Credit: Belgium Cycle Chic

Bike to Work in Belgium has welcomed its 15 000th registered cyclist. All these cyclists can save their Belgian employers a lot of money. On average, regular cyclists take one less day of sick leave a year. A "sick day" costs a Belgian employer on average 264 euro in guaranteed wages.

15 000 registered Bike to Work cyclists equates to approximately 4 million euro in savings.

The 15 000^th cyclist was Anja Coppens (22) from Oud-Turnhout. She is employed by CM and has recently discovered the advantages of cycling.

“The ride to my place of work is four kilometres. An ideal distance to cover by bike! Therefore, I go by bike everyday, even if it snows. It gets me home much faster than if I were to take the car and I can easily stop off at the baker’s on the way."

The bike to work Campaign in Belgium has been a huge success, and should be a template for success in other countries across Europe. 

It's hard to not to be a fan of the recent trend towards more cyclists, especially when it has clear benefits for the economy. 

See the ECF Cycling Campaigns page for more examples in Europe. 

ABOUT BIKE TO WORK

Bike to Work – a project of Fietsersbond and GRACQ -– Les Cyclistes Quotidiens - motivates Belgian employees to cycle to work more often, whether or not in combination with other modes of transport.

After 2.5 years, www.biketowork.be has 15 000 registered users and 240 participating organisations, including Delhaize Group, Dexia, ING, VRT, Free University Brussels as well as around 40 local councils.

The bike rides registered up to now add up to almost 20 million cycled kilometres, 2 500 tons of saved CO2 and over one million cycle days.