Thousands of cyclists participated in the spring edition of Bike to Work Week, a competition designed to encourage and support cycling across Metro Vancouver.
Once again, UBC came first during the Spring 2017 edition of Bike to Work Week. UBC led in the category for organizations of more than 1,000 people and also had the highest participation rate for the higher education category.
Organized by HUB, a non-profit organization that works to make cycling an attractive choice for everyone in Metro Vancouver, the competition took place from May 29 to June 4, 2017.
During the week-long event, hundreds of UBC cyclists registered online and logged their trips to and from campus. This time around, 520 UBC cyclists on 76 teams covered more than 26,000 kilometres on their commutes, and saved 5,700 kg of greenhouse gases from entering the atmosphere.
“Bike to Work Week is a great program that incentivizes people at UBC to get on their bikes – it helps the environment, your pocketbook, as well as your health and wellbeing,” says John Madden, Director of Sustainability and Engineering.
“As a community, UBC is taking a leadership role in supporting cycling as a sustainable mode of transportation and lessening our dependency on automobiles.”
Project 529 volunteers registering cyclists in the free anti-bike theft and recovery service.
UBC Celebration Station
On the afternoon of June 1, 600 cyclists and pedestrians passed by UBC’s Celebration Station at Lee Square, one of 84 stations across the city. Riders enjoyed free coffee and snacks, music by CiTR, and giveaways donated by local companies, including UBC Food Services, Vancity, and Mobi bike share.
Mechanics from UBC’s student-run Bike Kitchen provided a record of 26 bike tune-ups during the event. Other popular activities included Campus Security’s demonstration on the best types of locks to use to keep bikes safe and the TransLink bike rack demo, where cyclists practiced putting bikes on the racks installed on the front of buses.
New this year, UBC collaborated with the University Neighborhoods Association and Project 529 to train youth volunteers to help campus community members register their bikes in the free anti-bike theft program. During the BTWW Celebration Station, over 60 bikes were signed up for the bike recovery service.
The top 10 Bike to Work Week teams at UBC were:
Bike to Work Week - Spring 2017 Champions
Collectively, the entire region travelled just over 468,000 kilometres, the equivalent of riding more than 10 times around the world, during the week-long event. There were 11,100 active participants in the Metro Vancouver who collectively logged over 50,000 trips and saved more than 102 tonnes of greenhouse gases from entering the atmosphere.
UBC wins once again in Best in Post Secondary and Best in 1,000+ categories during Bike to Work Week
Learn about UBC Bike to Work Week which is held twice a year.
Learn about bike share programs on campus and UBC discounted memberships with Mobi by Shaw Go bike share.