Cycle Friendly.... Businesses?

Cycle friendly cities, streets, yeah we've all heard of them, but cycle friendly businesses, that's a bit of a new one.
I was at a wedding as you do and fell into conversation about planning (its pretty much inevitable), instead of the usual awkward conversations about fixing problems in New Zealand and particularly in Auckland the conversation turned to cycling, in particular as a way of commuting to work. This may have had something to do with the person I was talking to being from Perth, where apparently the public transport works really well and her car was hardly ever used for commuting.


That aside, she talked about how where she worked offered brilliant facilities for cyclists. A secure place to store bikes during the day that was easy to access, good for your bike in that they didn't fall over or get jammed together. Changing and showering facilities with lockers so it was easy enough to take a weeks worth of clothing into work and ride the rest of the week without worrying about the results of strenuous exercise, i.e. being sweaty for the rest of the day. On top of this the business provided subsidised laundromat and dry-cleaning service access as well. Talk about benefits!


I do not know the amount of businesses that offer those facilities in Auckland, but they would be a huge encouragement to jumping on a bike in the morning.


Bike parking, like car parking is vital to attracting cyclists, this works for retail areas and corporate areas as well


Examples such as these from velo-city.org are great.






Or if room is tight, something like the following examples could be utilised, leaning racks (on the left) Photo: VeloBusDriver on flilckr or indoor "double up racks" (right) Photo: commuterpage.com



These all show different ways of providing secure and accessible storage facilities, which can be a huge incentive for commuting to work, shops or cafes and bars.
Businesses could use unused storage areas on ground floors, provide space in underground car parks or round the back of buildings for bikes.


Other facilities that make a business cycle friendly are changing rooms and showers. While this may be hard to achieve in buildings that already exist, it should be mandatory in new office buildings within the city. They can range from basic facilities to providing dry-cleaning and laundromat service access.


There are other incentives that businesses could offer to encourage biking as a way of commuting are providing breakfast basics, such as milk, bowls spoons etc.
There is also options such a subsidising bike costs or creating a relationship with a local bike store to provide staff discounts.


Whatever they can do businesses have huge potential to influence the amount of commuters who choose to cycle instead of driving on a daily base.