Bike commuting is a win-win for both businesses and individuals looking to reduce costs, embrace eco awareness, and adhere to business and personal sustainability programs.
Small business resources can be limited towards building a sustainable business; however, our sustainability consulting encourages employers to promote employee bicycling commuting as a great way to attract and retain those eco minded employees.
A recent post, Top 10 Benefits of Bicycle Commuting Programs for Businesses, explores bike commuting benefits to employers while the post, 10 Reasons to Bike Commute to Work, gives employees ideas and inspiration to ride to work.
But what can a business do to promote and maintain a winning bike commuting culture? Our business sustainability consulting advocates taking the following eco actions to keep bike commuting fun and safe for employees.
Education
- Offer regular safety classes.
- Provide lunch and learn opportunities for current topics and discussion.
- Share information on how to share the road.
- Participate in bike maintenance classes.
Encouragement
- Offer incentives to ride.
- Host a CEO led ride.
- Offer the commuter tax benefit. Accor Services offers the commuter check for bicycling. This allows employers to buy commuter vouchers and issue them to employees just like they would for transit. This is a valuable small business resource in terms of benefits to employees.
- Guarantee a ride home service.
- Create a company bike club.
- Celebrate bike to work day or month or create your own company mile markers and celebrate them.
Foundation
- Make bike parking safe and secure.
- Provide lockers, showers, and changing areas.
- Utilize car sharing programs like ZipCar for off site meetings.
- Provide a repair station with tools, lubrication, and tubes.
Review
- Get to know your employee's commuting habits: what's working/ what isn't and suggestions for improvement.
- Set goals: number of commuting miles/ week/ per employee.
- Appoint a bike coordinator: the go to person for everything bike commuting related.
As a professional consultant, I have the opportunity to work with individuals and businesses to integrate sustainability concepts into the workplace and daily life. Naturally, cycling is a sustainability concept that benefits all worlds: business and individuals and the planet.
