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Schiphol aims to promote sustainable active transport commuting

Posted: 5 September 2019 | | No comments yet

Amsterdam Airport Schiphol and the Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management plan to invest in safe, swift and sustainable modes of commuting.

Schiphol aims to promote sustainable active transport commutes

Amsterdam Airport Schiphol has announced its aim to increase the number of its employees who cycle to work. In order to make this a reality, the ‘goinGDutch’ bicycling programme has been developed.

The State Secretary for Infrastructure and Water Management, Stientje van Veldhoven, has officiated the programme’s official launch.

The airport employs over 66,000 people, around 4,000 of whom cycle to work. Schiphol is one of State Secretary Stientje van Veldhoven’s latest cycling ambassadors. As ambassador, Schiphol has teamed up with partners BAM, Microsoft and OrangeNXT to develop a bicycling programme entitled ‘goinGDutch’ in order to increase the number of employees who cycle to work.

Miriam Hoekstra – van der Deen, Director of Airport Operations at Amsterdam Airport Schiphol, commented: “Bicycles and e-bikes are a very attractive mode of transport for employees who live within 25km of Schiphol. It’s a sustainable means of commuting, it helps maintain your vitality and it helps ease traffic on other access roads into Schiphol. Together with its goinGDutch partners, Schiphol aims to increase the number of its employees who cycle to work on a regular basis to 7,000 by the end of 2020 and to 10,000 by the end of 2024.”

The goinGDutch bicycling programme includes specific plans to encourage cycling to and around the airport. These plans focus on infrastructure, bicycle facilities and encouraging cycling behaviour. Schiphol and the Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management are investing in widening the cycle superhighways between Hoofddorp, Schiphol and Amsterdam. Furthermore, intersections will be made safer in order to improve the infrastructure further and bicycle facilities, including the number of bicycle parking facilities and charge points, will be expanded. Once this work is complete, Schiphol will take a proactive approach to encourage employees to use their bicycles, for instance by making it financially appealing.

van Veldhoven, said: “Proper routes and facilities for people who cycle to the airport will make a great contribution to airport accessibility, as well as lower costs and improve the well-being of the cyclists themselves. What’s more, every cyclist does his or her bit to lighten the load on Schiphol’s access roads. There’s also considerable potential as regards the many passengers who travel to and from Schiphol every day, especially those who fly often and travel light.”

 
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