Promoting bicycle transport in cities, creating quality conditions for environmentally friendly urban transport and motivating employers to support alternative transport in the daily commuting of employees to work – these are the main goals of the 10th year of the nationwide Bike to Work campaign (BtW), which took place during the month of June.
A total of 19 teams and 65 individuals from the University of Pavol Jozef Šafárik in Košice (UPJŠ) took part in the 2023 BtW challenge. In total, UPJŠ employees travelled almost 6,982 kilometers by alternative transport. UPJŠ thus saved 1,613 kg of CO2 in the month of June. The participants made 687 trips on their bicycles and covered approximately 3,327 km. Public transport came in second place with UPJŠ cyclists travelling to work a total of 342 times and covering 2,039 km. They walked to work a total of 791 times and covered a total of 1,612 km. UPJŠ in Košice ranked 45th in the national ranking in the number of cycling trips, kilometers travelled, and carbon dioxide saved. In the categories of public transport and walking, we ranked 16th out of all registered companies, institutions, and organizations. Out of 11 participating Slovak universities, UPJŠ took second place in all three categories.
Several cities have joined the campaign to promote cycling, and the increased intensity of bicycle use during the competition has lightened the burden on car traffic. UPJŠ regularly engages in events promoting ecomobility in line with the global Race to Zero strategy adopted by the university’s leadership with a commitment to permanently reduce its carbon footprint and take measures that delay climate change.
The final evaluation of the UPJŠ competition and the awarding of prizes to the participants took place on July 20, 2023, at the Minerva Building at Moyzesova 9 in Košice. The Quaestor of UPJŠ, RNDr. Ing. Michal Tkáč, PhD, appreciated the initiative of the employees and presented the prizes for the best performances within the competition: “Every year, through our joint efforts, we increase the total number of kilometers, trips and actual kilograms of saved carbon dioxide that we would normally burn when using passenger cars. I am pleased to see that employees are engaging primarily out of their own conviction and desire to do something for themselves, their health, but also for the environment, and I hope that they will continue to use alternative ways of commuting to work outside of the competition.” At the end of the meeting, there was a discussion about the planned bicycle tours for UPJŠ employees, additional bicycle shelters that will be placed on the individual campuses of the university, as well as new bicycle paths in the city of Košice and its surroundings.
➤ For more information on the 2023 Bike to Work campaign, visit https://www.dopracenabicykli.eu
We thank you for joining the campaign and wish you many happy CO2-free kilometers.
