Wheels in motion for more bicycle parking

Ride It, Lock It, Love It!

The new campaign aims to encourage more Milton Keynes residents to cycle to work by providing safer and securer bike storage for local businesses.

Milton Keynes Council is working in partnership with sustainable transport firm PWLC Projects, and bike park suppliers Turvec, to offer free bicycle parking stands to businesses in the borough.

Milton Keynes Council has earmarked £45,000 from its Transport Policy budget for the project, and businesses are being urged to apply to help them reduce emissions and boost their green credentials.

Councillor Jenny Wilson-Marklew, Cabinet Member for Climate Action and Sustainability at Milton Keynes Council, said: “We want all businesses who can, to provide safe cycle parking for both their staff and visitors. If we really want to change people’s behaviour and get them to cycle to work, then we need to work with businesses to make it easy and safe to do so.”

“Businesses are being encouraged to get in touch with our partners, PWLC, to carry out a staff travel survey, site audit and application form for the free bicycle stands.”

Steve Wong, Partner at PWLC Projects, said: “The ‘Ride it, Lock it, Love it’ campaign is a great way for businesses to take the worry out of bike ownership and set them on the path toward safe, secure bicycle parking.

“It is really important to us that we engage meaningfully with businesses to register with us onto Modeshift Stars for Business and put together a Workplace Travel Plan that will help them encourage staff to adopt sustainable transport options such as cycling.”

As part of Milton Keynes Council’s £500,000 Green Recovery Fund for Sustainable Transport Initiative, businesses could also qualify for a grant of up to £1,000 for use on measures introduced to the workplace that help encourage staff to use more sustainable modes of transport. This could allow companies to enhance their facilities by providing covered parking, public bike pumps, repair stations, or charging points for e-bikes.

Duncan Dollimore, head of campaigns at the cycling charity, Cycling UK, has welcomed the initiative: “We’ve seen a huge resurgence in the number of people cycling during the pandemic as people, in part because they’re looking to avoid public transport as they commute to work.

“That’s why it’s really important we support people to feel able to cycle, whether that’s by providing more cycle parking or installing more cycle lanes so they feel safer travelling by bike.

“Not only is cycling great for our health and mental well-being, enabling more people to cycle is a crucial step towards improving air quality and reducing road traffic congestion in our towns and cities.”

Providing cycle parking for businesses is just one of the council’s initiatives to support both sustainable transport and recovery from the coronavirus pandemic.

Some of the other schemes offered by the Council include Bikeability cycle training courses, which are a great way to help your staff become more confident when using their bikes. The courses also make for a fantastic activity to tag onto team building away days.

Milton Keynes Council also loans eCargo bikes to businesses to support clean, green, healthier transportation; offers opportunities for residents to try out ebikes; as well as providing access to free bikes for low income or unemployed locals living within the borough of Milton Keynes.

Businesses can find out more information on the cycle parking for business scheme by getting in contact with PWLC at contact@pwlcprojects.com or speak to Jamie Stephens directly on 07736 286 277.

For more information on the cycle parking funding, or to apply, visit www.getsmartertravelmk.org/work/cycling-parking

Learn more about PWLC Projects

Find out more about Turvec services.

Alternatively, contact Jamie on 07736 286 277 or Jamie@PWLCprojects.com with any questions.