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Listen

Encouragement and Incentives

Strategic Objective 3

For people to have the confidence and the right information to make cycling a realistic choice for some journeys

Potential cycle users need the information that will make them want to cycle. There are obvious benefits to cycling: it improves health, it's a cheap mode of transport, it's usually the quickest mode for short journeys, and has almost zero impact on the environment. However, being told that it is good for you or that for environmental reasons you must give up your car will not bring about a change of heart. Cycling is good for your health and for tackling climate change, but we need to implement measures that will empower people to make up their own minds and think of cycling as a realistic alternative to motorised transport.

The term "Smart Measures" covers a range of interventions including cycling. Smart Measures aim to reduce the social, economic and environmental costs associated with the commute to work, as well as business-related trips. They provide the infrastructure and promote the benefits of more active and sustainable travel. They change travel behaviour towards more active and sustainable options. A key element of Smart Measures is "The Travel Plan", which provides schools, employers, hospitals and any other organisation with a framework to engage with all individuals that will visit or work at a particular site. Individual Travel Planning is also a good way of identifying the best route, mode and general travel behaviour of individuals and families when undertaking a journey.

Experience has shown that successful Travel Plans do deliver change (Ref: Cairns et al) They can help reduce costs, increase workforce productivity, improve the wellbeing of individuals and will reflect positively on any organisation's corporate responsibility.

Cycle Aylesbury

During its first three years as a Cycling Town, Aylesbury focused on using 'soft measures' such as route signing and promotions to encourage local people to get on their bikes. The town named and coloured its seven main cycle routes after gemstones to make them easily identifiable to the public, and pioneered a radical new approach to signage, counting down to destinations in minutes rather than miles. A town-wide promotional campaign, route-specific guides and numerous events have been successful in launching routes and spur residents to action. In 2005/06 1.7% of kids cycled to school. In 2007/08 this was up to 5%. Today, 11% ride their bike to the train station as the first journey of the day, and 11% enjoy riding their bike into town.

See http://www.cycleaylesbury.co.uk/ for more ideas.

Outcomes

By providing maps of safe, quieter routes and off-road routes, local people can gain knowledge of where the best routes are. Often people are not aware of what is on their doorstep. Individualised travel planning tools can help. In Edinburgh, a network of paths connecting to NCN 75 saw an increase of 50% in usage in just one year following the distribution of a free map with the local free newspaper. People need the right information to make the right choices.

Local Authorities, especially in rural areas, should promote routes which make use of roads that are classified as "B", "C " or are "unclassified" roads. In most cases these roads will have less traffic and will provide the user with a safer, quieter route.

Changes are needed to the way information is distributed. Information packages and facilities to encourage active travel need to be more readily available and visible at transport hubs, shopping centres, new construction developments (whether housing, hospitals, businesses or industrial estates) and in places where the public naturally congregate, for example, G.P. surgeries, libraries, health centres, educational establishments.

Individualised Travel Marketing (personal travel planning) is one tool which has been used effectively in Inverness by Sustrans. Providing 1500 homes with information and advice on active travel has resulted in a relative reduction in car driver trips of 13% and a corresponding relative increase in sustainable travel modes of 22% for walking and 27% for cycling.

On-Line

• Dumfries and Galloway Green Travel Map: including walking, cycling and public transport routes - www.dumgal.gov.uk/greentravel
• Sustrans provides free maps for its NCN routes in Scotland. For example, a 100 mile route from Clyde to Forth, a 501 mile route from Aberdeen to John O'Groats, and much, much shorter routes: see www.nationalcyclenetwork.org.uk
• On line packages like the Cambridge Cycle Mapping www.camcycle.org.uk could be useful in letting people see the route they would be travelling.
• For all you need to know about active travel go to www.Chooseanotherway.com

Planning journeys through on-line cycle mapping will provide up-to-date routes and information. All cycle paths and routes should be signed to the highest standards, including length of path and average journey times. By 2012, all large employers and schools will have the status of being "Cycle Friendly" and 10% of all journeys will be made by bike.

A package of Smart Measures will be available for everyone in order to make informed travel choices. This means that all local cycling information will be available free of charge (including maps) and that on-line mapping will allow bike users to plan journeys from "A to B" along safe routes and quiet roads where possible. Employers will offer incentives for staff who wish to travel to work sustainably by introducing a Bike to Work Scheme, mileage allowance for travelling by bike while on business - advisory rate currently 20p per mile - and facilities at the workplace for those who cycle longer distances in all weathers.

The " Bike to Work Scheme" is a UK wide tax exemption scheme for bikes. It was introduced by the Finance Act 1999 and encourages employees to purchase a tax free bike, through their employer, and pay off the costs of the bike over a set period of time through their salary. Because the re-payments are taken at source from salary, both the employee and the employer save on NI and tax contributions. For information about cycling and the Cycle to Work Scheme visit www.bikeforall.net

Scottish Government's Bike to Work Scheme

• In March 2009, the Scottish Government introduced the Bike to Work scheme for its 7000 employees and is aiming for 12% of the workforce to access the scheme. In 2007, the Government building at Victoria Quay was awarded the Cycling Scotland's Cycle Friendly Employer Award. Currently at Victoria Quay there are 200 bike racks which are nearly always full. And, as part of its Travel Plan, the Scottish Government will aim to achieve this award at other buildings through an upgrade of cycling facilities across the estate.

Schools should actively encourage children to cycle to school and should ensure that all children receive cycle training to the national standard by delivering the Scottish Cycle Training Scheme on road (level 2) and consider multi stage delivery using Ready Steady Bike and Go by Cycle which are both aligned to the national standard levels 1 and 3.

Cycle Friendly Schools and Cycle Friendly Employers Awards

Cycling Scotland run two schemes which help and encourage businesses and schools to become "Cycle Friendly". Incentives for businesses include small grants for new facilities and advice on staff incentives and promotions. For more information visit www.cyclingscotland.org

All major workplaces (50 people or more) and all schools should have a Travel Plan in place. All homes should have a local information pack detailing local active travel choices.

Good Practice Example

Ninewells Hospital in Dundee, through free help from the Energy Saving Trust, developed a Travel Plan for Dundee and North Fife. While the Travel Plan mainly focussed on staff travel, there were spin-off benefits for patients and visitors. Actions included :

• improving the onsite network of footpaths
• introducing marked and signed cycleways
• providing accessible and covered cycle parking for 70 bikes
• provision of 40 "Bikeaway" upright lockers
• 35 cycle spaces in a secure bike cage (65 keys in circulation on a first come first served basis)
• facilities are monitored by CCTV and the car park is supervised 24hrs a day
• at the same time, Sustrans produced a free map for cyclists and walkers for the South East Dundee area

Since these Actions have been introduced and as a direct response to need, Ninewells Hospital has:

• Installed a further 70 lockers for immediate use and is managing a waiting list
• Negotiated with Dundee City Council that the extension of the Dundee Cycle Way will go through the hospital grounds
• Introduced a pool bike resource with 4 bikes available for hire
• A 2% modal share for bikes

Solutions and Considerations

To encourage more people to cycle more often, information needs to be free of charge and easily accessible to everyone. Information is vital to us if we are to make informed decisions about our travel behaviour. To do this we need information that promotes cycling as:

• a quick and easy mode of transport for short journeys;
• an independent way of travelling that is not reliant on timetables or road-works;
• an easy way to stay healthy;
• a cheap way to travel; and
• a way of "doing your bit" for the environment.

By encouraging a culture of mutual respect between all road users, cycling will become a more attractive and safe option for short journeys. We will do this by raising awareness of the needs of cyclists, pedestrians and drivers through campaigns and potential changes to the driving test and by the provision of cycle training more widely.

We do not currently have a cycling culture in Scotland, but we do aspire to become a cycling nation and will look towards our northern European neighbours in Denmark, for example, as exemplars. Copenhagen enjoys a 36% modal share for bikes and wants to increase this to 50% by 2015. There are many reasons for this high level of cycle use in Copenhagen, principally the provision of over 300kms of segregated cycle track, cycle integration with public transport and strict liability on the vehicle driver in the event of an accident. Some home contents insurance policies cover the theft of bikes, where this has been included. Should, for example, insurance cover, where negotiated, include claims against a cyclist in the event of an accident where the cyclist is deemed to be at fault?

The Scottish Government, Local Authorities and public transport operators need to consider all possible interventions if we are to successfully deliver the actions in this Action Plan and to promote a cycling culture.

Groningen has the highest modal share of cycling in the Netherlands at 40%, although traffic restrictions played a large part in achieving this Cycling is a way of life in both Groningen and Copenhagen and we can learn a lot from these two cities.

Closer to home, we have the Smarter Choices, Smarter Places programme which aims to promote and encourage active travel in 7 towns and cities across Scotland. Interventions in these towns will include "soft measures" to make cycling an attractive option. One such measure is the introduction of a public bike hire facility. Cycling must be a visible alternative and be nurtured and valued in Scotland. Bike hire in cities and towns should be available to those who wish to travel in urban settings, but do not have access to a bike or storage facilities at home, for example, people who live in tenement flats. Existing examples of successful public bike hire schemes operate in Paris, Barcelona, Munich, Amsterdam and Brussels.

From research carried out by consultants, cities enjoying the highest modal share - Copenhagen, Odense and Groningen - all have a high level of engineering interventions compared to Portland, Oregon, USA. York and Melbourne have less infrastructure, but a higher modal share than Scottish towns and cities. So, although it is recognised that planning and engineering solutions offer the highest returns by way of numbers cycling, softer measures such as travel plans, incentives and promotions do have an important contribution to make to the overall objective of this Action Plan.

At the stakeholder conference on 7 October 2008, 76% of the delegates voted for Methods to Promote Behaviour Change as their second overall priority. This could include :

• Greater use of Individual Travel Marketing Plans
• Greater local cycle map availability
• Improved signage on existing cycle ways
• Increased numbers of small community cycling projects
• Significantly reduced congestion
• More transport hubs with high quality changing and cycle-storage facilities
• All schools to achieve Cycle Friendly Schools award by 2012

Short Term Solutions

• Further promotion of www.ChooseAnotherWay.com travel plan guidance;
• Further promotion of Bike Week - annual week-long UK cycling festival every June;
• Cycle routes and quieter roads should be signed so that people know where they are, where they go to and how far the journey will be;
• Employers should consider offering the Salary Purchase Scheme for bikes. Benefits include: less sick days, a more productive workforce, higher profits and lower car park costs;
• Employers could provide "pool bikes" for business use and introduce the Government recommended 20p per mile allowance (folding bikes can be used more easily in conjunction with public transport);
• Encourage all public sector bodies to achieve Cycle Friendly Employer status by 2012 - Cycling Scotland award;
• Encourage all schools to achieve the Cycle Friendly Schools award by 2012 - Cycling Scotland Award;
• Encourage businesses to offer discount incentives for those customers arriving by bike. Saving money on leisure activities or day-to-day journeys is attractive to all of us.

In Cornwall, The Eden Project offers a £4 discount on the cost of admission (£16) if you cycle or walk to the attraction.

Longer Term Solutions

• Consideration should be given to providing bikes to school children instead of a bus pass;
• Promote a bike loan scheme for children where schools receive 30 bikes provided by Local Authority/ SG which are allocated to pupils who do not have access to a bike;
• Promoting more uptake of the bike to work scheme by focussing on the economic, social, environmental and health messages. Focus on targeting Finance and HR within businesses. Also to target those who already own bikes and don't use them. Provide central guidance for businesses; and
• Build links through Third Sector partnerships to promote community cycle groups and cycle training for adults;

Questions

5. If your employer introduced the Bike to Work Scheme would this encourage you to take up cycling? What else could your employer do to encourage you to cycle?

6. Did you know that the route you drive to work may not be the same route you would use if you were cycling? Would free local maps encourage you to cycle? What other information do you think is missing?

7. Would you use a public bike hire scheme in your town or city such as those running successfully in Paris and Munich? See this link for answers to 33 important questions on how the scheme works. http://www.scribd.com/doc/361657/The-Velib-in-Paris33-questions

8. Which organisation/s in your opinion are best placed to deliver the actions in this section

Objective 3 - For people to have the confidence and the right information to make cycling a realistic choice for some journeys

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