Riding down CO2 emissions in Warrington

A cycling project to reduce CO2 emissions at the 123 acre MEPC Birchwood Business Park in Warrington, Cheshire, has just been completed.

A partnership between cycling organisation BikeRight! and the North West Climate Change Fund, Foundation, has been working with MEPC Birchwood Park’s Travel Co-ordinator to change peoples travel habits, encouraging cycling instead of car use amongst the 4300 strong workforce.

“Volunteers were given loan bikes and complementary cycle and maintenance training in order to get them on two wheels” commented Lachlan Fulton, of BikeRight! Upon completing the training the volunteers were then monitored for a month in order to calculate the level of CO2 emissions prevented over this period” he added.

The project delivered training to 25 people and measured an increase of 924 cycle journeys equivalent to 1,578 km over a month. Results demonstrate that you can expect to save approximately 300 kg of CO2 per year from your average cyclist.

One of the cyclists arriving to work at Birchwood Park, Warrington

“If this initiative was made available to 100 people, in time we could see up to 30,000 kg of CO2 emissions prevented each year – the same as driving from Lands End to John O’Groats over a 100 times!” commented Lachlan.

Esstta Hayes, Travel Co-ordinator at MEPC Birchwood Park said, “Our 2009 Travel Survey identified that a significant number of the staff on site live within three miles of work – a distance that can easily be cycled in less than 20 minutes. We found brief commuter journeys were being still made by car, despite decreases in single occupancy car journeys overall. This car-orientated culture has to change if we are to continue developing our travel plan and reducing carbon emissions.”

The cycle training and maintenance was an importance aspect of the project. People were nervous about busy roads and unsure of what to do if something went wrong with their bike.

Accounts from cyclists were positive - “I attended the training in May, it was helpful & informative on both technical issues & road use - particularly on negotiating roundabouts. I would recommend it, particularly to those who are new or nervous of cycling. I know of one convert who now cycles to work every day.” Said Karon, an employee of Serco Assurance, a safety and engineering business based on Birchwood Park.