Comments on: Does your office offer these three cyclist facilities?

By: John

John — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 10:45:26 +0000

In the school where I work we had an offer from the council to supply 2 covered bike racks that would take up 2 parking spaces, You would not believe the opposition this met with, albeit we have parking for about 80 vehicles!
Any way it went ahead, now we have included another new covered area for the kids to park there bikes which holds around 40 bikes,.all paid for by various green transport ideas.
For the staff if they wish to shower they can use the staff showers in the sports hall and have special open box lockers in the staff workroom area (although most do not use them).
Thats an awful lot of vehicles taken off the roads in the way of staff and school runs and a whole lot more fitter staff and kids.
If the argument is pressed for cycle facilities against car drivers opposition then many will use them as they see others making use of them.
Secure covered parking now for around 60 as opposed to 2 parking bays!

By: Petet

Petet — Tue, 18 May 2010 08:16:13 +0000

We have 350 Staff, and about 80-100 cyclists, we have 8 showers (4 male and 4 female), have open lockers (so they don’t get filled and left to smell) if you leave something valuable in there thats your problem, this works really well, we give free towels so we can deal with smell and deal with cleaning quite easily,

The lockers work very well as it stops people carrying rucksacks with wet clothes to their desks and cluttering the office floor. We have suit/shirt cabinets also in the changing area that seem to be very well appreciated.

In our old offices had same number , no facilities worth talking about and about 15 cyclists.

For me the facilities are the most important thing to get right, dealing with oversubscription is a good problem to have. We have had to take car spaces from our basement to facilitate bikes..

Works very well

By: purpaboo

purpaboo — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 10:40:44 +0000

I work in Soho, on Berwick Street. Luckily we have showers and secure parking for bicycles. No proper drying facilities, but plenty of space to hang up wet clothes. I feel very fortunate to have these facilities, as I would not cycle to work otherwise.

By: Andreas

Andreas — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 07:43:34 +0000

Thanks for everyone’s comments, I’ll be doing a write up next week about some of the ultimate cycle friendly offices. I’m pleased that some of you said your offices provide facilities but as always it is a shame to see others let down by their company, especially when there are so many benefits to be hand.

By: Andreas

Andreas — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 07:42:38 +0000

MarkA – Agreed! I mean 10 cycle parking racks probably take up as much as 1 parking space so it does make sense. I think there is some planning laws in place but I don’t know how far they are enforced. Experience has shown however that the facilities need to be there before people step out of their comfort zone and start cycling.

Lee- Sounds like the company really is not making an effort there. It is a shame to see that companies are failing to realise the benefits.

By: Lee

Lee — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 22:08:03 +0000

I work in Glasgow, in a factory of nearly 600 employees. About 20 people commute by bike as there are very few facilities for us to use.

Firstly; we have a bike rack that holds only 8 bikes, with the rest locked to fences. As the factory repairs expensive & desirable devices, we have a security perimeter within the building, so you cant take any items into the 2 showers available in the factory. As such, you have to leave all your items in one of the 50 small cloak room lockers outside the perimeter, if your lucky enough to have one.

As for the bike to work scheme; they would not support it as they deemed it ‘difficult to implement’. To quote our communications officer “There is too many forms to fill in”. Sad really.

By: MarkA

MarkA — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 09:31:56 +0000

I work in Mayfair where most offices are quite small or old houses – none of the corporate glitz of bike parking, showers and drying rooms! I have to leave my bike on Berkeley Square every day (hence why I cycle on a piece of crap, but it gets me there and it’s no great shakes if it gets nicked)

I think cycling facilities should be included under planning law ie. you have to have 10 bike racks for every 10 parking spaces, you have to have showers and locker rooms if you’re going to build an office for say, more than 50 people. If you’re going to build a road you have to build a cycle lane beside it etc – eventually the velorution would build itself!

By: danceralamode

danceralamode — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 20:49:44 +0000

My office doesn’t have these facilities; however, my gym is just across the street, so sometimes I use their showers and lockers.

They don’t offer secure garage parking, but the new bicycle racks installed are inside the museum park and right next to a 24-hour guard station.

Showers and lockers would be awesome.

By: Steve Russell

Steve Russell — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 06:10:31 +0000

My employer, Wellcome Trust also has a dedicated cyclists’ drying room.

By: Andreas

Andreas — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 17:20:35 +0000

I think the best choice is just providing the funding for companies to achieve projects such as showers for cyclists. I know its not possible at all workplaces. It is pretty horrible at the end of the day having to put on wet clothes isn’t it!