BikeBrampton

Bicycle Friendly Business Awards 2015

Bicycle Friendly Business Awards

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by

Dayle Laing
in , , , ,

Bicycle Friendly Business Awards in Brampton were announced at a workshop ceremony on Oct 14, 2015.

BFB bronze

Bronze was awarded to City of Brampton and Region of Peel.

Receiving Honourable Mention were Sheridan College Davis Campus and GreenField Specialty Alcohols Inc.

Canadian Tire A.J. Billes Distribution Centre participated in the workshop to acquire more information for a future application.

BFB Awards 2015 05

“Active transportation is predictable — on time, all the time.”

BFB Justin Jones 2015

Justin Jones,  from Share the Road Cycling Coalition provided workshop tips along with an inspirational presentation from David Laing, Chair of BikeBrampton, (a key supporter of this program).

Bike Friendly Business Awards 2015 David Laing

One of the most important aspects of this program is the social side of cycling. This benefit of employee happiness could easily be overlooked. Employers know that happiness leads to loyalty and productivity. Customers favourably support those companies that pay attention to the “triple bottom line”.

Some of the points made in the workshop were:

  • No single path to becoming a Bicycle Friendly Business; but there are common building blocks
  • Long term bike parking needs to be covered and secure
  • End-of-trip facilities could be showers or a discounted gym membership
  • Content in the Education section of the BFB application was the weakest amongst all the  applicants from across Ontario
  • There needs to be education amongst both cyclists and drivers in the community on how to successfully share the road
  • June is now officially “Bike Month” in Ontario, thanks to Share the Road’s Founder, MPP Eleanor McMahon’s private member’s bill being passed in the legislature
  • Bike Month can be preceded by inviting a mobile bike repair shop to visit the business to ensure everyone is tuned-up and ready for the season
  • Team building can include bike maintenance education — this can subsequently be a volunteer activity for giving back to the community
  • Amazon recently paid privately to have an Active Transportation corridor installed in Seattle!

Brampton, Thunder Bay and Hamilton were pleased to be the 3 communities invited to participate in this first round of Bicycle Friendly Business Awards. There were 27 businesses certified: 2 Gold; 6 Silver; and 19 Bronze.

More sage workshop advice:

“The Bicycle Friendly Business program is about much more than lines on the road or bike parking.”

“Make it easier for everyone to say ‘yes’ to cycling”

“What gets measured gets managed”

Evaluation and Planning (one of the five “E’s”) is necessary for the business to know the impact on their bottom line. For example, US results have shown that there are 1-3 fewer sick days per year amongst cycling to work employees. Cycling commuters should be surveyed regularly.

Learn more about how your company can be amongst the next Bicycle Friendly Businesses in Brampton!

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