Businesses rewarded for getting on their bikes

Atkins, the Birmingham-based design, engineering and project management consultancy, has been named as the winner of the latest Birmingham Cycle Revolution Cycle Challenge contest.

Business signed up for the challenge  in September attempted to clock up the most BikeMiles, with a Brompton Bike up for grabs for the winning organisation.

Those involved encouraged their employees to go head to head in the challenge to win rewards, vouchers and discounts – with Atkins named the winner, Aston University as runner-up (Prize: A pack of cycling goodies and a visit from an ice cream tricycle  with transport consultants JMP coming third (Prize: A pack of cycling goodies).

The challenge coincided with the launch of Birmingham Cycle Revolution’s Birmingham Cycle Rewards website, birminghamcyclerewards.com, and PleaseCycle app, which is now available to download from the App store and Play store. People taking part in the challenge used the free platforms to log their BikeMiles and earn rewards as they cycle.

During September of last year, the staff from Atkins involved with the challenge carried out an average of 33 journeys by bike, notching up an average of 169.4 miles per user. This saved over 55kg of CO2 emissions per employee, saving £47.76 in petrol costs – equivalent to a full tank of fuel for a small/medium sized vehicle.

They plan to use their new Brompton bike for further active business travel to clients’ offices in Birmingham as well as for recreational fitness-based use by staff at lunchtimes.

Rachel Evans, Sustainable Transport Manager at Atkins, said: “Birmingham Cycle Revolution is a fantastic initiative for the city and we’re delighted to have been named as the Cycle Challenge winner. Creating opportunities for our employees for active travel is brilliant for Health and Wellbeing and carbon footprint reduction. We are all really looking forward to using the Brompton Bike for many different journeysâ€

Throughout the challenge, users logged their journeys through the PleaseCycle app which uses a GPS tracking system to accurately record the route the cyclist has taken. The data was then automatically uploaded to the Birmingham Cycle Rewards website where BikeMiles are saved and can be converted into rewards.

The PleaseCycle app provides users with practical fitness tips and allows them to see how many calories they have burnt and how much money they have saved by cycling. Users can also run challenges between colleagues and friends and use the website’s leader boards to track who is cycling the most.

Cllr Lisa Trickett, Cabinet Member for a Green, Smart and Sustainable City at Birmingham City Council, said: “Initiatives such as this challenge and the wider Birmingham Cycle Revolution project are helping a variety of people from all backgrounds across the city - incentivising them to get on their bikes, save money and be healthy.

“For businesses, this can act as a huge boost to workforce morale and productivity. I congratulate Atkins and everyone else who took part for their efforts and hope the Brompton will be put to good use by the company’s workforce.â€

The Birmingham Cycle Revolution project aims to encourage cycling through a raft of improvements and initiatives. A target has been set to increase cycling to account for 5 per cent of all journeys in the city within the next 10 years and for cycling to represent 10 per cent of all travel by 2033.

For more information about Birmingham Cycle Revolution, visit http://www.birmingham.gov.uk/BirminghamCycleRevolution

For a picture from today’s prize handover, please visit the Birminghamnewsroom Flickr feed.

ENDS

Press enquiries:

Kris Kowalewski – Press & PR Manager
0121 303 3621 – admin@birminghamnewsroom.com

Notes to editors

Birmingham Cycle Revolution is a major initiative led by Birmingham City Council to increase cycling in the city.

The aim of the project is to make cycling an everyday form of transport over the next 20 years. For example, we want 5 per cent of all trips in the city to be made by bicycle by 2023 and to double this again to 10 per cent by 2033.

This revolution will help make Birmingham a greener, safer, less congested and healthier place to live.

To achieve this, Birmingham City Council has secured more than £ 24million of funding, of which £17million is a grant from the Government, to support an intensive programme of cycling improvements. The remainder is coming from other council sources.

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