Good practice:

By Bike to work

Due to the fact that people are sitting more and more in their jobs and get little or no exercise, this campaign of the health insurance companies was launched in 2002.
Participation in the campaign "By bike to work" is completely free of charge. After the unique registration participants find their "action calendar" in the Login area on the site "By Bike to work" / AOK Lower Saxony. Here, participants enter information about their active days and keep track of their achievements. Colleagues can also form a virtual team for mutual motivation. Everyone continues to cycle their own route. If no team is formed, one cycle as an individual participant. Starting in May, the goal is to cycle to work at least 20 days through the action timeframe till the end of August. Long-distance commuters, for example, combine the cycling with public transportation. Partial journeys also count, e.g. to and from the train station.
Those who reach the 20-day target and record their achievements in the campaign calendar (online) before the submission deadline are automatically entered into a prize draw with non-cash prizes.

Pleasant "side effects": As an active participant you win in any case, because by more movement in everyday life you effectively strengthen your health and well-being. Regular cycling protects against lifestyle diseases such as obesity and cardiovascular diseases. Participating companies also benefit from employees who cycle. Because their company gains efficient employees.

The action “By Bike to Work” (MdRzA) is financed by the sponsors and regional partners.

In 2020, a total of 15.422 participants from around 6.900 companies registered in Lower Saxony and cycled 7,9 million kilometres together.
The successes can be measured by each participant on his own action calendar. This also applies to teams. In addition, the ranking of all teams is also displayed on the "Cycle to Work" page. This motivates all participants to make more journeys by bike and also keeps them fit.

The GP can be easily transferred to other regions. The prerequisite for this is an institution with a motivation to implement the project (e.g. health insurance company with a focus on preventing disease among citizens).

The ranking list (online) motivates many participants / employees to use the bike more than the car. This is good for the environment and, above all, good for your health. There are also attractive prizes such as an e-bike, vouchers for city trips, bicycle bags, gift cases for wellness and sport plus a shower towel, a bicycle cockpit system or an annual voucher from "nextbike".

Through the GP, a kind of competitive situation is triggered in participating companies / institutions, which motivates more and more participants to take part in order to make a positive contribution to CO² reduction and to engage in physical activity themselves.