Why Bike To Work ?
by Claire Morissette
Monday morning and you're already feeling tired? This may be the first sign of ill health. And if you do not do something about it, it's going to cost you the better part of your life. One of the best ways of staying healthy and enjoying life is by keeping fit.
Three important elements in a keep-fit plan are exercise, sensible diet and good health habits. With more and more employees becoming sedentary at work, it's important that steps are taken to combat inactivity outside of work hours. You don't have to exercise in a gym, as this takes up considerable time and money.
There are alternatives -among them, cycling. If done regularly, cycling can keep you in top shape. It's a good exercise for busy people; it combines caring for your health and the fun of riding with a practical purpose: reaching a destination.
Bicycles are becoming increasingly popular among North American adults. There are approximately 1.5 million bicycles in the Montreal region — one for every two people. While biking has traditionally been regarded as a form of recreation, the trend is for more and more people to use the bike as a means of transportation.
Now is a perfect time to take advantage of this trend, to encourage the use of bicycles at the workplace for daily commuting, and realize the important benefits that can arise for employees, employers and the community at large.
Benefits at Work Place
Various international studies have attributed the following to fitness :
Better performance at work
• 2/3 drop in susceptibility to industrial accidents (1).
• 15%-200% increase in output capacity (2).
• Significant reduction in production errors.
Less absenteeism due to illness
There is an average of 12.7 days of absenteeism per year per Canadian worker, which translates into approximately 780 million hours of lost production time(3). It costs about 5 times more than the original salaries, to replace experienced personnel on leave.
Some studies found that absenteeism was reduced by as much as 41.8% among those who participated in fitness programmes(4).
Likewise, yearly turnover can be reduced by as much as 15%(5).
Fewer expenses for parking and company business calls
The cost of providing space for one car ranges up to 10 times that of one bicycle locker and 100 times that of a bicycle hitching post.
If your company subsidizes car parking, these savings are worth considering. Likewise, encouraging employees to do company business on their bicycles when appropriate, and reimbursing them, may make better economic sense than using motor vehicles.
Protection of the environment -everyone's responsibility
Travelling by bike leads to cleaner air and a quieter, more relaxed environment. It reduces energy consumption and traffic congestion and improves the overall quality of life in the city.
Benefits on the Road
Saving money
Going to work by car can cost the workers 25%-40% of their revenue(6) in gasoline, parking fares, fines, repairs, taxes, etc. Bicycle commuting costs about 1/10 as much as car driving, a saving worth thousands of dollars per household per year.
Saving time
During heavy rush hours, a bicycle can travel distances of less than 9.5 km faster than a car. Cyclists also spend less time finding a parking space than car drivers. People living up to 12 km from work can reach work by bike in less than one hour(7).
Improving health
Regular exercise gives people more vigour, increased resistance to disease, additional energy and better weight control and is also associated with greater alertness, a sound night's sleep and an improved ability to cope with stress.
Cycling is an excellent exercise, because it is an endurance activity that builds up the heart muscles and the capacity of the lung and blood vessels. Sustaining the heart rate at somewhere between 50 and 70 % of its potential for 10 to 20 minutes several times a week gradually increases the heart's strength until it nears its maximum.
After two to three weeks, beginners will find it quite easy to maintain a pace that previously made them puff.
It's fun !
Biking to work allows the cyclist to feel a greater affinity with the environment, and to acquire a sense of accomplishment. Employees may actually enjoy getting to and from work !
Improving social awareness
Cycling means that we not only improve our ownwell-being, but we are helping improve the overall environment as well.The cyclist is more and more perceived as a responsible citizen, acting constructively to improve the quality of life in his/her neighbourhood. As well, the cyclist helps make the city a safer place to be.
What Bikers Need at Work Place
The following facilities can help ensure the success of any bike commuter program: safe parking space for bicycles :
Providing bicycle space and parking devices may cost as little as $50 per unit. This ranges between 1/10 and 1/100 the cost of providing parking for one car.
An ideal bicycle parking rack :
Holds the weight of the bicycle by the frame instead of the wheels, which are fragile.
Is compatible with the "U-Shaped" locks, widely used by cyclists in Montreal. Allows the "U-shaped" locks to secure both the frame and the front wheel.
Is located as near as possible to the employees' entrance, and easily visible to passers-by.
Is sheltered against bad weather.
Many different set-ups for good bicycle parking are now being used in Montreal. Le Monde à Bicyclette can assist you in working out a solution which suits your needs and resources
Facilities to freshen up after reaching the workplace
Let's face it, riding to work can be sweaty business! Cyclists need running water to refresh themselves on arrival; ideally, they should have showers and lockers. These would encourage employees to take their bikes to work, and still show up fresh and tidy.
How to Encourage Biking to Work
A variety of incentives can be developed by employers, employees or employees' unions, to help promote cycling to work :
Offering information on cycling
Make people aware of the health benefits of cycling, the cost savings compared to other forms of transportation and the environmental benefits. Le Monde à Bicyclette can offer convenient lunchtime conferences or other events to teach cyclists about choosing a bicycle and bicycle gear, maintaining one's bike in top condition, bicycle safety and other important issues.
Arranging financial help to the employee to purchase a bicycle
This can be done directly, by obtaining discounts on bicycles and accesssories, or indirectly, by arranging an easy term reimbursment plan.
Reimbursing employees who travel by bike for company business
The cost of operating a car is estimated at 28.5 cents per km. Bicycle use can be promoted by reimbursing a portion of this amount to employees working with their bike. This saves money for the employer, and is deserved compensation to the employees who use their bikes.
ffering ''flex-time" schedules
Arrange "flex-time" work schedules for employees so that they can avoid peak- hour traffic congestion and fumes.
Relaxing company dress code
Encourage employees, when possible, to dress more comfortably. This makes it easier to travel by bike.
Providing bicycles at workplace
The provision of company bikes for short trips on company business saves travel costs and employee time.
Offering small prizes for those who do use bicycles
If the gifts are bicycle-related, like locks or helmets, you may be able to obtain them free or at a discount from manufacturers interested in promoting their products.
Encouraging recreational bicycle rides among employees
By providing the means of communication -a bulletin board, space in your newsletter- you can promote rides, picnics, bikecamping trips and rallies, and not only encourage cycling, but also allow people to get to know each other better, and develop more camaraderie and dialogue in the organization.
Sponsoring a "Bike to Work" day
Convince people to try out the idea of bicycle commuting by sponsoring a "Bike to Work Day". Le Monde à Bicyclette can help you with organizing tips for such an event.
Publicizing the cycling programme and facilities
A great number of employees may not even know about the facilities at their disposal. Bulletins, notices and announcements can help employees' awareness. Once they know about the facilities, they are more likely to use them.
Getting involved publicly
Through contacts with local authorities, get information about the best bicycle routes for your organization. Through press releases and interviews, make the local media aware of the bicycle programme within your organization.
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
Q. There aren't any cyclists in our company, so why should we arrange for the facilities?
A. One of the main reasons that employees do not use bicycles is because of lack of facilities and information on this important issue. Once they realize the benefits of cycling to work and are assured of the facilities provided, they will be likely to adopt this mode of transportation.
Q. If employees come to work by bicycle, won't they look sloppy and sweaty and turn up late?
A. On the contrary, cycling is one of the exercises which if done regularly, will keep the body fit. Cyclists also avoid the tension produced by being caught in traffic. As for showing up late, a cyclist can reach work as fast as a car for a distance of 9.5 km, and for a distance of up to 12 km the travelling time is not much longer than that of a car. If the shower-locker facilities are provided, those employees who arrive by bicycle will look just as fresh and alert as those who have spent lots of time in their car fighting the traffic.
Q. How about the bad weather?
A. It's true that during heavy rain or snow or when the roads are icy, biking to work is hardly possible. But these kinds of days amount to about 25% of the year. In the case of very bad weather, cyclists can leave their bicycles at home or at work and use public transit.
Q. What if we don't have the time to spend on promotion of cycling at work?
A. Once you have made up your mind about promoting cycling, you can rest assured that everything will fall into place automatically. Le Monde à Bicyclette can provide you with lunch-time seminars and additional written information on this subject. Moreover, just think of the benefits for everyone involved in such a programme, and you will agree that a few hours is definately worth it in the long run.
Notes:
(1) "Arrive by Bike", Energy Probe, Toronto
(2) "Fitness works", Fitness and Amateur Sport Canada, Government of Canada
(3) Industrial Health Assistance Ltd of Toronto
(4) Experiment conducted on 550 employees at Canada Life Insurance Co, Toronto 1978
(5) "Fitness works", Fitness and Amateur Sport Canada, Government of Canada
(6) Association Coopérative d'Économie Familiale (ACEF), Montréal 1982
(7) "La bicyclette, un moyen de transport", Ministère du Transport, Gouvernement du Québec 1977
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In Memoriam
Claire Morissette (1950-2007)
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