Why Employers Should Promote Bike Commuting

The old Millennium Park bike station website asked Chicago employers a short question on a corporate page marked 2006: why should your company promote bicycle commuting? It gave three answers, economics, productivity, and morale and corporate image.¹ Twenty years on, the answers hold up in part. This page tests each against current evidence and corrects the one that changed.

Economics

The 2006 page argued that bicycle commuters reduce an employer’s overall health-care costs and, where a company reimburses transportation, save it money.¹ The first half has research behind it; the second half has been overtaken by tax law.

Health first. A prospective UK study of 263,450 commuters found cycle commuting associated with lower all-cause mortality, cancer incidence and cardiovascular incidence than non-active commuting.³ The authors concluded that cycle commuting was associated with lower risk of cardiovascular disease, cancer and all-cause mortality.³ These are population findings, not a promise of lower premiums for a given employer.

Now tax. The federal exclusion for qualified bicycle commuting reimbursements was suspended for tax years 2018 through 2025. For tax years beginning after 2025, Public Law 119-21 permanently eliminates it.⁵ From those tax years an employer cannot exclude a bike reimbursement from the employee’s income. Transit and parking benefits remain: the 2026 monthly exclusion is $340 for transit passes and $340 for qualified parking.⁵

The money argument today rests on what you build, not what you reimburse.

Productivity

The 2006 page said commuting by bike makes employees less stressed, more alert and absent less.¹ The absence claim has the strongest support.

In a Dutch study of 1,236 employees, mean total absenteeism over one year was more than one day shorter in cyclists than in non-cyclists.² The authors explain it by a higher share of cyclists with no absence at all.² They also found a dose-response pattern: the more often people cycled and the farther they traveled, the less they reported sick.²

The study is cross-sectional: it shows association, not cause. State it that way to a finance team.

Morale and corporate image

The 2006 page said promoting bike commuting conveys a green, money-smart, people-oriented image to employees, clients and competitors.¹

Wellbeing data supports the people side. A British panel of 17,985 adult commuters tracked over eighteen waves found switching from car travel to active travel associated with higher psychological wellbeing.⁴ Active travel was also associated with lower odds of two specific psychological symptoms compared with car travel.⁴

Chicago employers already compete on image. The Active Transportation Alliance has run a two-week Bike to Work Challenge in which workplaces earn points for the most employees riding to work. A partial bike trip counts.⁶ Participants cite better employee health, teamwork and a signal of support for current and prospective staff.⁶

What to build

The Alliance’s example is the Field Museum, a repeat top team. It points to its place along one of the best bike trails in the nation, and it offers an indoor secure bike facility, showers and a shared-bike program for staff.⁶

A workable starting list:

• Secure bike parking inside or beside the building. See bike parking downtown Chicago.
• Showers and a place to change. See showers for bike commuters.
• A team in the Bike to Work Challenge.⁶
• Transit and parking benefits at the $340 monthly level.⁵

For what riders themselves need to know, send staff to the Chicago bike commuting guide and the commuter benefits page. The full set of guides is in the commuting hub.