At:
http://www.pathwaysaustralia.com.au/Publications_Newsletters_Article.asp?Mon
th=9&Year=2007&ArticleID=309

Charity cash gets staff on their bikes

Author: Hannah Edwards
Publication: Sun Herald

BOSSES are giving employees extra money as an incentive to ditch their cars
and ride a bike to work to help cut greenhouse gases.

Latest figures show about 10,000 workers now regularly use pedal power in
the Sydney metropolitan area.

Bicycle NSW chief executive Alex Unwin said there has been a 50percent
increase in bike commuters in the last five years.

At internet search engine company Google, employees at its Sydney office are
given about $100 to donate to the charity of their choice for every 20 days
they use bicycles and other "self-powered means" to get to work. Google
Australia's spokesman said about 50 employees are now involved in the
scheme.

"It is designed to encourage people to take self-powered means to work," he
said.

As well as bike riding, employees can also walk or skateboard to get to work
to earn the charitable donations.

And if they must use a car, Google is encouraging them to use an
eco-friendly version, offering a $5000 rebate to staff who purchase hybrid
cars.

Despite growing ranks of cyclists, Sydney still lags behind cities such as
Copenhagen where a stable of around 2000 bikes can be used free of charge by
citizens and tourists. Paris also has a high cyclist population and recently
announced plans to introduce a self-service network of more than 20,000
bikes that can be picked up and dropped off at a series of bike racks across
the city.

Riding bikes instead of using cars is helping to reduce pollutants with each
litre of petrol consumed in a car emitting 2.4kilograms of carbon dioxide,
figures from the Department of the Environment and Water Resources show.

Sydney real estate developers are also beginning to encourage tenants to use
bicycles.
When a new commercial development by GPT Group is completed in inner-city
Pyrmont, tenants will have access to a set of bikes that they can use to get
around town free of charge.
GPT Group head Tony Cope said he believes the scheme will give the company a
competitive advantage while also helping the environment.

"We hope people will grab a bike and ride into the central business district
of Sydney rather than getting a taxi," he said.

Innovative "bike buses" are being formed around NSW allowing cyclists to
ride to work in the comfort of a group.

Computer programmer Fiona Campbell, who previously drove to work, runs the
Marrickville to the city bike bus.

"It's growing all the time," she said.

"Initially it was just me and one other person. Now about 20 use it at some
times."