Three Ways You Can Make Every Day Bike-To-Work Day for Your Employees

Since its inception in 1956, Bike-to-Work Day has been a chance to encourage commuters to test out active commuting and consider a positive mode shift. Studies show that people who get to work on two wheels are amongst the happiest commuters out there, but getting people to change their commuting behaviors can often be the hardest part of building better employee commutes. 

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Luckily, there are several steps employers can take to make biking to work a great option beyond the annual holiday. If you’re looking to encourage a greater number of people to opt for a cycling commute, there are three main approaches you should consider:

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1. Create a private bike share program for your campus

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If your offices are spread out between buildings on a campus or are located a little ways away from lunch options and other services, an intra-company bike share program can be a great way to make biking to and from work a realistic and viable option for employees.

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Beyond the commute itself, campus bike programs allow employees to be less reliant on cars once they reach work. With access to campus bikes, it’s easy to get across campus for meetings, as well as off-campus to surrounding businesses. 

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2. Incentivize commuters to take advantage of public bike share options

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If you’re located in a city with public bike or scooter share infrastructure already in place, you can focus on helping employees take advantage of existing offerings rather than building your own. 

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The most effective way to encourage the use of public bike share is to subsidize employee rides. To do so, consider providing commuters with a flexible spending card like Commutifi’s Mobility Card. Unlike purchasing memberships or reimbursing rental costs, a spending card allows you to make funds available to spend with pre-approved vendors (in this case, the bike share company–or companies–in your area) and ensures you only pay for the services employees actually use.

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3. Provide amenities that make it easier to bike

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Encouraging bike commuting goes beyond the bikes themselves: It’s equally important to provide appropriate amenities that can help make biking easier and more appealing. An employee is much more likely to ride their bike to work from farther away, for instance, if they know they will have access to showers and lockers that enable them to rinse off and change once they arrive. 

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Even features as simple as bike storage can make choosing an active commute more attractive to employees who might be on the fence about switching modes. 

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Takeaways

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Commuters who get to and from work via bike are some of the happiest commuters out there—and happy commuters make for happier employees. Encouraging more employees to make the switch out of single-occupancy vehicles and into bike seats can take a variety of forms, but the most successful programs make biking a simple choice. With key office amenities, easy bike access, and flexible spending incentives, Bike-to-Work Day can be celebrated year-round. 

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For more on building flexible commuting programs, download our free white paper, Managing Employee Commute Spending in the Hybrid Workplace.

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