This is a community-led, not-for-profit project, proposed by people who are passionate about cycling as a way of improving people’s health and wellbeing and also the local environment, through reducing car use – as well as enjoying riding a bike for the pure joy of it, of course!
The Ride to Work by Bike project aims to encourage commuters in Bath to switch to cycling to work in preference to commuting short distances by car. The focus of this initiative is electric bikes (ebikes) in order to reduce the barriers to people who are put off cycling by Bath’s hilly terrain, or consider themselves too unfit, or perhaps even too old, to commute by bicycle.
The 18-month project will target 12 different workplaces within Bath. Each organisation will be loaned – for free – bicycles for 10 employees who currently drive to work (about 6 miles or under), for a period of 6 weeks. Comprehensive support will be given to help participants fully experience the convenience and benefits of cycling to work, and maximise the chances of them making the switch permanent.
The objectives of this project are to:
- Improve participants’ health and wellbeing, both short-term fitness/emotional health gains and long-term health benefits
- Reduce pollution and congestion
- Prove that small-scale, low-cost sustainable transport schemes can be successful and cost-effective
We are currently doing a feasibility study for this project and are researching how best to run the scheme and identifying partners who can work with us.
The project will be dependent upon securing sufficient grant funding and sponsorship.