A commitment to low-carbon travel

The Heart Foundation acknowledges the importance of active travel not only for heart health, but for the health of the environment.
WA staff are encouraged to choose active modes of transport for local trips, and when travelling to and from meetings. They are supported to do so through the provision of:

• Two regularly services pool bikes
• End-of-trip facilities including space to store bikes, a shower and lockers
• Pre-paid SmartRiders
• Bus service information and local maps
• Access to water bottles, hats, sunscreen and umbrellas.

Staff member Sandy recently used a staff pool bike to get to a meeting in the city. The photo of Sandy below was taken at the end of a meeting with Rachael Mackey from the Department of Transport and Vilma Palacios from East Metropolitan Health Service. Vilma had caught the bus; Sandy had cycled, and Rachael took the meeting from DoT upstairs to a cafe downstairs.

Sandy loves using active travel to get to and from meetings – “It takes me the same amount of time to cycle as it does to catch a bus from Subiaco to the city. Putting a helmet on and moving through outdoor space is not only invigorating during the working day, but just makes sense”.

With more staff returning to work in the office, the team will be implementing some fun activities over the next few months to encourage consistent active travel!

More broadly, the Heart Foundation advocates for healthy built environments (that support low-carbon travel) via the Healthy Active by Design program. This initiative was developed to provide town planners, urban designers and developers with evidence and tools to help create healthier communities. It acknowledges that heart healthy movement networks are those with a low environmental impact as they prioritise walking, cycling and public transport.

The Healthy Active by Design program offers a suite of resources to support professionals in building healthy and active environments - you can access them here.