Did you know that a quarter of all journeys made by car are under two miles?

For journeys to work under five miles, cycling offers a cheap, healthy and fast alternative to driving. Staff who cycle to work arrive alert, happy and ready for the day ahead.

Swindon has first class cycle routes, many of which are off road. Encouraging staff to cycle to work can be a key element of your travel plan.

What You can do as an Employer to Encourage Cycling

• Provide safe, secure and covered cycle parking
• Establish Bicycle User Groups (BUGs)
• Provide 'pool bikes' (folding bikes make excellent pool bikes, especially as they can be used easily on journeys combined with public transport)
• Provide lockers, changing/drying facilities and showers
• Offer financial incentives such as interest-free loan, discounts for bike purchases and preferential cycle insurance rates
• Provide a cycle mileage allowance to enable financial reimbursement for staff cycling on company business
• Promote and publicise cycling - consider producing a cycle map identifying safe cycling routes to and from your site
• Liaise with Swindon Borough Council to identify the potential for improving cycle links to your site
• Consider other initiatives for example a puncture repair service, or regular free bike servicing checks

Further Advice

If you would like to discuss other ways to encourage your staff to cycle to work contact the Travel Awareness Officer.

Swindon Cycle Map and Guide

In order to help companies promote cycling to their staff, Swindon Borough Council has produced the Swindon Cycle Map and Guide. The printed version is available free of charge from various locations, including the Information Centre, libraries and council offices. If you require a larger supply of paper copies please contact the Transport Awareness Officer at cfleming@swindon.gov.uk.

The guide is also available as a downloadable pdf file:

Swindon Cycle Map (547Kb)

Also available as a PDF file is a town centre cycling map:

Town Centre Map (651Kb)

Bike Week and Bike2Work

As part of Bike Week (annually in June) Swindon Borough Council is encouraging employers to participate by organising events to enable more people to try cycling to work. Changing travel habits for one week can be all it takes to turn a commuter onto cycling.

Further Information/Contact

To discuss how Swindon Borough Council can help, contact the Transport Planning Team at transportplanning@swindon.gov.uk.

To find out more or register your event, see the Bikeweek website (www.bikeweek.org.uk/index.php?area=bike2work).