Bike commuting

The average commute at VAUDE in 2016 was 14 kilometers. That adds up to over 1.3 million km of commuting!

VAUDE reports on all climate-damaging emissions in the annual carbon footprint. We offset all commuting emissions with climate protection projects. Read more here

A quarter of the total energy consumption in Germany is attributable to the transport sector. 22% of this comes from daily commuting. In the VAUDE carbon footprint, 13% of all emissions are due to employee commuting.

This shows that a company mobility management plan is an urgent need and extremely important. Since 2012, VAUDE has intensively worked on the issue of commuting and mobility management - not least because parking spaces on the premises have become very scarce.

Instead of investing in more parking, VAUDE is relying on infrastructure and incentives for increasing the number of employees who bike commute (for the eco benefits and for the health benefits), come by bus or carpool to work. We eliminated another 65 parking spaces during the office remodeling in recent years. In their place, we designed a green campus with climbing wall and the most modern meeting rooms.

The VAUDE mobility concept consists of six components with which we want to motivate our employees to be as eco-friendly mobile as possible.

The VAUDE bike program not only includes a repair shop with an inner tube vending machine, covered and lit bike parking, riding technique and repair courses and showers, but also eight rental eBikes that are available to all employees. Employees can "refuel" their own private eBikes free of charge while at work.

Since 2015, all VAUDE employees can take advantage of the "JobRad" (JobBike). The tax principle for company cars (so-called 1%-rule) also applies to bicycles and eBikes. And it applies to all employees, regardless of their access to a company car. VAUDE is collaborating with two providers: JobRad and DerbyCycle.

A total of 49 VAUDE employees (21 in 2016) have used the program to acquire new, high-quality bikes for their commute.

In our hilly surroundings that are challenging even for ambitious cyclists, the biggest potential for energy and emissions savings comes from carpooling. VAUDE is therefore collaborating with http://www.flinc.org, a social mobility network. VAUDE has its own group for employees so that can quickly and easily offer rides or find rides, free of charge.

The village of Obereisenbach near Tettnang, where the VAUDE company headquarters are located, has long been difficult to reach by public transport. Aside from a school bus that went to the local elementary school, there was no public transportation available VAUDE wasn’t willing to accept these conditions and therefore initiated a project – see "Creating Added Value with Commitment".

With success: On October 1, 2013 the Regional Transport Association Bodensee-Oberschwaben (bodo), with the support of the Landkreises Bodenseekreis and a local bus company, established a commuter line that connects Obereisenbach to the nearest train station in Meckenbeuren as well as to Tettnang’s urban transport grid.

People living in the nearest major cities of Friedrichshafen and Ravensburg where many of our employees live are well-connected with Meckenbeuren by train.

Our goal is to reduce emissions from commuting (business travel and commuting) by 10% by the year 2020 (base year 2015). How far have we come? Find the answer here