Ingeborg Baltussen, director of the firm which developed these plans, explains why wooden bikes are more likely to succeed in the Zuidas than in other areas. “One has to consider what will match the current business culture. The JC Decaux Company in the Zuidas area, for example, was able to make use of some very smart shared company cars. Employees enjoyed parading and driving them, and when visiting business contacts they could impress their hosts when broaching the subject of car sharing and sustainable mobility, thereby enhancing their corporate image. We intend to do something similar with bicycles; the idea is to deploy wooden bikes-for-loan in the Zuidas area, and this fits in with the cultural image there. The wooden bike makes a statement”.
The bikes-for-loan supplier has already given a presentation at the Schiphol Group and has received positive reactions, according to Verkeer Advies (a traffic advisory group). Corporations established there are keen to make wooden bikes and electric scooters available to their employees