More employees cycling at Schiphol with GoinGDutch
A coalition of companies is working hard to create an attractive cycling climate around Schiphol, the main airport in the Netherlands. Under the name goinGDutch, companies work together to get more employees using their bicycle. And with success. About four thousand employees at Schiphol now cycle to work, twice as many as in 2019. GoinGDutch works on further growth.
Working together on more bicycles
GoinGDutch is a collaboration between BAM, Schiphol, Microsoft and OrangeNXT. In the Green Deal Bicycle project, they are also working together with governmental organisation Transport Region Amsterdam to realize a bicycle service point at Schiphol.
“The aim is that ten thousand of the sixty thousand employees at Schiphol will cycle to work,” says Sander Buningh, mobility program manager at BAM. The situation at Schiphol is special because the cycling distance there is larger. Twenty thousand employees live within 25 kilometres, but almost all of them live further away than 5 kilometres.
Strengthen infrastructure for bicycles
GoinGDutch focuses on three components: infrastructure, service and behaviour. With regard to the cycling infrastructure, goinGDutch has achieved a good result along the N232. A comfortable bicycle path was recently opened, connecting Schiphol-East with Schiphol-North. Partly thanks to the efforts of goinGDutch. A fence had to be moved along the runway, which was quite difficult from legal point of view.
A fence along a runway had to move for this new bike path.
More service for cyclists
With service for cyclists, goinGDutch ensures that the cycle paths are actually used. An example are the 150 Hely shared bicycles that were introduced at Schiphol-East. Companies that subscribe with Hely so that their employees can use the shared bicycles. Very handy for the first and last mile(s) of their journey. With around sixty thousand employees working in the Schiphol area, this is a great opportunity.
Filling stations for bicycles
With more and more electric bicycles, the demand for charging points and parking facilities increases. The newly developed e-Deck takes care of that. These are bike parking racks that can be installed quickly under a roof with solar panels. People can park their e-bike and charge it immediately. Sander Buningh: “The e-Deck is one of goinGDutch’ nicer results. Microsoft and Schiphol put the first two sustainable e-Decks into use, and now they are asked for at other places as well.”In the future there will also be bicycle service points, a kind of filling station for cyclists. Where you can go to inflate or fix your tires, get a cup of coffee and a chat, and for the toilet.” The bicycle service points are being developed together with the Amsterdam Transport Region within the Green Deal Bicycle project.
New E-deck for parking, charging and sharing bikes.
Behaviour: bicycle-friendly working conditions
To make cycling financially attractive, goinGDutch recommends companies at Schiphol to introduce bicycle-friendly employment conditions. Such as a high kilometre allowance for cyclists, money for rainwear and a subscription to shared bicycles.
GoinGDutch will run until 2028. “But how things are going now, I don’t see why we don’t continue it after that,” says Buningh.
Cycling profiles
Find out about the different types of (potential) cyclists among Schiphol’s employees at: https://goingdutch.bike/cyclingprofiles/
