The demand for company bikes has exploded as more employers take advantage of an incentive scheme for offering staff a bicycle, the AD reported on Tuesday.

By the end of 2024, the number of company bikes had gone up to over 90,000, according to figures from leasing company association VNA, but the AD says the total is now closer to 200,000.

Company bikes are proving popular among employees because maintenance and insurance are included and employers pay an average €25 a month towards the overall costs.

“Growth in the last 18 months has been phenomenal, especially in the more expensive category,” Maarten Akkers, chairman of road users association Bovag told the paper. “The bike trade had a hard time after Covid but this is very good for sales and the bike retailers get a three-year maintenance contract,” he said.

After a lease period of three years, the bikes are sold to users for a fifth of the original price, a financial advantage of between €500 to €1000 compared to buying the bike privately.

“The scheme is attractive for employees because they are not paying a big amount of money all at once for a good bike, making it more accessible to working people. It is now one of the most requested secondary working conditions,” Anouk Hiensch, of international lease bike market leader Lease a Bike said.

An average company bike costs around €3,300 but some people go for one that is two or three times more expensive, such as cargo bikes, mountain bikes and racing bikes. Costs and taxes for the employee, subtracted from their pay, come to between 60 and €70 a month.

“An e-bike can replace a car for many people, including when they are using it for private purposes, and employers can introduce the scheme without any additional costs,” Hiensch said.

Commuting by bike

Some 900,000 people in the Netherlands don’t cycle to work even though they live relatively close by, according to recent research by Delft University on behalf of campaign group Coalitie Anders Reizen.

The campaigners consider 15 kilometres a reasonable distance to cycle to and from work given the health and other benefits.The campaign group claims that people who cycle to work are off work ill less than those who use the car and could save up to €1,200 a year on fuel.

It now wants the government to make cycling even cheaper by scrapping the tax on company bikes and increasing the 23 cents a kilometre that companies can pay in travel expenses, which applies to both bikes and cars.