An innovative New Zealand company has launched its own initiative to encourage employees to get on their bikes.
Last week, the company Make Collective from Christchurch launched an initiative to pay workers $5 a day to bike to work, and $10 a day if they bike to work for more than half a year.
“Whether that’s being healthier and having more energy, getting the blood flowing or even the benefits of biking through a nice environment can be really good,” Make Collective’s Tim Chesney said.
Pay-based bike programmes already operate in some European cities like Milan and Amsterdam to battle pollution and foster healthy employees.
“When you look at somewhere like Amsterdam people aren’t cruising to work at 50km/h in lycra. They’re wearing their work clothes cruising on comfortable bikes.
“It’s thinking about commuting cycling in a different way than recreational cycling,” Mr Chesney said.
Christchurch has more cyclists than any other New Zealand city, with 13 major cycle routes running through the wreckage and reconstruction of the city centre.
Associate transport minister Julie Anne Genter said investment in cycleways were a key feature of the ongoing rebuild, with the urban cycleways programme costingNZ$150m.
