LET’S GET MORE PEOPLE CYCLING THEIR WAY TO WORK
Cities and employers need to do more to entice commuters to make the switch
There are plenty of reasons to bike to work: it’s great exercise, good for the environment and easy on the wallet, to name just a few. And unlike motorists who suffer through traffic jams and public transit users who put up with unpredictable delays or shutdowns in service, cyclists are masters of their own domain.
Yet despite all the pluses, less than two per cent of Canadians (1.3 per cent, according to data from the 2011 Canadian Census) pedal to the office.
Why so few? Surveys of cyclists and non-cyclists in cities across North America state the No. 1 reason for leaving their bike at home is the worry that cycling to work is more dangerous than the alternative forms of commuting.
In response, many cities are rethinking their urban design to include more designated bike paths that make it easier and safer for cyclists.
Here are four more ways to entice commuters to opt for two wheels over four:
1 Make bikes more accessible
To date, 1,286 cities worldwide offer bike-sharing services, but that’s not the only option. In cities without official bike-sharing services, companies can step up. Investing in a small stable of rentable bikes will encourage more employees to give bike commuting a try. Or as an incentive to promoting employee health and reducing absenteeism, both byproducts of active commuting, companies can offer financial incentives toward the purchase of a bike to pedal to and from the office.
2 Create more safe places to store or lock bikes
Another way companies can encourage more bike commuting is to allow employees to bring their bikes not just to the office, but into the office.
Bike theft is rampant in large cities, which deters cyclists from leaving their bike locked, but still vulnerable, in outdoor racks. Creating a safe space for employee bikes is part of changing the culture of the workplace into one that does more than just talk about the benefits of being active.
3 Keep bike commutes to less than 45 minutes
Feedback from cycling surveys indicate that commuting distances greater than 10 km (one way) is considered too far to cycle.
And while there will always be cyclists for whom distance isn’t an issue, the majority of commuters want to pedal to work in less than an hour.
Ideally, bike commuters living farther than 10 km from the office could cycle to an outlying train, subway or bus stop where they can either safely store their bike or bring it with them.
4 Create a more connected network of bike paths
It’s not enough to increase the number of bike paths. What really needs to happen is for cities to work together to create an integrated network of bike paths that connect seamlessly from community to community. Study after study has shown that as the percentage of time spent on a bike path increases, so do the number of commuters cycling to work.
COOL TOOLS FOR CYCLE COMMUTERS
Bike score: Similar to the popular Walk Score, which rates the walkability of neighbourhoods, Bike Score ranks locations based on the availability of bike lanes, hilliness, road connectivity and the percentage of people in the area who bike to work. The Bike Score map shows local bike paths and hills and includes a colourcoded legend, similar to a heat map, with green signifying the highest score and red the least bike-friendly neighbourhoods.