Earlier this year, I was delighted to attend the second annual HUB Bike Friendly Business Awards.
Put on by the region’s cycling advocacy network, the event celebrates businesses that promote cycling among their employees and customers by providing secure, onsite bike parking, bike-to-work education programs and other incentives.
This year the event was hosted by software company SAP on Feb. 23 and drew an excellent turnout. It was a pleasure to chat with fellow commuters and cycling supporters while also picking up a Fall Bike to Work Week category winner award for my own workplace, the Vancouver Public Library.
For the 2014 honours, the big winners were Vancouver Coastal Health, who scooped Most Bike Friendly Building and Best Bike Parking and Storage as well as the coveted award for Most Bike Friendly Workplace. Coquitlam Pourier Sports and Leisure Complex and Cadillac Fairview were the runners up in these categories, and Cadillac Fairview also shared the Cycling Education Champions honours with Kwantlen Polytechnic and VanCity.
As always, it was great to hear what Vancouver workplaces are doing to encourage cycling as a sustainable, healthy form of commuting for their employees.
Following the awards, HUB executive director Erin O’Melinn introduced a new initiative to help businesses become more bike friendly: the HUB Traction Toolkit.
Some of the statistics driving these tools made me think. Employees who cycle take 15 to 50 per cent fewer sick days, have a four to 15 per cent increase in productivity, and make 27 per cent fewer errors. Additionally, 88 per cent of employees say they value wellness programs.
The Traction Toolkit aims to help businesses differentiate themselves by becoming more bike friendly. It’s a two year program that includes a HUB organizational membership, a workplace and building “bikeability” assessment, big discounts at bike shops, car sharing, bike racks and other support mechanisms, as well as workplace cycling workshops.
In the second year, HUB offers PR support and recognition to member businesses to help showcase the improvements they’ve made.
For Traction Toolkit members, the outcomes include health benefits for their employees, along with reduced parking and transportation expenses, capital improvements for their facilities, and the PR value of being seen as environmental leaders in Vancouver.
The Toolkit components are all things that are currently available through HUB, but this is the first time they’ve been rolled together into a cohesive, long-lasting program. O’Melinn hopes this coordinated approach will encourage more local businesses to sign up and add to the 84 they’ve already helped become more bike friendly.
Between the Toolkit and the awards, the night was a great celebration of cycling in Vancouver. Every time I attend a gathering like this, I’m struck by just how many diverse communities and organizations are represented in the room, with the two wheels beneath us being the common element that brings us all together.
Kay Cahill is a cyclist and librarian who believes bikes are for life, not just for commuting. Read more at sidecut.ca.
