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Four reasons to give it a go!
Ride to Work Day is the perfect opportunity to have a go at riding to work. Thousands of new riders joined in last year and five months later 39% of those new riders were still riding to work.
Here are some great reasons to give riding to work a go.
Health
Feel great and reduce your likelihood of suffering from obesity, diabetes and heart disease. Check out the health benefits of riding your bike.
Riding to work or to the shops is one of the most time-efficient ways to incorporate regular exercise into everyday routine. You can get your daily exercise done without having to spend extra time or money at the gym.
According to MBF Ambassador for Health and Fitness and Ride to Work Day ambassador, Guy Leech, physical inactivity is a major health risk factor comparable to smoking and poor diet. Riding to work immediately increases a person’s physical activity. “Importantly, the simple act of riding your bike can burn between 750 – 1000 calories an hour, which helps both your health and fitness.“Additionally, cycling can help reduce the risks associated with physical inactivity including type 2 diabetes, breast and bowel cancer, obesity and depression,” Guy Leech said.
Save money
Feduce the costs associated with driving to work or catching public transport. Click here to calculate how much you spend on petrol...and how much money you could save by riding to work!
An average Australian household spends around $8,000 each year on transport, of which $2,500 on average is for fuel[vii].
By cycling to work instead of driving, it is possible to save around $50 a week through a reduction in parking, fuel and vehicle maintenance costs
Peak-hour city trips up to 10km are often faster by bike than any other form of transport, door to door.
A 5 to 10 km ride to work will only take 15 to 30 minutes on average.
Help the environment
Reduce your greenhouse gas emissions. Calculate your vehicle's greenhouse gas emissions.
Cycling is a zero emission form of transport. Cycling just 10km each way to work instead of diving saves 1.3 tonnes greenhouse gas emissions each year; that’s equal to 26,000 black balloons [iii]
Working Australians can reduce carbon emissons by one millon tonnes[iv]
If 1 in 10 of Australia’s working population cast aside their cars and take to the bike for their weekly commute - a million tonnes of carbon can be saved.
Business Benefits
Businesses that encourage staff to cycle to work benefit from increased productivity as a result of improved fitness and mental health.
Staff who cycle are more punctual and take less sick days due to improved health. Absenteeism can be reduced by up to 80% by encouraging cycling to work [v].
Organisations profit from their investment in cycling strategies. The UK Traffic Advisory Unit found that organisations that implemented cycling strategies received a return between $1.33 and $6.50 for every $1 spent in cycle promotion, resulting from increased productivity [vi].
What can your organisation do?
Ask senior management to sign up as an ambassador and request a tailored bike commuting report on how to reduce your carbon footprint through sustainable transport. Click here to register your interest.
[i] Department of Health and Ageing, www.health.gov.au, Building a Healthy, Active Australia initiative
[iii] [vii] Australian Greenhouse Office, Global Warming: Cool It! Transport www.environment.gov.au/settlements/gwci/transport.html [iv] Calculated on One tonnes saving per person ( 300g per km for a mid-size vehicle x 10km x. return trip x 48 weeks x 3.5 days = 1.080 tonnes) [v] [vi] Travel Smart Australia, www. travelsmart.gov.au, Travel Smart Employers Kit, 2003
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