Record-Breaking Bike to Work and School Weeks
Almost 3,000 people bike to work for first time, school participation doubles
Street-side celebrations, free tune-ups and snacks, and prizes marked HUB Bike to Work and Bike to School week events, as thousands of Metro Vancouver commuters and school-age children took to their bikes last week.
A record-breaking 10,924 registered for Bike to Work Week (May 25-31), a 45% increase from spring 2014 and more than double the number of participants from 2013. The public event attracted many thousands more riders to over 70 celebration stations set up across Metro Vancouver; 2,943 riders were new bike commuters, cycling to work for the first time, up 76% from last spring.
"These numbers are clearly reinforce what we're seeing elsewhere across the region - cycling for transportation is growing, and quickly," explains Erin O'Melinn, Executive Director at HUB Cycling. "It's more obvious than ever before that riding a bike to get around supports healthy lifestyles, saves money, and helps people deal with smaller living spaces. Getting on a bike also gets us outdoors to connect with our communities."
Participation in Bike to School Week also doubled; over 120 Metro Vancouver schools participated this year, of 189 schools province-wide. The biggest increase of all school districts occurred in Surrey, with 21 registered schools, compared to nine in 2014.
"Our bike racks were overfilled with bikes - students even had to park their bikes in the classrooms," said a teacher at Hillcrest Middle School in Coquitlam. "Our school has been bike crazy with the Ride the Road program the past couple of weeks. I am definitely noticing a lot more students biking to school this year compared to years past."
"We had zero bike riders all school year up until this week," said a teacher at Southlands Elementary in Vancouver. "By Tuesday our bike racks had overflowed! But perhaps the best part is that the bike racks are still nearly full today with no events, no prizes, just an enjoyment of riding."
According to HUB, the goal of Bike to Work Week and Bike to School Week is for participants to continue to use bikes for commuting beyond the events. "Our surveys show that 75% of participant who hadn't biked to work before Bike to Work Week are still biking to work at least once a week two months later," said Laura Jane, Bike to Work Manager at HUB Cycling.
Added Scout Gray, Bike Education Manager at HUB Cycling, "Schools also see an increase in the number of children who continue biking to school after the event. This exercise is extremely important for keeping young brains healthy."
Bike to Work Week and Bike to School Week Programs celebrate and support getting people on bikes, which results in happier, healthier and more connected communities for everyone.
Bike to Work Week Statistics (May 25-May 31)
- Registered Riders: 10,924
- Number of Celebration Stations: 72
- New to bike commuting: 2,943
- Bike Trips Logged: 53,750
- Total Kilometres biked: 534,948
- Calories burned: 16,048,044
- Kilograms of Greenhouse Gases Saved: 115,977