Walking to work

Why walk?

• Saves money – no fuel, parking, or vehicle maintenance costs.
• Saves stress – no parking hassles, unexpected road delays, or problems in heavy or unfamiliar traffic.
• Saves our environment – reducing greenhouse gases, carbon emissions and depletion of fossil fuels and other precious resources.
• Improves our health, strength, fitness and overall wellbeing through exercise.
• Improves our liveability through reduced road congestion and improved air quality.
• Improves community connection.
• improves knowledge of our local area.

What your business can do

• Conduct a survey to see how your staff travel.
• In partnership with staff, create travel action plans or transport information packs that incorporate walking.
• Check what other businesses in your area are doing to encourage walking.
• Promote walking via staff inductions, trainings, emails and notice boards.
• Provide staff with maps and information about local walkways showing estimated times taken to walk from public transport points nearby, and with information about how to incorporate walking into their daily commute.
• Add or update travel information for customers on websites or promotional material to include options for walking some or all of the way.
• Provide shower, locker and change facilities.
• Offer incentives, competitions, sponsorships and social events around walking to work, such as a ‘Walk to Work’ day once a week/month.
• Consider allowing time for walking to meetings or lunchtime events.

Helping your business

Encouraging staff and customers to turn their commute into their daily workout isn’t just about helping them and the environment, it’s about helping your business too.

Benefits for your workforce

Walking some or all of the way to work burns kilojoules and increases fitness, which helps:

• control body weight, blood pressure and cholesterol
• increase energy, stamina, strength, flexibility, balance and coordination
• improve mental and cognitive function, alertness, mood, concentration, reaction times, memory and the capacity to cope with stress and anxiety
• improve quality of life, self-esteem and self-confidence.

Benefits for your business

Healthier employees mean:

• reduced absenteeism
• reduced risks of injuries and falls
• increased productivity
• a more positive working environment/atmosphere
• greater workplace connectivity/engagement.

This can then attract:

• new recruits – thanks to your business’ reputation as an employer of choice
• new customers – thanks to your enhanced corporate image as a positive, socially responsible and sustainable workplace.

And the reduced road congestion means:

• better customer access and parking
• more efficient and cost-effective deliveries and receipt of goods
• better access to other services and facilities.

Benefits for our city and the environment

Healthy residents and businesses, efficient road systems and a healthy, more-liveable environment attract visitors, new residents and other businesses, which will keep the ACT moving forward.

What the ACT Government is doing

To help people rethink their mode of travel and make the switch to include walking, the ACT Government is prioritising projects and initiatives that provide safe infrastructure for walking and a better connected and maintained walking network. This includes:

• improving off road paths to make people feel safe walking the city’s streets to provide adequate separation of pedestrians from motor vehicle traffic
• progressively upgrading busy shared paths to separate walking and cycling modes and improve capacity on high volume community paths
• improving accessibility for children, older Canberrans and others with reduced mobility
• designing new and redeveloped estates with active travel in mind
• raising London Circuit to enable people to walk between the city and the lake
• conducting regular community education campaigns focused on the safety of vulnerable road users.

For more information visit workplace travel.