Let’s get more people cycling 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 any of 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:
With most commute-worthy bikes priced in the hundreds of dollars, buying a bike to get to and from work is limited to those with a bank account healthy enough to make the purchase. Hence the need for more bike-sharing programs that require a small seasonal investment in exchange for easy and affordable access to a bike.
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.
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.
If the bike paths could include WiFi zones, water fountains and stations to inflate or change tires, all the better. An improved overall cycling experience will attract more active commuters who are looking for a stress-free commute at both ends of the day.
Cool tools for cycle commuters
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 colour-coded legend, similar to a heat map, with green signifying the highest score and red the least bike-friendly neighbourhoods. (walkscore.com/cities-andneighborhoods)
Ride the City, available to those who live in large Canadian cities, allows you to plot a cycling route between two points using bike paths and bike-friendly streets. It avoids highways and carclogged commutes in favour of safer routes and let’s you know how long it should take you to get to your destination. (ridethecity.com/about)
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.