Bicycle Network: Workplace

Want to hear what other workplaces other doing to encourage their staff to ride to work?

 

Workers rolling in money

5 May 2011. An American University has induced ten per cent of its staff to ride to work by offering them the folding stuff—$50 dollars for every 30 commutes.

By the end of this year the Oregon Health & Science University will have handed out more than A$170,000 through its Bike Incentive Program.

Bike commuters can get up to $50 cash for every 30 trips of more than 3 kilometres logged on a dedicated website

They can choose to be reimbursed for one month's worth of car parking (if they also drive), get $35 if they also get a transit pass subsidy, or if they simply ride they receive $50.

As well as cash the university also provides secure bike parking, showers, free tubes, access to tools, and route maps.

Currently there are 1200 people signed up to the program, making more than 42,000 trips. The average journey is 14 kilometres.

The cash plays a big role in motivating people to bike to work. When asked directly, 43% of program participants say the cash incentive is one of their top three primary motivators.

More information here.

Telstra rings changes for bike parking

10 March 2011. Telstra has significantly boosted bike parking and end-of-trip facilities at its Melbourne headquarters as record numbers of staff sign on to the health and wellbeing advantages of riding to work.

The telecommunications giant has increased bike parking by 150 spaces to bring the total to 250. Security is via swipe card access.

It has installed fully equipped change rooms, with 18 male and 18 female showers plus one unisex shower built to accommodate people with a disability. 

The change rooms also include lockers (270 in total), fold-out ironing boards, toilet facilities and wash basins.

So far 650 of the 3500 employees in the building have registered to use the facilities.

The new facilities were added as the 242 Exhibition Street building underwent a major, multi-million dollar refurbishment.

The company is proud of the innovative thinking that made the addition of the facilities possible in an older building.

Telstra Property Director Vito Chiodo said: “In the basement of the building there was a large chiller room that was no longer required after the upgrade to the air conditioning.  We identified a terrific opportunity to use this space to create a new facility to encourage even more Telstra people to ride to work.”

Telstra has an enthusiastic and growing bicycle community with the Bicycle User Group in Melbourne working closely with the Property team during the design process.  Bicycle Network Victoria was also involved in the planning, design and installation of the bike rails.

“It’s great to finally see all the plans and drawings come to life in this fantastic new area,” said Mario Sciavarrello, a member of the BUG. 

“Together we’ve delivered a great result that will meet the needs of users and I’ve received a number of emails from people telling me that it has inspired them to start riding to work.

“It demonstrates the importance of not just increasing the number of bike parks but also considering an integrated solution to meet the needs of users,” said Vito.    

Telstra’s Property team considers opportunities to increase bike parking as a part of any major refurbishment works. Recent developments include:

• 717 Bourke Street, Melbourne – the new call centre building includes basement parking for cyclists and shower/change rooms on the office floors.
• 300 LaTrobe Street, Melbourne – the building owner, Charter Hall, will be implementing new bike parking and change rooms as a part of the refurbishment of this building.
• Brisbane – a new bike parking and change room area was built as a part of the new 275 George Street building.
• Adelaide – as a part of the refurbishment of 30 Pirie Street the Property team is looking for opportunities to implement bike parking and change rooms.

Property sector gets rolling on bikes

8 December 2010. Leading city real estate firm, Colliers International, has geared up to help businesses manage the bike commuting boom, sensing that bike parking is now a bigger issue than car parking for many office tenants.

The company has issued a White Paper, developed in conjunction with Bicycle Network Victoria, to highlight the issue.

"With an increased number of people riding to work, there is a dramatic demand for more bicycle parking and showers," Colliers says.

"Colliers International regularly survey office tenants to find out their expectations regarding office requirements now and in to the future.

"The most recent study found that tenants gave a rating of 7.1/10 to the importance of providing bike racks and showers within a building for attracting and retaining staff.

"Importantly, this was one of the most significant growth indicators, increasing by 12.7% from the 2005 tenant survey.

"Only a building’s environmental performance achieved a higher increase of all the factors considered."

Colliers makes a number of recommendations:

• Provide additional bicycle parking within new and refurbished buildings, above that required by Green star or planning provisions: The requirement for additional bicycle parking is expected to continue to increase. By providing additional spaces in convenient locations, future proofing of the asset will be undertaken;
• Convert existing car parks to bicycle parking: Many buildings have under-utilised car parks, which could be converted to a number of bicycle parking spaces. One car park provides 14 bicycle parking spaces;
• Ensure that showers and change rooms are located in convenient locations nearby: It is not enough to provide a large number of bicycle parking spaces. Bicycle commuters also require sufficient showers and change rooms. These change rooms can also be used by non commuters, such as those that participate in sports during lunch breaks.
• High quality and secure parking is required: Many commuters have bicycles worth thousands of dollars and hence secure parking where their bicycle will not be damaged is important. The type of racks, for example, are particular important, as is their spacing.
  

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