Staff tell us what they wheelie think

The City of Swan conducted a staff survey about cycling in order to find out how to further encourage and facilitate staff to cycle to work.

The idea to survey staff came from a YourMove forum earlier in the year which mentioned the behaviour change cycle and spurred a thought that perhaps current staff cycling activities such as the Ride2Work breakfast are only suitable for staff who already cycle to work, leaving out staff that haven't thought about cycling or haven't committed to trying it yet.

Here is a summary of the results:

• 47 staff responded to the survey: 51% were from Admin, 5% from the Operations Centre and the rest from other workplaces
  
• 68% of respondents own a normal bike, 13% an electric bike, 2% both bike types and 17% don’t own a bike
• In the last year, 66% of respondents never rode to work and 15% rode most days, the rest riding anywhere between 1-3 times in the year to a couple times a week
• Behaviour stages: pre-contemplation 50%, contemplation 17%, determination 6%, action 4% and maintenance 23%
• 95% of respondents were aware the City has a Travel to Work subsidy where staff who cycle to work (and use Public Transport) can claim money back
• 86% of respondents knew that Admin and the Operations Centre have pool electric bikes available for staff to use, including 7% which have been inducted
• Top three reported barriers to cycling to work or cycling more regularly were: 1) the time taken cycling, 2) getting sweaty and/or having to change into work clothes afterwards, and 3) the weather.
• 47% of respondents think that the end of trip (EOT) facilities at their workplace are sufficient, 46% disagree and 7% don’t know what facilities are available
• Frequently suggested end of trip facility improvements: 1) The provision of showers / more showers / separate showers from toilets, 2) Bike parking / undercover parking / secure parking, and 3) The provision of lockers / more lockers.
• Top three activities respondents would participate in: 1) Ride2Work Breakfast, 2) Bike Month Challenge to commute to work - prizes for those that ride the most and the furthest, and 3) Basic bike maintenance workshop.

Some suggested actions:

• Continue promoting the Travel to Work subsidy and Pool eBikes regularly through multiple streams of communication
• Develop materials to promote to staff to reduce/eliminate barriers, provide solutions or make it easier e.g. the top barrier reported was that it takes too long to cycle to work - we could write about the health benefits of getting 30minutes of physical activity every day so if you cycle to work you achieve two goals with one action and don't need to find time later to go for a walk
• Improve end of trip facilities
• Continue to hold a Ride2Work breakfast, do another Bike Month Challenge and try a bike maintenance workshop. Although adult cycling class had the least votes, this could also be worthwhile as it potentially targets a group of people who currently don't cycle.

Surveying staff was a worthwhile exercise and we are geared up to make some improvements!