Australia and New Zealand · Public discussion

"Riding to work a costly exercise"

flyingdutch · 2006-05-02T20:41:20+00:00

The Age http://tinyurl.com/gyz9u Riding to work a costly exercise May 3, 2006 STATE Government health workers who cycle to work will be charged $35 a year to use a locker at their new Melbourne headquarters. Their union has labelled the fee "scandalous" given the Department of Human Services sponsors the annual Ride to Work Day. Today it is taking the matter to the Australian Industrial Relations Commission. Community and Public Sector Union state secretary Karen Batt said the fee applied to bike users only, while departmental executive officers and those with government cars did not have to pay a locker fee. But department spokesman Graeme Walker said bike storage and showers were provided free, while the "nominal" charge for the lockers was to ensure those who were allocated them used them. He said there was finite space in the basement, where the 166 lockers were located. "In our previous buildings, the experience was that a lot of people grabbed on to a locker and held on to it for dear life even though it was only sparingly used," he said. MEAGHAN SHAW

Started by flyingdutch · 2 May 2006 · Last activity 8 May 2006 · 51 posts · 3,284 views

← Back to Australia and New Zealand

Thread navigation

Jump through the discussion

Go to the original post, the replies on this page, or the latest preserved contribution.

01 / Original post"Riding to work a costly exercise"flyingdutch · 2 May 2006 02 / This pagePosts 1–20Page 1 of 3 · chronological order 03 / Latest replyPost #51Tamyka Bell · 8 May 2006

Thread details

What we know about this thread

Original section: Australia and New Zealand
Published: 2 May 2006
Last activity: 8 May 2006
Original author: flyingdutch
Posts: 51
Discussion status: Public discussion
Total views: 3,284
Views / 30 days: 0
Topics: Bib shorts and chamois Titanium frames Urban riding

The navigation and discussion metadata provide context. Posts remain in their original chronological order.

Original post
flyingdutch
Archived post

2 May 2006, 20:41 UTC #1

The Age
tinyurl.comgyz9u
Riding to work a costly exercise
May 3, 2006
STATE Government health workers who cycle to work will be charged $35 a year to use a locker at their new Melbourne headquarters.
Their union has labelled the fee "scandalous" given the Department of Human Services sponsors the annual Ride to Work Day.
Today it is taking the matter to the Australian Industrial Relations Commission. Community and Public Sector Union state secretary Karen Batt said the fee applied to bike users only, while departmental executive officers and those with government cars did not have to pay a locker fee.
But department spokesman Graeme Walker said bike storage and showers were provided free, while the "nominal" charge for the lockers was to ensure those who were allocated them used them. He said there was finite space in the basement, where the 166 lockers were located.
"In our previous buildings, the experience was that a lot of people grabbed on to a locker and held on to it for dear life even though it was only sparingly used," he said.
MEAGHAN SHAW

Report
gplama
Archived post

2 May 2006, 21:43 UTC #2

flyingdutch said:
The Age
tinyurl.comgyz9u

Riding to work a costly exercise
As opposed to $35 PER DAY for car parking... this is an outrage! 🙄

Report
sinus
Archived post

2 May 2006, 22:25 UTC #3

gplama said:
As opposed to $35 PER DAY for car parking... this is an outrage! 🙄

True - but it is the thin edge of the wedge with government. Once the precedent is set, the fee could spread wider.
Sounds like pure laziness to me - if they want to make sure the lockers are used, conduct a locker audit. A semi-govt authority I worked at did this by posting a slip in each locker requiring a response within a few weeks. Apart from slippage due to word of mouth, it was quite effective. And it was probably a lot less administrative effort than charging money.
But I should be so lucky. My current locker is the desk I used the previous night (bloody hot desks) and my sweaty clothes get hung up anywhere that no-one complains. I need to rotate this a bit around the office to avoid too much offence. I am just wishing for the change room with a clothes dryer so I can dry my towel after using it,.

Report
SuzieB
Archived post

2 May 2006, 22:48 UTC #4

flyingdutch said:
The Age
tinyurl.comgyz9u
Riding to work a costly exercise
***snip***
Riding to work is indeed a costly exercise as I seem to be always needing (wanting?!?!) another piece of clothing to make the journey more comfortable. 😉

Report
coowoowoo
Archived post

2 May 2006, 22:48 UTC #5

We do locker audits here at work as lockers are at a premium and there is a huge waiting list That usually fixes the problem. Now, for the $35.. Bloody outrage.
Businesses are trying to encourage workers to participate in health and wellbeing programs yet penalise them with this paying tripe. I can understand a one off key deposit fee which is refunded when you no longer require the locker and/or bike shed key. That is usually enough incentive for people to hand back keys if they dont need them anymore.
The DHS should be "paying" workers $35 to ride to work as an incentive program not penalising them.. If my work tries to follow suit there will be some very angry cyclists at the directors door pointing out our healthy policy that adorns our intranet homepage.

Report
Bean Long
Archived post

2 May 2006, 23:08 UTC #6

gplama said:
flyingdutch said:
The Age
http://tinyurl.com/gyz9u
Riding to work a costly exercise
As opposed to $35 PER DAY for car parking... this is an outrage!
🙄

$35 costly!?!? Feck... cheaper than some bike locks. Just more media
hype to make people think cycling is bad for your wallet. [censored]
anti-cyclist propaganda... not a news story at all.
:-)
--
Bean
Remove "yourfinger" before replying

Report
MikeyOz
Archived post

2 May 2006, 23:42 UTC #7

Bean Long said:
$35 costly!?!? Feck... cheaper than some bike locks. Just more media
hype to make people think cycling is bad for your wallet. [censored]
anti-cyclist propaganda... not a news story at all.
agreed, I currently work from home, but 1 place I did ride to work, I had to go around to the "GODS" that had a key and beg and grovel to borrow their key, even though they never rode to work!! *[censored]*
$35 is nothing...... currently 1/2 week of petrol money or 1/2 week train travel, media sh-ite

Report
flyingdutch
Archived post

2 May 2006, 23:52 UTC #8

MikeyOz said:
agreed, I currently work from home, but 1 place I did ride to work, I had to go around to the "GODS" that had a key and beg and grovel to borrow their key, even though they never rode to work!! *[censored]*
$35 is nothing...... currently 1/2 week of petrol money or 1/2 week train travel, media sh-ite
whatabout charging it but taking it out of pre-tax dollars or aome other way of placing value on these things so that those who have em actually use em
(have worked in numerous sites where they are at a premium and the 'occassional friggin jogger!$@#!!!!' hogs the lockers for use 5% of the year). Perhaps some recognition of them riding to work in their review may moore than offset this? dunno what answer is (this morning). brain sore...

Report
alison_b
Archived post

3 May 2006, 00:00 UTC #9

flyingdutch said:
The Age
tinyurl.comgyz9u
Riding to work a costly exercise
May 3, 2006
STATE Government health workers who cycle to work will be charged $35 a year to use a locker at their new Melbourne headquarters.

Well, I'm guessing that the car drivers don't need a locker...
They could audit the lockers, surely? Making everybody pay up because there are not enough lockers does seem a short-sighted solution to the problem of scarcity.
A building I worked in a little while back didn't have space for lockers, but I could 'rent' one in the student centre or at the gym. When I handed back the key, I got my money back. Only paid if I lost the key... They audited them once a year (guess who was away on holidays at the time? 🙄 ). It didn't seem like a huge task.
ali

Report
Tamyka Bell
Archived post

3 May 2006, 00:06 UTC #10

sinus said:

gplama said:
As opposed to $35 PER DAY for car parking... this is an outrage!
🙄

True - but it is the thin edge of the wedge with government. Once the
precedent is set, the fee could spread wider.
Sounds like pure laziness to me - if they want to make sure the lockers
are used, conduct a locker audit. A semi-govt authority I worked at did
this by posting a slip in each locker requiring a response within a few
weeks. Apart from slippage due to word of mouth, it was quite effective.
And it was probably a lot less administrative effort than charging
money.
But I should be so lucky. My current locker is the desk I used the
previous night (bloody hot desks) and my sweaty clothes get hung up
anywhere that no-one complains. I need to rotate this a bit around the
office to avoid too much offence. I am just wishing for the change room
with a clothes dryer so I can dry my towel after using it,.
Before I found room to hang up my towel where it actually dried, I used
a speedo chamois towel. Not so cosy, it's true, but at least it doesn't
get stinky - and it still works when it's wet!
Tam

Report
Tamyka Bell
Archived post

3 May 2006, 00:10 UTC #11

Quoted message said:
flyingdutch said:
The Age
'http://tinyurl.com/gyz9u
' (http://tinyurl.com/gyz9u</p><p%20style=)
Riding to work a costly exercise
May 3, 2006
STATE Government health workers who cycle to work will be charged $35 a
year to use a locker at their new Melbourne headquarters.
Gyms charge for locker hire. Airports charge for locker hire (do they
still have airport lockers? Probably not). I'd pay $35 a year if it
meant I saved $14 per week of public transport or $14 per day for car
costs. Plus by doing my training as commuting, I also save $14 per week
on PowerBars... I enjoy cycling enough that I don't need to receive
compensation for it.
Tam

Report
Gemma_k
Archived post

3 May 2006, 00:34 UTC #12

"sinus" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...
Quoted message said:

gplama said:
As opposed to $35 PER DAY for car parking... this is an outrage!
🙄

True - but it is the thin edge of the wedge with government. Once the
precedent is set, the fee could spread wider.
Sounds like pure laziness to me - if they want to make sure the lockers
are used, conduct a locker audit. A semi-govt authority I worked at did
this by posting a slip in each locker requiring a response within a few
weeks. Apart from slippage due to word of mouth, it was quite effective.
And it was probably a lot less administrative effort than charging
money.
We have the same system here. used occasionally, works too.

Report
cfsmtb
Archived post

3 May 2006, 01:01 UTC #13

flyingdutch said:
The Age
tinyurl.comgyz9u
Riding to work a costly exercise
35 quid huh? Terrible huh?
Actually that's terribly cheap after a bit of research here:
http://www.iconparking.com.au/

Report
MikeyOz
Archived post

3 May 2006, 01:06 UTC #14

flyingdutch said:
dunno what answer is (this morning). brain sore...

yep its a hard one, its kind of one of those that needs to be monitored on a work by work place situation

Report
DaveB
Archived post

3 May 2006, 02:20 UTC #15

I'd pay $35 for a locker at my work. There is a big space issue and
although there are quite a few lockers, most of them are allocated to
people who use them very rarely, but don't give them up in case they
need them one day. So audits don't help because they just say they are
still using them. Paying for them would definitely get the occasional
users giving up their lockers.
DaveB

Report
cfsmtb
Archived post

3 May 2006, 03:04 UTC #16

Ok this is doubling up, but I'll post this info here too.
The Age "Your Say" Transport:
http://blogs.theage.com.au/yoursay/archives/2006/05/transport_1.html
It costs a fortune to fill your car with petrol, public transport is unreliable and overcrowded, and now it has been revealed that some workers will be charged $35 a year to use a locker if they cycle to work! What's the solution? Is there any point working at all or should we all just stay home and watch TV?

Report
Marx SS
Archived post

3 May 2006, 03:07 UTC #17

67cents a week is a bloody rip off !
Can't we get a guvmint subsidy for this?
I'm working this into my next AWA & I'm not takin' 'No' for an answer!

Report
sinus
Archived post

3 May 2006, 03:15 UTC #18

DaveB said:
So audits don't help because they just say they are still using them.

Audits can work if a note is left in the locker requiring a response. As long as it's not publicised, only the regular users will know to respond.

Report
Bean Long
Archived post

3 May 2006, 03:24 UTC #19

Marx SS said:
67cents a week is a bloody rip off !
Can't we get a guvmint subsidy for this?
I'm working this into my next AWA & I'm not takin' 'No' for an answer!

For gawd's sake! What the hell are people whinging about. It's 67
cents a week!!! Fsck me dead, that's one less latte per month!!!!!!!!!!!!
Get over it. Ride your bike to work and be thankful you're not one of
those [censored] wasting their money on cars!
--
Bean
Remove "yourfinger" before replying

Report
Tamyka Bell
Archived post

3 May 2006, 03:26 UTC #20

Bean Long said:

Marx SS said:
67cents a week is a bloody rip off !
Can't we get a guvmint subsidy for this?
I'm working this into my next AWA & I'm not takin' 'No' for an answer!

For gawd's sake! What the hell are people whinging about. It's 67
cents a week!!! Fsck me dead, that's one less latte per month!!!!!!!!!!!!

<snip>
Aaarrgh! I never considered it like that! One less latte! This will not
be tolerated! You can take our lycra, but you can never take our lattes!
;-)
(i.e., I concur)
Tam

Report

Active in the last 60 minutes

Active in this thread

0 users · 0 guests ·0 bots ·0 total

No signed-in users are active right now.

No known search crawlers active right now.

Jump through the discussion

What we know about this thread

Continue through CyclingForums

Active in this thread