Active Travel for Workplaces
How to be an Active Employer
30 Sheffield companies already trying to enable staff to make more work trips on foot and by bike shared their ideas in an online meeting organised by Love to Ride and Sheffield City Region.
Here are their suggestions to help employers planning their company’s future travel plans after we get back to our workplaces. Hope they’re useful.
In General
- Active travel needs both enabling and encouraging
- Ask what your people need
- Add ideas on the city’s transport network, good or bad, to the SCR interactive map
- Businesses can join the lobby at local and national level for cycling and walking
- Walking is easy to enable in a workplace, but needs better infrastructure for the journey, including single stage pedestrian crossings and pleasant routes
- Running is increasingly popular, but requires lockers and showers
- Cycling (e-bikes especially) need secure storage
- E-bikes (including e-cargo bikes for family or business use) are a game changer enabling more people to take cycling seriously. They can be tried on loan through CycleBoost, and bought over 2 years (and at discount) through initiatives like: www.cyclescheme.co.uk
(Helped regular cycling quadruple to around 10% of staff)
- The best way to encourage cycling (and other active travel) is to put someone able and enthusiastic in charge, with time and resources
- Building a community of active travellers helps inspire and help newcomers
- Enabling ‘tryouts’ works — interested people won’t know if they are happy riding a bike unless they’ve had a go at it
University of Sheffield Model:
(Allocating car parking on need, and charging, generates funding for active travel measures that have cut car commuting down to 30%, with 36% of workers commuting actively)
- Restricting car parking is often a shock, but explaining the reasons and benefits helps, and can lead to lasting change in the individuals concerned
- Bringing a competitive element to active travel promotion increases participation, for example Love to Ride incentivises cycling while Better Points is used to promote walking
- Maintenance services for cyclists keep people moving
Smaller Businesses Model
(e.g. Urban Wilderness, Sheffield Sustainable Kitchens)
- If senior management are keen, it will happen
- Concentrate on secure bike storage, washing (and drying) facilities if possible, and building an active travel community in the workplace
Under Current Covid 19 Situation
It’s worth pointing out to employees that keeping active helps themselves keep up their fitness, mental health and immunity, and helps the NHS by keeping them out of the health care system at a time of crisis
See: https://blog.lovetoride.net/blog/2020/03/19/lets-ride-biking-makes-good-sense-the-coronavirus-era/
Some Resources
Sheffield Council offers adult cycle training, hybrid, folding bike and e-bike loans and Dr Bike maintenance services through CycleBoost, and hope to offer 50% to small businesses for packages like storage or washing relating to active travel. A bid has also gone in to provide cut price e-cargo bikes for businesses.
Russell’s Bicycle Shed and A Different Gear (formerly Recycle Bikes) offer bikes, cargo bikes, e-bikes and maintenance packages — other bike shops are available!
Sheffield Sustainability Network for businesses addressing all issues around sustainability, and Love to Ride runs a network for businesses interested in all types of active travel.
SYPTE Active Travel pages include initiatives and advice from the South Yorkshire PTE active travel team