Companies that encourage cycling to work improve the health of their employees, but also their own economic profitability and their image.
According to several studies, workers who cycle to work are more focused, more creative and less stressed.
However, there are psychological and infrastructural difficulties that limit the use of bicycles. This is where companies can do a lot to encourage cycling.
People don't ride a bike for two main reasons:
Fear for their own safety,
Fear that their bike will be stolen
And when it comes to cycling to work, other factors are important in determining avoidance of using a bicycle as a means of transportation:
1. Too long a journey,
2. Adverse weather conditions,
3. Arriving sweaty or hot.
The issue of safety
As far as fear for one's own safety goes, there is not much- something that a company can do directly, but it can always try to establish a partnership or a dialogue with the competent public authorities to promote the safe travel of its employees and suppliers, its visitors, its guests or its customers .
Together, they can explore infrastructure interventions to allow people who wish to cycle to their premises to do so safely.
The question of theft
The fear of theft of the bicycle, of its own means of transport, is a problem that the company can solve very effectively by installing secure supports, to which the bicycle can be attached. frame of the bicycle and not just the wheel.
These brackets could be covered rts by an awning to prevent the bikes from being exposed to the weather, getting wet in a sudden downpour and the saddle overheating, especially on sunny summer days.
It is even better if the place to store the bikes is indoors, possibly with access reserved for bike owners only, in order to make the possibility of theft even more remote.
Finally, the shelter could be equipped with or located near changing rooms with lockers for storing helmets and personal effects, showers and perhaps a laundry room.
The bicycle is the most effective way
Too great a distance can indeed constitute an obstacle in certain circumstances. But if we take into account that more than 60% of journeys are less than 5 km and 70-80% less than 10 km, we realize that in the vast majority of cases, these are false beliefs. .
In addition, for distances of up to 6 km, the bicycle is the fastest and most efficient means of transport in the city, as it allows you to avoid being stuck in traffic and can be parked easily, close to your destination. Those who choose the car, on the other hand, take up to 20 minutes to find a parking space and are often forced to leave their car within walking distance of their final destination.
Let's not talk the economic nature of choosing a bicycle, which does not need gasoline to operate, nor all the taxes and ancillary costs (maintenance, insurance, etc.) of a car.
Weather
As for adverse weather conditions, I like to quote the maxim of the founder of the scouts that there is no bad weather , only bad gear.
With the right gear and a few tricks (also covered in the Bike to Work guide), even rain or cold won't stop us.
/>But, as we said, even from this point of view, the company that wants to promote bike-to-work can provide shelters and rooms where people who arrive by bike can change and dry their clothes. clothing.
The same goes for sweat.
Choosing to use a pedal-assist bicycle allows those who are unable to change for work to sweat less. But if the company stepped in by offering the option to freshen up in the shower, change into clothes and perhaps wash sweaty clothes, any resistance to using the bike for commuting would disappear.
