Adrian Warren of the Cycle to Work Alliance talks to REBA about active travel

Earlier this month the transport secretary Grant Shapps announced a £250 million emergency active travel fund – the first stage of a £2 billion investment in cycling and walking. As part of the initiative pop-up bike lanes with protected space for cycling, safer junctions, and cycle and bus-only corridors will be created in England within weeks.

With this radical shift in emphasis on how people should commute, we spoke with Adrian Warren, chair of the Cycle to Work Alliance, about the government’s plans and how employers can best support staff wanting to make the shift to two wheels.

A ready-made solution

The cycle to work scheme is a staple benefit that has been available for a number of years and uses salary sacrifice to allow employees to make savings on the cost of a new bicycle and related equipment. As of last year, there is now no limit on the value of the cycle (including e-bikes) and equipment employers can provide to an employee.

The Cycle to Work Alliance, a coalition of the four largest cycle to work scheme providers, has welcomed the government’s recognition of the role of the cycle to work scheme, and is working closely with it to ensure that active travel is an option for as many people as possible as they return to work.

For Warren, the cycle to work scheme is “a ready-made solution for the challenges we face”. But he also believes that “employees have a duty to consider how they can change their commute”.

The cycle to work scheme, not only helps to protect people as we continue through the coronavirus crisis, but also reduces our environmental impact and improves the physical and mental health of employees.

The benefits of cycling

Figures from the Cycle to Work Alliance reveal that 86% of employees participating in the scheme believe that cycling to work has led to health benefits. Of those who had noticed health benefits, 89% believed that it had improved general fitness; 52% believed that it had contributed to weight loss; and 46% believed that it had contributed to them being less stressed.

This one benefit helps with social distancing, the environment and creates a much healthier workforce with better mental wellbeing, Warren explains.

Offering this benefit is a win-win for several reasons, and with recent demand for bikes outstripping supply in some places, the salary sacrifice scheme could be a cost-effective way for employees to access a more expensive bike, with savings of 32% or 42% on the value of a new bike, depending on an individuals’ tax bracket.

How to encourage employees to take to two wheels

“We’ve often talked about employer facilities and it being a barrier [to cycling to work]. But the main reason for not cycling is down to infrastructure,” says Warren.

Cycling infrastructure is the area where he would like the government to focus its efforts, to make it more accessible and offer people a greater feeling of safety while cycling. Employers can also help with this issue by highlighting the safest routes into the workplace – many towns and cities already have these route maps available.

Employers can also encourage employees to think about cycling part of their journey. For instance, cycling to or from a train station or driving to a park and ride facility outside of a city or town and then cycling the rest of the way in.

Other practical measures to encourage greater take-up could be working to accommodate employees’ needs, including being more flexible with start/finish times to enable people to commute at a better time for them, perhaps when it’s quieter on the roads.

The way that staff engage with the scheme can also help. For instance, open up the demographic by suggesting different cycling options for different employee segments. Parents may need to drop a child at nursery before coming on to work, so a bike seat might help to make that commute more viable; while someone living in a hilly area might like the option of an electric bike.

There are a whole array of bike options depending on the terrain and the person. Therefore, employers need to work more closely with their cycle to work scheme providers “to promote the right bike with the right demographic,” says Warren.

Although these are all important ways to encourage participation with the scheme, Warren concedes that practical facilities in the workplace are still a consideration. “Secure facilities for bikes are still important. The least they [an employer] can do is ensure they have secure bike parking facilities,” says Warren.

Showers and designated changing areas are also often mentioned as a facility that employers need to provide. However, most journeys are under five miles so although these facilities are nice to have, these may not be necessary.

As we adapt to new ways of working, and now commuting, perhaps we all need to broaden our horizons and consider getting on our bikes to protect our own health and the health of those around us.

The author is Dawn Lewis, content editor at REBA.