel.

Pat...

rf6

C2W, showers, covered bike rack and a canteen for a bit to eat. We also have a drying room, which will dry out the most soacked shoes and clothing over the working day. There's quite a few commuters, which encouarages others to start.

Although the facilities aren't all there purely for cyclists, we are welcome to use them. I consider myself very lucky to have all this, so I wouldn't be pushing for freebies etc..

phillipjohnson

One thing that can get people into cycling in can be to have something like an annual charity bike ride... maybe across a couple of days like the C2C. You can do it in work time so essentially you get a couple of days out the office... a bit more meaningful than the usual teambuilding exercises as you are actually supporting each other as a team to acheive something.

This often gets people who don't cycle much on their bikes and when they see how far they can cycle in a day, the daily commute doesn't seem quite as impossible as it once did. Plus they have all the gear and knowledge to do it :-)

Other perks are the company can get publicity for it and a worthy charity gets some cash.

marksteven

i work for the nhs in canterbury & there is no incentive nothing feck all not even a shower not in the cycle to work scheme & never will be & my boss hates cyclists as he tells me most days how some poor soul held him up for 5 seconds how dare they no lights blah blah blah