Cycling to work is a great way of keeping fit, as well as saving you time and money – and if you’re an employer that means healthier, more productive staff.
Employers
The Big Wheel Business Club is a free online resource for businesses wanting to get the most out of transport management. There’s a special section on how you can help to get your workforce cycling saving time, money, and the environment and ensuring happier, healthier employees. Whether you want to find out more about cycle training, grants for secure bike storage, or simply want to talk to someone about the best approach to travel planning, we can point you in the right direction.
Click here for examples of how some businesses are already making the most of travel planning, along with the initiatives they’ve taken to help employees to get on their bikes.
Employees
Cycling to work can be a great way of beating the morning rush hour and getting fit and healthy in the process. Here are just some of the benefits of commuting by bike:
Health
Cycling is great for your health – as well as dramatically improving your aerobic fitness in just six weeks, cycling to and from work helps protect against serious illness and delays the ageing process by up to ten years!
Congestion
On average cycle journeys at peak times of the day take half the time of car journeys. There have been considerable improvements to commuter routes for cyclists and these handy cycle maps show the best ways of getting from A to B in North and South Nottingham – making it even easier to avoid the jams and get cycling. With 41% of people in Nottingham living within three miles of the workplace, travelling to work by bike makes a lot of sense.
Air quality
Cycling to work is great for the environment, helping to reduce carbon emissions which contribute to global warming. By reducing the volume of road traffic, cycling cuts air and noise pollution and in turn helps to protect the environment. Believe it or not, cyclists breathe in far lower levels of traffic fumes and pollutants than car drivers, so as well as avoiding traffic jams and helping to reduce pollution, you’ll also be breathing in cleaner, greener air!
Integration
Cycling is just one of the spokes in The Big Wheel, Nottingham’s sustainable transport system, along with trams, trains, buses and walking. You can really make the most of what’s on offer by, for example, cycling to the station next time you catch a train or investing in a folding bike that you can take on the bus to get you the last bit of the way to work. In future there’ll be even more secure parking and storage for bikes in Nottingham, as well as a trial bike/ tram interchange at the Phoenix Park Park & Ride, so that cyclists can also park and ride!
More time, less stress
With dedicated cycle lanes you can save time and reduce your stress levels by beating the jams and getting to work in half the time. As well as cutting down on frustrating hours stuck behind the wheel, cycling is shown to be a great stress-buster, aiding relaxation and alleviating anxiety!
Money
Once you’ve got yourself a bike the running costs are negligible – see our cost comparison page to find out just how much you could save by cycling to work.
Talking to the boss
If you’d like to cycle to work, but are concerned about cycle storage or even just being able to get a shower before starting work, there may be funding available to help your company to provide such facilities. The grants section of our website has information about how to access funds through the TransAct scheme – now that you know, why not pass this information on, so that your organisation is also aware of what’s available.
