The difficulty of commuting is one of the reasons that can push us to leave a job.
Are you tired of traffic jams and crowded public transport, but don’t have the funds to buy an electric bike? Zenride has the solution. An employer co-financing service to acquire a bike, which will be used for commuting as well as taking the kids to school or going for a ride on weekends and vacations.
There are also services that provide daily reassurance, such as theft and damage insurance, towing assistance, coverage of travel expenses if the bike is immobilized, e-learning on road safety, and maintenance services.
"A comprehensive service that often acts as a trigger,” explains Olivier Issaly. “Many people find biking appealing, but they don’t really know where to start, and we guide them.”
Employers also benefit from this, for employer branding or to facilitate recruitment. Plus, it improves the well-being and health of their employees, which has a direct impact on productivity within the company.
"Employees also find it beneficial, especially in terms of purchasing power,” explains Olivier Issaly. “Those who used to drive and start using a bike save quite a bit at the end of the month.”
“The electric bike has been a real revolution in the cycling world. It gets people back on bikes, reassures them about their ability to cycle, prevents them from arriving sweaty at the office, and allows for longer distances. But the problem is that it remains a costly item with an average price of around €2,000, which is the median salary. So, for the majority of French people, accessibility is an issue. Zenride solves this problem by providing a rental scheme that spreads the cost of using the bike over time with the employer's help.”
This practice has been encouraged in recent years by significant public investments in infrastructure. However, to decide to fund cycling infrastructure, we first want to see if there are cyclists, even though the same cyclists are waiting for infrastructure to decide to switch to biking, as it reassures them in terms of safety. It’s a catch-22.
“And our job is really to develop usage, to create cyclists through the employer leverage. Because the more cyclists there are, the more it encourages the creation of infrastructure, and then we enter a virtuous cycle,” insists Olivier Issaly. "For this, we believe that employers are an excellent lever because they are the instigators of commuting. It is indeed the employer who asks us to come to the office, and through this request, they have an influence on how we get there, particularly in promoting cycling in France.”
