Here's the unedited version with some photos (the link to the actual column is added below):
I often wonder why
health authorities and cities are not more actively working together to
encourage and promote active transportation, since the benefits of active
transportation, both to individuals and to society as a whole, are
overwhelmingly clear.
Where cities provide
safe and convenient alternatives to the car,
individuals tend to be healthier and happier. That means huge savings to
the health care system. More people walking and biking leads to lower health
care costs both through a reduction in diseases related to a sedentary
lifestyle and through a reduction in car crashes resulting in severe injury or
death. Physically active employees also tend to be more productive employees.
Sometimes, the health
authorities get it. Last Summer, hubbie Ivan (chair of our HUB committee) and I
were given a private tour of Vancouver General Hospital's brand new,
state-of-the-art Cycling Center. Our guide was Arthur Orsini, VGH's Active
Transportation Facilitator. The Cycling Centre, which offers secure bike parking
for hospital employees, is the brain child of VGH's HR Manager Kevin MacDuff,
who also joined us.
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| VGH's state-of-the-art Cycling Centre |
After extensive
consultation with cycling employees, the old laundry building was converted
into a bike parking area with space for 182 bikes. A significant amount of thought
and effort went into designing, equiping as well as marketing the facility.
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| Arthur and the bike lockers |
The Cycling Center
offers showers, and lockers that are well ventilated, so that wet rain gear is
dry by the end of the employee's shift. Bike tools, bike stands and pumps are
available for needed maintenance or repairs. For those leaving the Cycling
Center late at night, a monitor by the door helps to make sure that no creeps
are waiting right outside the door.
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| The monitor by the door offers extra security for cyclists leaving late at night |
Some finishing touches have
proven to be quite popular. Any cyclist knows how handy it is to have some tissue
at hand after a ride, especially on a cold day. A box of Kleenex is
strategically positioned by the door. The bike lock storage rack is useful too;
you don't need to carry a heavy lock back and forth between home and work.
Free monthly workshops
are held for employees, such as a Streetwise Cycling Course and various bike
mechanics workshops by HUB, bike yoga, as well as bike festivals and social
gatherings. Arthur mentioned that one doctor who participated with the
mechanics workshop afterwards proudly mentioned to him that she had successfully
changed her tube.
Arthur plans to start with a buddy program
this Spring, which partners a beginning cyclist with a more experienced one living
in the same area, to help build some confidence and learn routes.
The low membership fees
are flexible and cover the maintenance and operation of the facility.
The Center now has over
180 members. Actual usage goes up and down, mainly depending on weather
conditions. Last summer, 55 members were using the facility on a daily basis. The
majority of hospital employees are female, which is reflected in the majority
of users being women. We spoke with several of
them.
Melanie, who bikes from
UBC to the hospital, loves the Cycling Center. She said she used the outdoor
bike cage before, but didn't feel it was all that safe. Sometimes bikes got
stolen from it. She had to pay for a membership to the gym to take a shower. She
said the lockers in the new facility are great, because by the time you've
finished your shift, your bike outfit is all dry and ready to go. It's also
nice to be able to leave all your stuff overnight.
Elinor, a nurse, loves
the feeling of community at the Cycling Center. She has a coordinating
function, and hers is more of a desk job, so the exercise that her 20-minute
commute provides is very welcome.
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| Elinor, ready for and looking forward to her trip home |
Meilan, a business
analyst admin, lives by Stanley Park. She appreciates the convenience of being
able to change into her work clothes at the facility. She started biking, three
times a week, soon after the Cycling Center opened. She used to only bike in
the winter because of lack of shower facilities.
As
companies and health authorities clue in to the many benefits of catering to
and even pampering cyclists, hopefully more end-of-trip facilities such as the
VGH Cycling Center will start popping up.The link to the column:
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