Why Employers Encourage Employees To Cycle To Work

employers want employees ride bikes to work cycle commute office biking

Rather than driving cars or taking public transport to work every day, riding bikes is a far better option for various reasons. First and foremost, you cannot deny the green side of it, but apart from being environmentally friendly, bikes will also help you to improve your physical health. Company owners are now preferring their employees to use bikes so that they can be fit, and the company can adapt to eco-friendliness, which is enhancing the ebike sale. Image Source 

There are a few methods that company owners can apply to encourage their employees to ride a bike to work

You May Start A Bike Program 

The Sacramento Transportation Management Association (STMA), a non-profit association in California has introduced the idea of writing down a basic plan for a bike program. It is obvious that before you ask your employees to ride bikes, you will have to make biking convenient for them. For instance, you need to offer a secure place for bike storage. You can also provide your employees with a place for showering and changing clothes, storage of clothes is also applicable. 

STMA believes that biking can be the solution to lowering traffic congestion and pollution, and so it offers a survey to the local businesses to see if they are bicycle friendly. By scoring high enough, a company gets certified as a Sacramento Region Bicycle-Friendly Business by the association. Companies that cannot score high can contact STMA to become more bike friendly. 

By taking this initiative, STMA is not only increasing companies with bike riding employees but the ebike sale is also increased. 

You Can Offer Financial Incentives 

You can make more employees participate in riding bikes to work by offering them a cash inducement. The Organic beverage maker company Honest Tea in Bethesda, Maryland has created an example by doing this. They offer $27.50 extra with the paycheck to every employee that walks or rides a bike to work. They bought Jamis bikes to all their employees in 2007. Another California based company SunRidge Farms offers $5 cash with a paycheck as well as natural trail mixes, confections, snack blends and dried fruits in bulk to its employees. 

Some companies are having partnerships with local businesses to get employee discounts on gear from the local bike shops that are generally expensive. 

Moreover, an employee incentive is offered by the Federal Government. The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) offers a transit subsidy as well. IRS has also added a non-taxable benefit. Companies should look at these schemes and encourage their employees by providing them with a qualified bike commuting settlement. 

You Can Plan Around An Existing Theme 

Another great idea for encouraging your employees to ride a bike is launching a program with a theme like Earth Day or Bike Month. By participating in taking challenges and overcoming obstacles, an employee is expected to choose bike riding for his daily communication. For instance, in 2009, the Integrated Marketing Group in Utah suggested to its employees for considering other forms of transportation on Earth Day. All employees agreed to it, and five of the total 15 employees chose the bike. 

Sometimes a state or local municipality also takes initiative and organizes events for encouraging people to ride bikes and company owners must look forward to them. A Bike-to-Work Day event was held in 2001 in Rhode Island and again in 2022. The objective of this event was promoting cycling as a mode of transportation. 

Honest Tea participated in a Bike-to-Work Day in Bethesda, Maryland by bringing their employees and passing samples of their company’s beverages at one of the rest stops of the route. 

You May Include Cycling To The Corporate Culture 

This tactic was first taken by SunRidge Farms around five years ago who adapted to the concept of riding bikes to work because it made the company eco-friendlier and improved the business infrastructure. The company made it clear that the staff must grab the opportunity to help the company in making the world a better place. The company has about 200 employees working currently, and around 20 of them ride bikes. Since then, companies like Honest Tea and Peace Coffee have applied the same method to their employees. 

More companies are encouraging their employees to bike, making ebike popularity and sales grow bigger. The advantages are numerous and growing each year, so look into adopting it.

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