Anyone recieve incentives to cycle to work or ideas?

mossychops

We are about to lose a large amount of our parking spaces at work (we were renting them from another company). This is going to cause a pretty major parking problem for our company so I will probably end up cycling every day instead of just some days.

Does anyone have any experience or ideas for a good incentive scheme to get people on public transport or cycling to work/reward them for doing so instead of driving? There are lots of local people who could do this (and lots of not so local fairly serious cyclists that could also cycle). We already have the cycle to work scheme in place, although our single shower may become too busy and we don't have room to expand it.

There is a recognition scheme for suggesting ideas like, which would also be nice to win.

Thanks guys

SlipSpace

It won't make you popular but charge people to park their cars :twisted:

It's difficult, cycle commute is either something you want to do or not IME and it can take a fairly significant push or mindset change to make the decision.

notnot

Some places give people a free bike loan so they can try commuting, or let them by a bike on the cheap.

Some places that pay travel expenses have moved to a policy of paying £x/mile for cycling - if some people where you work do travel where they claim expenses and cycling may be feasible, this could encourage them to come in by bike in the morning.

Charging for parking (or even limiting parking to a small group - for example, people with disabilities) can also push people to look for other ways of travel.

Marco Panettone

Surely 'not being able to park for free at work' is a good enough incentive? I work in central London - no parking, no travel incentives. Getting to work by bike saves me a minimum of £25 a week on bus fares, so £1200 a year - that's a pretty big incentive.

Would it be possible to set up a 'buddy' system for new riders? Experienced riders can guide others in from a meeting point for a week or so, like a bike-train (something similar to the recent 'bike the strike' in London http://ibikelondon.blogspot.co.uk/2014/ ... rk-on.html.) As long as there's enough bike parking for everyone...

slowbike

My bike to work saves me £20 a week in fuel.
I can park for free and there's a bus service almost door to almost door - but that works out more expensive than the car!
My incentive to bike to work is that it's nice to be on the bike in the morning and evening and it helps me stay fit.

Rather than remove anyones right to park completely - or charge - how about a rota of who is allowed to park in the remaining spots (a few exceptions to the rota will be required) - others can either find their own space, car pool with someone else or use alternative transport to get to work.

awavey

free breakfasts? though I know thats not always the easiest to provide in some office locations

martincroxall

We used to have a monthly 'raffle' where you could win vouchers from a local bike shop. Every bike had a tag and someone would record which tags were there every day. At the end of the month it was a case of pulling a number out at random and the lucky person got the vouchers (it was somewhere between £20 and £40). There was something similar for bus users where their tickets got used in the draw.

Note I say 'used to'. They stopped it because it was too expensive to run. Then they spent well over £50,000 on extending the car park so 150 more cars could park up.

Did I mention I work for the County Council? DId I have to with that kind of logic?

Initialised

First and foremost: Plentiful (one space per employee), secure (restricted entry and cameras), covered cycle storage would be a start for most organisations.

After that it's education: save money, promote cyclescheme, get fit. Typically cycling will be cheaper than a car or public transport and often faster than public transport (or the car when the roads are clogged)

Then think about infrastructure: Track pump, work stand, basic tools, drying room/area for clothes, showers, etc...

Once all that's in place and a few people have taken up cycling you start charging for parking and offering incentives like free breakfast if you cycle, a Strava Group with weekly or monthly Bike Shop vouchers for most rides/miles/climbing

Pufftmw

TfL were doing secure bike devices for Companies, so turn one of your remaining spaces into a secure bike location & put a roof over it

bungalballs

How's about... A certain number of spaces in the car park reserved for those with a voucher, or who have pre-booked. There needs to be enough reserved so that drivers can see empty spots every time they drive in (which will frustrate as they can't use them).

Then either;
a) Something like if you cycle in or use public transport 3days/week, you automatically qualify for a guaranteed parking spot the other two days.
b) You get a voucher every time you cycle or use public transport. For every three vouchers, you get a reserved spot.

It might not completely stop people driving, but it will reduce how often they do. Also, people are much more likely to give cycling a go if they don't have to do it EVERY day. This is also assuming that there is somewhere secure to leave your bikes.

unixnerd

Our Stavanger office has monthly prizes for most miles cycled, most improved, most determined in adversity, etc. They also give people 400 quid of free cycle clothing. Of course over they also have superb cycle paths. FAR more folk cycle to work even in winter.

I think the key to getting new folk on the road is a cycle training programme combined with a buddy system whereby existing cyclists do the first few trips with you. It can be very intimidating on a bike if you've not been on one since you were a teenager.

Jamie1966

If you cycle all week you get half day at work on the Friday

tomhowells

What Jamie said

macleod113

Before being outsourced and taken over by a larger IT company, i used to get 50p a day (in vouchers) for cycling to work. this also worked for car sharing or getting the bus. you would swipe your pass card on a machine in the entrance lobby and it would store your data. it was nice to save these up and get a nice high street voucher every few months. you could also cash them in for canteen vouchers.
sadly no more and i miss the incentive. i'm lucky if there is 1 other bike in the rack at the moment.

cbkernow

We are having the same problem. Thanks to building work on site and losing 50% of the parking, there is no where near enough parking.

The current trend is just to fill the car park with as many as possible, filling the 'aisles' and the entrance and making it chaos to get out in the evening.

The company are pretty helpful, they provide a cycle scheme and even go so far as to run a bus and coach every day to the 2 major towns. Very little take up though and over half the work force live in the same town as work.

They're looking for solutions too.

Its likely that those who live within a mile (that's generous really, I'd expand it to the entire town) will not be able to park on site.

Living 10 miles away (and terribly rural roads) I drive in to the town and cycle the last 1.5 miles. Its not a lot but its helping with fitness and I can take a longer 3-4 mile ride in the afternoons on the way back to my car

top_bhoy

Having only a single shower, the chances of encouraging more people to cycle to work is diminished from the outset. The basic infrastructure of bike spaces and shower/cleaning facilities needs to be in place before considering any incentive schemes or other fancy ideas. Putting in the infrastructure doesn't need to be a 'big bang' approach. Additional showers and spaces could be planned and phased dependent upon the take-up providing it is thought about in advance and not an afterthought.

I don't wish to be a doom monger but if there is a lack of space and new showers/cleaning facilities aren't created, I don't see how any cycle to work scheme will work. Even local people within close distance will want to freshen up and wash after a short cycle. If they perceive themselves to be smelling after their cycle, it is hardly encouraging them. Providing some car spaces are reserved for disabled employees and visiting clients, could some of the remaining car space be allocated to building a small and relatively inexpensive changing room facility?

unixnerd

I think for short distances showers aren't needed and most new commuters will only be doing under three or four miles. Done at the slower pace one would expect of new cyclists and with the right clothing I don't think showering is an issue. In fact I think the idea of having to shower at work would put many folk off the idea.

Showers are mainly needed only for the more hardened cyclists who will treat the ride in as a training session or are going longer distances. They should certainly be made available but few companies will provide them until a demand / user base exists. Chicken and egg.

slowbike

Showers aren't a requirement - they're a luxury ... one that would be nice to have. I do just 11 miles to work and strip wash in the cloakroom - it has a lockable door - but no hot water ... but TBH, if you've gone through the "pain" of riding to work, a bit of cold water isn't going to hurt you!
More important to me is where to store the bike & kit. I'm fortunate enough to have my own office with enough space to put the bike inside and hang out my kit. I wouldn't be happy leaving it outside if it's raining.

gruffymax1982

Sell the spaces to the highest bidders?
We have a parking problem also, especially during the shift change. I cycle 80% of the time and the times I do drive I wish I had cycled!

tomawest

Car parking spaces at our work are allocated based on length of service (with exeptions for high level management). Even people with car parking spaces are now choosing to cycle though just because of how much fun it is compared to being in a car at rush hour. The popularity is enhanced by secure, covered parking for bikes and a shower.

I dont think you can provide financial incentives for people cycling to work because whats stopping them from coming in with someone else or via public transport, bringing the bike with them and claiming they cycled in? For example, I could leave my bike in secure parking by a bus stop close to work then get the bus in at £3 for the day to my bike. I then cycle the 1/4 mile from the bus stop to work and claim that I have cycled the 7.5 miles it would have taken me to get to work. If thats 20p per mile then its a free bus pass

Stag on

You could take the MOD abbey wood approach and ban anyone who lives less than 5 miles from the site from driving into work. I dont think that this is a barking idea, and seems to have worked OK after an initial chunter from the lazy employees. Then again MOD wanted to reduce the number of employees it has so they wouldnt mind people resigning over this, if you want to retain your lazy but effective staff this may not work so well.

monkimark

HMRC allow 20p travel allowance for cycling to work before it gets taxed, even for my short ish 6 miles each way, that works out to abvout £12 a week (over £500 a year) tax free on top of the fact that it would cost me £10-15 a week in petrol on the motorbike or £45 (!) a week for a zone 1-4 travelcard.

velow.bike

monkimark wrote:

HMRC allow 20p travel allowance for cycling to work before it gets taxed, even for my short ish 6 miles each way, that works out to abvout £12 a week (over £500 a year) tax free on top of the fact that it would cost me £10-15 a week in petrol on the motorbike or £45 (!) a week for a zone 1-4 travelcard.

I've created a site that helps the self employed or those who use their own bike for business journeys to keep track of their taxable expenses and travel savings.
Free to use.
http://velow.bike

natrix

Glaxo give out Evans vouchers to staff who cycle in......

fat daddy

I don't think it really needs incentives it just needs the cycling option to be viable.

so plenty of space to lock bikes up and a changing area.

When people find it easier to cycle than to drive, that's what they will do ... It was a no brainer for me, I am not allowed to park in the office carpark without authorisation due to limited spaces, parking in the city costs £20 a day or £8 a day if you buy a season ticket. .... and loads of parking spaces have been turned into bike racks.

Its now the obvious choice to cycle

bompington

mossychops wrote:

our single shower may become too busy and we don't have room to expand it.

I'm not sure that making a single shower big enough to fit lots of people would be that much of an encouragement anyway...

The Rookie

We are moving from a building with no showers or lockers soon (18 months ish) the new building will have heated 'drying' lockers just inside the cycling/running entrance and ample showers.

I know this bit is old

monkimark wrote:

HMRC allow 20p travel allowance for cycling to work before it gets taxed.

but
No, they allow 20p/mile for business use, to and from your normal place of work is not business use, if they are paying it for cycling to and from your regular place of work it is taxable and not paying tax is tax evasion.
http://www.cyclinguk.org/article/campai ... incentives

velow.bike

The Rookie wrote:

We are moving from a building with no showers or lockers soon (18 months ish) the new building will have heated 'drying' lockers just inside the cycling/running entrance and ample showers.

I know this bit is old

monkimark wrote:

HMRC allow 20p travel allowance for cycling to work before it gets taxed.

but
No, they allow 20p/mile for business use, to and from your normal place of work is not business use, if they are paying it for cycling to and from your regular place of work it is taxable and not paying tax is tax evasion.
http://www.cyclinguk.org/article/campai ... incentives

For contractors and self-employed their normal place of work is usually their home office. Therefore any trips from there to a client site or other office is considered a business journey.

And in countries like Germany and Denmark you can actually claim from home to work. https://velow.bike/travel-expense

The Rookie

That may or may not be the case, depends on the individual case, for most their home is NOT their usual place of work so it would be tax evasion (a criminal offence) to claim the money.

Its not a claim as such in Germany and Denmark, its a tax rebate for doing it.

velow.bike

The Rookie wrote:

That may or may not be the case, depends on the individual case, for most their home is NOT their usual place of work so it would be tax evasion (a criminal offence) to claim the money.

Its not a claim as such in Germany and Denmark, its a tax rebate for doing it.

In terms of contractors HMRC classes a site that you have worked at for less than 2 years as a temporary place of work. Many consultants or contractors may only spend 6 months at one client site before moving to the next. Their home is usually the registered office and considered their permanent place of work.

If people are unsure about their own individual circumstances then worth getting advice from an Accountant.

For permanent PAYE employees, if you are asked to travel to another company office or a client site then certainly that is considered reasonable grounds for a Mileage Allowance Payment (MAP). Much the same way as a company telling a salesman to use their own car to travel 200 miles to a client.

The Rookie

You're confusing permanent place at work (relocation expenses possible) and regular place of work.....