Southeast Sweden Pedals

Title in original language:

SydostTrampar!

Location:

Sweden: The counties of Blekinge, Kalmar, Kronoberg (570,000 inhabitants)

Project description:

The project start

The idea for the campaign was imported from Denmark to Sweden in 2008 by the Region of Skåne and was adapted due to its success in the year 2010 by the Energikontor Sydost (The Energy Agency for Southeast Sweden). The campaign started in spring of the same year and has been organized annually since then.

Objectives

SydostTrampar is a bicycle competition for workplaces focusing on replacing “unneeded” car driving by cycling. Bicycle teams compete with each other. The winners are the team/man/woman that have travelled most kilometres within all trips, commuting trips and business trips. SydostTrampar is addressed to private and public employers. The aim of the campaign is to increase the bicycle modal share of (commuting) trips. It is about motivating and stimulating in order to replace ”unneeded” car driving by cycling within commuting trips as well as business trips, leisure trips and by trips on an electric bicycle.

The campaign also provides the participants with knowledge and tools on how to work with climate issues. The participating municipalities have the chance to strengthen the share of cycling in their community. The bicycling activities will also contribute to employers work with staff welfare. The campaign’s slogan “A challenge with focus on the environment and the health of personnel” (tävlingen med fokus på miljö & personalens hälsa) communicates those advantages for the participating companies.

SydostTrampar aims at short and long term benefits on health, environment and traffic safety due to increased cycling in the region.

• Benefits for companies: healthier staff, less parking spaces, better “green” image, economic benefits, better community and cohesion at workplaces.
• Benefits for employees: better health, cheaper commuting trips.
• Environmental benefit: each kilometer travelled by bicycle instead of car saves about 214 gram CO2.
• Traffic safety benefit: In the project, the participants are encouraged to use bicycle helmets, use safe ways and follow traffic rules.
• Benefits traffic planning in municipalities: The project includes a survey about bicycle paths. It is presented to municipalities in order to support their planning
• The campaign can be “multiplied”. It is planned to be developed as national campaign and include a winter cycling competition period.

Implementation

The basic element of the campaign is a bicycle competition for working places that focuses on replacing unnecessary car trips by cycling. In the competition bicycle teams compete with each other in their every day trip to work. The competition is implemented during 6 weeks in the spring (April-June) and 6 weeks in the autumn (September-October). The teams consist of 4 to 15 persons. Various awards can be won, e.g. for the team and the person with most kilometres traveled. Since 2013 a special category for riders of electric bikes was introduced. Furthermore The Energy Agency for Southeast Sweden can lend out special bikes to participating employees since 2013. They can choose between a folding bike and an e-bike.

To recruit participants the campaign directly approaches e.g. human resources manager of private and public employers. Incentive for organizations to join the campaign is that they will get healthier employees as well tools that will help them to reduce CO2 emission and the use of fossil fuel connected to the business.

Advertisement is mainly done with the help of emails, but also posters and cards which are distributed among the employees.

The effort for the companies to implement the campaign is reduced to a minimum. A single registration code is generated for all participants of one company. The distribution of that code is basically the only task for the company while the rest of the organization is carried out by the Energy Agency for Southeast Sweden.

Information and service offer (print and online)

• Website of the campaign (since 2010): www.sydosttrampar.se
• Facebook-service
• poster
• pocket flyer
• Every year the campaign usually generate 2-4 press releases, presentation at companies’ breakfast meetings, 10-20 press articles, advertisement on TV, 10 occasions sent on the local radio, 10 advertisements in newspaper.

Target group of the campaign:

• All employers (private and public) that want to make their employees to commute greener.
• Employees commuting with car.

Funding:

The costs of 30-40,000 € per year are split in the following parts:

• 25.000 € marketing expenditures and prizes
• 11.000 € labor costs for the organization

In the beginning 25.000 € was used for external consulting, but now the Energy Agency for Southeast Sweden do all the work. During the first years supporting municipalities contributed with 1,000 € each, but since 2012 the campaign is financed by the participation fee and support through various projects, e.g. Do the right mix. The participation fee is paid by the participating employers and is approx. 15 € per participating employee.

Organizations responsible for the project:

Energikontor Sydost / The Energy Agency for Southeast Sweden.

Project term:

Since 2010 in spring and autumn, ongoing with open end

PR and documentation:

• Website of the campaign (since 2010): www.sydosttrampar.se
• Facebook-service
• annual report including an evaluation
• several press releases per year

Contact person:

Camille Delepierre:
Phone: +46 (0)766 20 90 52
E-mail: camille.delepierre@energikontorsydost.se

Lisa Wälitalo,
E-mail: lisa.walitalo@energikontorsydost.se
Phone: +46 (0) 73415 45 42

Energikontor Sydost
Framtidsvägen 10 A
SE 351 96 VÄXJÖ
Sweden