Advice for business

Information and advice
Advice for business  As a business, you may well have a "Healthy Transport policy".
The benefits to you of having more staff cycle (ref: BMA, 1992): • Cyclists are fitter • Cyclists can cope with stress and aggression better • Cyclists take fewer sick days • People who cycle to work have more energy at work • Fitter people have fewer back problems • Staff will have greater disposable income
The benefits to you of having more customers / clients cycle: • People who cycle know they can park easily, so they can stop as they pass a shop, or go shopping for one or two items. • You don't have to provide so many car-parking places, or cope with lost business from people who will not pay to park to buy one or two items. • If you are aware that someone is cycling, you could offer delivery of large items. • Many people are trying internet shopping, which means bulky goods can be delivered, and it is easier to pop out for specialist / luxury / personal items.
The disadvantages: • Cyclists live 10 years longer, so you will be paying their pension for longer... (the same was once said about smoking...) • You have a lot of soggy gear draped around rest rooms at work.
What cyclists need: 1. Safe cycle storage. Put in far more than you think. You will have a surprising amount of "unmet need". Try to put them at the front of your business, to show that cycling is welcome. – Some staff like a "cage" as only those with access can enter. If you fit a "cage", be sure to put in some other cycle parking, to cope with the ad hoc cyclists, or people just starting, who do not have the code for the cage. – Free-standing: the best sort are like a toast-rack, so the bike can lean against it, and there is access to chain the frame of the bike to the stand. The worst sort are those where you can only chain the front wheel. – Covered: This is nice! One advantage is that helmets can be chained to the bike, without them getting wet for the journey home, which saves clutter in the workplace. 2. Locker rooms. – Ideally somewhere to hang wet coats. – Some lockers for helmets / other gear. (These need keys/combination locks) 3. Shower. Opinion on this is divided: because most people do not cycle to work, it is currently seen as a leisure activity; if more people saw cycling as a means of transport, they would cycle slightly slower, and not get sweaty enough to need to change on getting to work. Work places should cater for both types of cyclist. 4. Cycle awareness: – Consider having a "free breakfast" for those who cycle one week, or a "free maintenance session" 5. Cycle safety lessons: – These are helpful for those who have stopped cycling but would like to start again. Some local schemes can teach this in a 90-minute session. People are far more likely to take this up if it is offered free or subsidised by the employer. 6. Cycle purchase schemes: There are a number of these. The simplest is probably "salary sacrifice" where the employee pays for a bike out of "pre-tax" income. Similar schemes have been working for childcare and nurseries for the last few years. It is best to get a company to administer this for you. 7. Travel allowances: do you list "travel by cycle" as an option for reimbursement? 8. Website: Had you thought about including healthy transport options on your website, mentioning how close your business is to the train station, which buses come past, or how big your cycle rack is?
With grateful thanks: This section is written based on ideas from our local large employer, which demonstrates local "good practice". East Sussex Hospitals NHS Trust has a Healthy Transport Policy, and some money from car parking goes into this. Via the Eastbourne District General Hospital Walkers and Cyclists group, they have pioneered many schemes, since 2006, including: • cycle parking • free "cycle training". These have been popular, particularly giving confidence to people who had stopped cycling, over a 90-minute session. • discussion about re-vamping locker rooms • questionnaire surveys of staff (eg would you cycle if...) • car parking paid for daily, not annually (to avid deterring the occasional cyclist) • "salary sacrifice" scheme for cycle purchase • "Awareness weeks" with "Dr Bike" doing free maintenance, giving away "freebies" (reflective tags, armbands, etc.), leaflets, etc • Incentives for car-sharing, and a database of people who would consider this. • Hospital website includes info on Healthy Transport www.esht.nhs.uk  • Liking with bus companies, to check routes and timings for staff and patients. • Surveys of transport use
Reference: British Medical Association, 1992, Cycling: towards health and safety. Oxford University Press: Oxford.
 Click here for this information sheet as a Word document.