Key Worker Cycle Scheme
Isle of Wight Council Key Worker Cycle Scheme was introduced at the start of the first COVID19 lockdown in April 2020 to provide key workers with a safe, cheap, and healthy way to travel to work during the pandemic. The scheme had two strands. Firstly, it offered free access to a short-term bike loan to give key workers, who did not own a bike, the opportunity to try cycling to work. Secondly, where a key worker already owned a bike, the scheme offered a £50 voucher that could be redeemed against repairs and essential accessories which to help them start, or restart, cycling to work. The scheme ran under this format for the duration of the first lockdown, from April-June 2020, and continued to run in a reduced format offering bike loans to key workers for the rest of 2020, and into 2021. 681 key workers applied for the voucher to purchase cycle repairs and essential accessories to help cycling. 508 applicants received a voucher and 393 applicants redeemed their voucher at a participating cycle supplier. 163 key workers applied for and received bike loans ranging from 1-3 months to help them try cycling to work. The suppliers to the scheme were very satisfied with how it worked. Key workers having their bikes maintained as part of the voucher scheme Follow-up surveys showed that three unique conditions presented by the Covid-19 lockdown proved to be significant in encouraging participants to take part in the scheme. These conditions included, public transport becoming a less attractive option, health and wellbeing becoming more important and the roads being quieter due to reduced vehicular traffic levels. There was a 100% increase amongst voucher participants and a 275% increase amongst bike loan participants, which cycle to work as their main transport mode six-months after finishing the scheme compared to prior to registration.
