Heathrow pedals its way to the top
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Above:
Colin Matthews, CEO, Heathrow Ltd. having a wheely good time.
The awards - held last week - are a celebration of cycling in the capital, showcasing ground-breaking new cycling initiatives, as well as highlighting the best community and youth cycling projects. Over 2,500 people voted and Heathrow beat stiff competition from The Guardian
and Roehampton University to win in its category
The Cycle Hub is the only one of its kind operating at an airport in the country. Since launching two years ago 1,700 people have joined, resulting in an almost 45% increase in employees cycling to work at Heathrow - with up to 570 people doing so every day. It offers a ‘one stop shop’ for cyclists, including a cycle purchase scheme and free cycle maintenance for airport employees, maintenance training and emergency call-outs for mechanical problems.
Alongside the Cycle Hub, Heathrow has many measures in place to help both employees and local residents who don’t work at the airport, travel to and around it in an environmentally friendly way. Heathrow operates the only free travel zone in the world, which includes 15 local bus services, and free travel between terminals for all staff and passengers on the underground.
Allan Gregory, director for surface access at Heathrow, said: “It’s great that our Cycle Hub is being recognised and we’re delighted with this award. We want to keep the Cycle Hub growing and want to extend its reach within the local community and surrounding businesses, whilst continuing to support commuters travelling to work sustainably.”
Mike Gormally, the Heathrow employee who nominated the Cycle Hub, said “When I realised just how well the Hub was doing I was really keen to put Heathrow forwards. Cycling to work is brilliant, it helps to save money, gets you some fresh air and exercise, and of course it helps cut down on road traffic too. Naturally it can be daunting starting out, but initiatives like The Cycle Hub are a great support, regardless of whether you’re making those first tentative outings or have been cycling for years.”
