What soft mobility solutions for employees?

“Nearly 40% of French people's travel time is spent commuting to and from work.” Forum Vies Mobiles, Obsoco, 2020

Every day, we travel to work, and these journeys affect our free time, purchasing power, carbon footprint, and health. At the company level, these commutes can have a major impact on employee well-being and productivity.

Moreover, three-quarters of these journeys are made by car, with 70% covering distances greater than 5km.

For short distances, switching to cycling, scooters, or walking is a possible and recommended option. Conversely, for longer journeys, alternatives to individual car use are limited. Indeed, beyond 5km:

• Cycling becomes physically demanding or even impossible.
• Using public transport as an alternative is often difficult due to a lack of infrastructure.

In these circumstances, the cost of using a car (fuel, maintenance, depreciation, etc.) quickly becomes very high for employees. It also affects everyone's daily life in terms of available time (traffic jams, long distances) and health due to the physical inactivity associated with driving.

To address these challenges, several relevant solutions can be considered:

Carpooling

Carpooling mainly allows for cost sharing, a reduction in carbon footprint, and can be more easily implemented over short distances (e.g., home-to-station journeys).

Remote working in third places or at home

Following various lockdowns, many employees have become accustomed to working from home. However, this type of organisation has shown its limits (isolation, psychosocial issues, and physical inactivity). Using third places near the employee's home can therefore be an interesting solution, enabling the use of active modes of transport while maintaining a pleasant working environment.

Nevertheless, some long-distance journeys cannot be avoided. In many cases, it is necessary to return to the company headquarters. For all these trips, it may be worthwhile to make them profitable by opting for collaborative delivery. By delivering parcels along the way, the employee is paid and actively contributes to reducing CO2 emissions by avoiding an additional trip for delivery.

Changing working hours

It is possible to offer employees flexible working hours according to the company's constraints. This will help avoid peak times, which are often subject to traffic jams.

Today, making commuting more pleasant is becoming a major challenge. Companies can address this, notably through soft mobility and by carrying out a precise assessment of their employees' journeys and simulating the best work organisation policies (working hours, workplace, mode of transport, etc.) tailored to their needs.