Boost for the mobility of high-tech company VHE thanks to Brainport Bereikbaar mobility scan

Mapping mobility for all employees. This need arose at high-tech company VHE after they had only adjusted their car leasing policy. After carrying out the mobility scan with Brainport Bereikbaar, the bicycle turned out to be an attractive option because many people live close to work. As a result, VHE decided to make a plan to promote cycling to work. Marieke van den Biggelaar, HR manager at VHE, talks about her experiences with the scan and their plans for the future.

What did the scan show you?

'The scan helped us enormously. We were able to analyze in a simple and user-friendly way what suits our company best. Based on the results, we decided to make a plan to promote cycling to work and investigate the possibilities for a lease bicycle," says Marieke. 'The scan showed that cycling is an attractive option, because many employees live close to work. On the other hand, public transport turned out to be less interesting because many employees live in the surrounding villages and public transport is less available there. Cycling is therefore an attractive alternative.'

How did you proceed after the scan?

'We have set up a mobility working group and have sent out a survey to our staff to investigate whether employees are even prepared to come to work by bicycle. The survey was ultimately completed by more than half of our staff, which surprised us," says Marieke. 'The survey showed that employees are positive about cycling to work if there is a good arrangement in place.'

What are the next steps?

'We have already come quite far and are making progress every time we meet with the project group. We had the idea to encourage employees to come by bike by also giving them a net travel allowance on those days. There are some snags to this, so the next step is to have this assessed for tax purposes. We have created a clear timeline. The goal is to have a final regulation to which employees can respond by July 1, 2024.'

Why did you choose Brainport Bereikbaar for this scan?

'I was subscribed to the Brainport Bereikbaar newsletter, but I have to admit that I didn't always pay much attention to it, says Marieke.' Until I saw something in the newsletter about a mobility scan. That of course immediately caught my attention, because there was already a broad need in our organization to do something with this. I contacted you immediately. This turned out to be a good choice. The leasing company could also help us, but they are often commercially driven. At Brainport Bereikbaar you get an extensive scan that takes into account all aspects.'