For veteran cyclists looking for additional motivation to ride to work or for new commuters seeking assistance to get started, PleaseCycle offers solutions to these issues and beyond for London-based employers. The company, which launched its program this quarter, features an comprehensive online portal that allows employees to log miles, plan routes, and track both their carbon savings and their rewards earned.
According to PleaseCycle, within just three weeks of the product launch, commuters’ carbon savings equaled that of twelve London-to-Paris flights.
Recently founded by two young entrepreneurs, Ry Morgan and Anthony Ganjou, PleaseCycle’s mission is to encourage the employees of participating organizations to ride to work by offering incentives for every mile recorded. The miles collected are termed “BikeMiles,” and these BikeMiles are captured in a client-branded online “Cycle Hub.” Within the Cycle Hub, the organization and its employees can track progress, create friendly competitions, and explore relevant services and tips.
In London, local businesses have partnered with PleaseCycle to offer discounted goods and services, and employers have gotten creative by donating to charities and rewarding employees with additional vacation time based on miles logged. PleaseCycle also maintains BikeConcierge, which offers cycling solutions that are specific to a corporate environment, including everything from urban cycling instruction to parking and storage solutions.
PleaseCycle’s Website, which is aesthetically pleasing in addition to being chocked full of interesting tools, provides employers with ample information as to why this program is as beneficial to their businesses as it is to their staff members. There are the usual statistics regarding the health benefits of physical activity, and there are also explanations as to how encouraging cycling can improve an organization financially, summing up PleaseCycle as a way to achieve “less sick-days, higher productivity, happier working environment "¦ a very sterling concept that will undoubtedly boost your bottom line.”
While the service is relatively new, the founders have high expectations for growth and Morgan is open to the idea of implementing PleaseCycle in businesses in the United States. PleaseCycle’s barriers for entry in different areas could also potentially be its tipping point — for employees to reap the (financial) benefits of logging miles, external businesses need to sign on to provide the discounts and incentives. However, once this partnering begins to occur in a given area, it has the potential to create a stronger and more involved cycling community in all of the participating organizations, fostering continued expansion.
In the end, employers need to buy into the idea (literally) that creating a healthy, environmentally- and socially-conscious culture is worthwhile. PleaseCycle seeks to provide the explanation of benefits as well as the tools of implementation, and I wish them good luck as they pursue their mission “to build a global currency around cycling and empower organizations to inspire 1,000,000,000 cycle journeys by 2020.”