Transport Canberra has announced the introduction of a new active travel scheme called Bike Stops.
Bike Stops are local businesses that provide facilities for bike riders. The type of facilities provided by each business will vary, but may include access to toilets, showers and change rooms, bag storage, water refill and tyre pumps, among other services.
Facilities like this are often provided at workplaces across the ACT, but there is little to support those who are visiting the city and town centres for other purposes.
While the ACT Government’s cycle tourism strategy is still in the works, this scheme is one way of engaging the local business community and encouraging them to think about how supporting cycling and people who ride bikes in the ACT can help our economy.
The Bike Stops announcement was made at Kindle Cafe on Hillside Lane in Civic, one of the first local businesses to sign up for the scheme.
Anna Gurnhill from the Active Travel Office and Jean Kirkland from Kindle Cafe, a participating Bike Stop business.
Businesses who participate in the scheme agree to welcome bike riders into their premises to access the available facilities. In return for their support of the local bike community and active travel, the businesses who participate can access promotion through channels including:
- Online mapping with CycleLifeHQ – CycleLifeHQ is a Canberra-based international business, who can drive a significant amount of traffic to your site through their customer engagement
- A shopfront window sticker
- Active travel ACT Government website
- Community promotion and marketing
Businesses will also receive a bike pump from the ACT Government (pending demand), and prioritised consideration for the installation of bike racks by the ACT Government near their premises.
Want to get involved?
To register your interest, contact the Active Travel Office on (02) 6207 7302 or by email to: TCCS.Activetravel@act.gov.au.
Registrations of interest are open until Tuesday 29 August 2017.
Further information will be provided to participating businesses, with an anticipated launch of the Bike Stop program in Spring 2017.
Which businesses do you think would benefit most from involvement in a scheme like this? Or if you’re a bike rider, what facilities are you looking for when you’re out riding?
Anne Treasure is the Communications Manager for Pedal Power ACT. She writes on bike riding in the ACT from the perspective of a bicycle rider who cycles mainly for transport.
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