Having a secure place to leave your bike at the workplace is probably the main thing. However there are lots of other things cyclists can negotiate if it could help more people bike to and from work. Many employers offer a season ticket loan for commuters but it is less well known that these can sometimes be used to purchase a bike. Offering better value still are 'cycle to work' schemes where bikes can be bought with a hefty discount through the employer. Employers are often keen to offer this - especially if they don't have much in the budget for pay generally! Getting a group of colleagues together who are already cycling to work and highlighting this to the employer can help show there is demand.   

Here's some of the measures taken by Salisbury District Council to encourage bicycle use and green travel in general. This was agreed with the invovlement of union reps too. Provision of showers features but there's a lot more to it than that...

* pool bicycles provided;
* bicycle parking facilities;
* showers and changing facilities;
* cycle mileage (35.8p)on use of own bicycles;
* £25 voucher available for bicycle equipment after cycling 25 miles on business;
* interest free loans up to £1,000 for purchase of bicycle or electric bike recovered through payroll;
* interest free annual travel season ticket loans recovered through payroll;
* free Park and Ride permits for new employees living over two miles from the council offices;

I do not think the problem of persuading people to cycle is much to do with cost and convenience, but rather related to perception and reality of safety. There a places in Aberdeen where well publicised near fatal accidents have happened. That kind of publicity will put off virtually any non-cyclist who was thinking about taking it up. For me the best way to improve cyclists numbers is to get the councils to make serious and effective efforts to make cycling safer, alert cyclists of the efforts that are making (to reassure them), and get the whole community turned on to the benefit to all if more people cycle, which includes and the need to drive with cyclists in mind. Not easy, but perhaps it can be done with enough effort and will.

Hi all, first time poster, this. Picking up on Adam's point about safety, I agree it's about perception. Knowing that you have a dedicated cycleway is always the best, especially if it's smooth tarmac. However, local council budgets are being cut and the will to build these is evaporating. In the absense of cycleways, then cycle lanes are best. Gradually, thanks to forward thinking councils, main routes are being done. Perhaps it is the job of us posters to display in our workplace cycleroute maps; nearly always available to print off from the ether: and in the meantime, lobby your council to get painting!

Hi all, our council in shropshire have gone to a lot of trouble to get people to use their bikes by making lots of off road cycle tracks, they also have a department at the council called cycle shrewsbury. there is so much on there and they have different groups and different things to make it easier to cycle. it also has intitiatives to encourage people to get their kids into it, they have workshops for the kids on how to repair bikes and how to keep it in good order and they do this for women too. its great have a look at www.cycleshrewsbury.co.uk

I agree that the major barrier is perception and reality of safety.

In Sheffield we have a cycling co-operative called Pedal Ready http://www.pedalready.co.uk/

They receive money from the Council to give anyone who lives and works in Sheffield 2 hours free cycle training. They also offer advice about cycle repairs and so on. Apparently cycling in Sheffield has gone up by 700% since 2005 when the scheme started (obviously not all down to the cycle lessons!). I've found that the two hours training really helps. They also offer a course for adult cyclists who want to train other cyclists. Our cycling champions have used their two free hours to do that course and now mentor new cyclists into work,

Royal Mail Letters is planning on introducing more van based delivery duties which will free on bike rack spaces, this could be seen as a way of encouraging more workers to cycle to and from work as we dont have enough bike rack space for our official royal mail bikes and our own personal bikes. This then helps to offset the increaed van based duties for urban areas and along with other opertaional changes the switch from bike to van may well end up Co2 neutral at my workplace.