500!!! Out of how many people?
(Appreciate that not all of them are going to be rolling along on their spiked tyres in a blizzard in January, but that's a very impressive figure.)
CityCyclingEdinburgh Forum » Questions/Support/Help
BUG (Bicycle User Group) does your workplace have one?
(51 posts)- Started 8 years ago by chdot
- Latest reply from HankChief
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Posted 7 years ago #
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"What is a BUG (not its meaning) and what is it designed to do, other than provide a platform for cyclists to chat online?"
Think good/bad answer is that there is no 'essential' format.
They can be/are a mix of social group, pressure group (on employer) and (clearly the Gogar one) a means of encouraging/supporting new cyclists.
There seem to be (simplistically) two sorts - set up by companies/organisations (for good or controlling reasons) and those set up by cycling employees (often wanting showers or better bike parking).
Posted 7 years ago # -
"What is"
Must read -
http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=15034&replies=32#post-236211
Relies on energetic, dedicated people.
Whether that is 'sustainable' - or if it even matters that it keeps going for ever - is another issue.
I get the impression that many have started and become moribund due to lack of members/success.
I think in Edinburgh, these days, many more could take off.
Posted 7 years ago # -
@paddyirish
How could you forget
- Getting Gogar Station Road resurfaced with bike lanes and slower traffic speeds
- met with Murray Estates to minimise impact of the Garden District on cyclists safety
- and don't forget the bad things it has allegedly done according to one resident of Roseburn. I'm not going to quote them.
Apart from that what has it ever done for us...
Posted 7 years ago # -
Yes, what has it done for US?
Posted 7 years ago # -
@Fimm
Now 600 members (100 initially) out of 4500 staff - that will soon be 6000.
A healthy 10%.
Posted 7 years ago # -
"A healthy 10%"
Says someone who might work for a company dealing with big numbers.
Posted 7 years ago # -
@Stickman - I imagine Spokes will publish the talk on its website in the next day or two.
Posted 7 years ago # -
as opposed to an unhealthy 90% who drive/use public transport...
Posted 7 years ago # -
"as opposed to an unhealthy 90%"
Ah yes, though I'm sure some will drive/bus to the gym.
Posted 7 years ago # -
"Ah yes, though I'm sure some will drive/bus to the gym. "
Indeed, and a large number of "10000 steppers".
Posted 7 years ago # -
"What is"
I would say that the BUG is fundamentally about connecting people.
Before it existed there would be snippets of conversations in the changing rooms as timings meant you never really got past the grumble stage into 'let's do something' stage and so not unsurprisingly nothing really changed.
One problem at the time were a slippery polished concrete floor in the basement.
Having somewhere to chat meant we could see that the numbers falling in the basement were bigger than anyone amongst us realised and allowed us to go to Facilities Mgmt to press for a solution.
The short time people spend changing meant that whilst someone might complain about having a fall at 8.15am they will be oblivious to the fact that someone else had the same experience at 8.45am (it wasn't as bad as that but you get my point)
The BUG allowed us to pull all this together and combine experiences with people you haven't met.
It's now of a size that I don't know most of the people who post and I couldn't tell you if they are the same people I chat to when changing, but it doesn't matter.
Posted 7 years ago # -
Using strava data (which isn't everyone), thought I see what we could find.
150 different strava 'Athletes' using GSR in the summer months.
(If anyone is a data junky and on Strava, check out this site giving you analysis of any given segment)
GSR on Strava by HankChief, on FlickrThe heatmap also shows the heavy use if the bypass underpass.
Strava Heatmap by HankChief, on Flickr
Posted 7 years ago # -
Of course this is good for people thinking about cycling -
Posted 7 years ago # -
@HC - the shape of the Strava data almost exactly mirrors the shape of the data I presented at the Spokes meeting yesterday* for the number of bikes at Gogarburn each day, with a gentle underlying increasing trend and a super-imposed seasonal cycle. The two spikes in numbers will be related to the RBS Cycle Challenge event each summer.
*Yes, if you hadn't worked it out for yourself by now, I work at Gogarburn...
Posted 7 years ago # -
@Hankchief
there would be snippets of conversations in the changing rooms
Cut short due to naked teleconferencing I'll be bound.
@Greenroofer
I work at Gogarburn...
Still grateful for your reminder of CCE's existence in 2014.
Posted 7 years ago # -
@HankChief - any idea how much of that growth is more people cycling, and how much is more people using Strava?
Posted 7 years ago # -
@greenroofer- This feels like the start of an AA meeting... My name is HankChief and I work at Gogarburn...
@IWRATS - you'll be pleased to know that
nakedchanging room teleconferencing has stopped. (Any delays in my kiddie drop off routine meant I had to dial into a daily 8.30am meeting whilst whilst drying my hair. My colleagues could dial in from their cars <sigh>)@Frenchy - that will definitely be a contributing factor but no idea of the size. The strava data is obviously flawed because of not being a complete dataset.
What surprised me was the absolute numbers given we also have lots using the A8 as well (path/road & East/West).
Posted 7 years ago # -
@Frenchy - the Gogarburn census data presented at the Spokes meeting shows a ~50% increase in actual bikes on site between 2013 and 2016. @HC's Strava data above shows a slightly steeper increase. I'll leave you to do the maths (for which you now have sufficient information) to work out the contribution from the increased use of Strava. :-)
Posted 7 years ago # -
When I first got on to Strava, I only recorded and uploaded my sports cycling, using a GPS watch/training device. I think that it is only for the past couple of years that I have put (nearly) all of my cycling on Strava, using my phone to record the utility stuff. I did this because I was curious to see just how much cycling I did in total. I wonder if I am unusual in this - there has been a bit of a drive to get "utility cyclists" onto Strava in order to add their data to the dataset.
On topic; my workplace doesn't have a BUG. I think that existing cyclists are pretty well catered for (issues with lockers aside) so I would see it more as a group for promoting cycling to the office and I don't feel I want to do that.
Posted 7 years ago # -
@greenroofer & I ran a very busy stall at our office this lunchtime and got another pile of sign ups to our BUG.
No surprise that the topic of safe routes was again top of most people's concerns.
Spokes maps and Cyclestreets website were well used in explaining the options.
Posted 7 years ago #
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