Scottish Independent Media

By Claire Elliot

A SCOTTISH council has bought pushbikes for its staff in an effort to reduce its carbon footprint - and cut car mileage claims.

Moray Council hopes by investing in the fleet of 60 bicycles more staff will opt to use the healthier and more environmentally friendly mode of transport for work.
 

Employees can even claim for 20p a mile under the initiative, understood to be the first of its kind in Scotland.
 

It comes just a day after the Scottish Government announced that it was committed to reducing greenhouse gases by 42% by 2020.
 

Chris Thompson, the council’s school travel co-ordinator, who helped set up the scheme, said: “Transport is the only sector which is continuing to increase its carbon footprint and there is no immediate sign of that changing.
 

“We’ve got the future here and now.
 

“Just under 50% of people in this building (Moray Council Head Quarters) travel less than three miles to work. That’s perfect cycling distance and if we can persuade that 50% to change it would go along way to meeting that 42% reduction.”
 

The council has a variety of bikes within its fleet, including mountain and electric.
 

The majority can be loaned out to staff, many of whom wish to commute to work.

There are, however, 12 dedicated pool bikes especially for inter-office trips.
 

Some even come with a folding mechanise to allow employees to take the bikes on trains should they have an appointment elsewhere in the country.
 

Mr Thompson, however, believed the pool bikes, in particular, would mostly assist staff travelling within Elgin, where the authority has 20 offices scattered across the city.
 

He said: “A medieval town plan like Elgin doesn’t lend itself to parking a car but it does lend itself to cycling.
 

“We have done a test of the journeys and it is quicker by bike.”
 

He admitted that some workers still opted to use their cars. But he stressed he had seen a huge change in employees travel habits.
 

He said: “Several of the bikes have 1,000 miles on the clock. That’s with doing just a few miles here and there. It all adds up.
 

“The bike I’ve got today has done 500 miles and that’s 500 less miles on a vehicle or company van.

 “It’s just smart travel.”

 Each of the bikes cost less than £500, supported by funding from sustainable transport groups Sustrans and Hitrans.
 

Mr Thompson said was a “huge financial saving” for the authority, as it would reduce running costs of its vehicle and mileage claims.
 

“No one has yet claimed for a Mars bar for fuel to go across town,” he added.
 

At the moment staff can book one of the bikes by contacting one of the offices where they are stored.
 

But due to popular demand the council is looking to set up an online booking system.
 

Cycle safety training is being offered to employees who have not been in the saddle for a number of years.
 

Efforts have also been made to improve the cycling infrastructure in the area.
 

Moray is currently home to 50 miles of the national cycle network, as well as a route from Elgin to Lossiemouth and several paths under the safer routes to school scheme.

The initiative also aims to work in tandem with the authority’s Cycle2Work initiative, where staff get a discount on bikes at certain retailers if they use them to commute.