NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — Amazon is launching a benefits program encouraging sustainability for their U.S. employees that covers the costs of bike maintenance, rentals, and more.
For corporate employees who bike to work, Amazon will pay for their bike costs.
The article pointed to its corporate headquarters in Seattle where more than 20% of employees walk or bike to work and another 50% use public transportation or carpooling options.
“We are looking forward to welcoming our employees back to our offices and want to encourage them to rethink the way they get to and from work, so we’re creating new incentives to pick a greener way to commute—even if it is just one to two days a week,” Vice President of Global Real Estate and Facilities said in an Amazon article. “Reducing our carbon footprint is a multifaceted effort that includes building urban and well-connected campuses, designing buildings that use renewable energy, and making it easy for employees to choose public transportation over their single-occupancy vehicles.”
Amazon employees who bike to work will receive a subsidy to cover associated costs, including:
- Bike leases: Employees can lease a take-home bike, including e-bikes, for a monthly fee eligible for reimbursement.
- Bike share: Employees can expense costs for dockless or docked short-term, app-based rental bicycles.
- Maintenance: Employees can take advantage of two complimentary tune-ups each calendar year.
- Bike parking: Employees can access bike parking at public transit facilities or offices without Amazon bike cages.
The benefits are available to all employees who haven’t signed up for ongoing parking in an Amazon parking garage. The new monthly bike subsidy ranges from city to city to correspond with local parking costs, which can be up to $400.
Bike cages are offered for employees as well as showers for them to use.
Nora Kern with Walk Bike Nashville says there are pockets like the downtown core that work great for alternative transportation options, but she says a proposal like this highlights the inequality of access across Davidson County.
"It's easy if you live in East Nashville or Germantown, but its difficult if you live further out," Kern said. "It can be really difficult because we have a lot of the big roads that are major barriers for people."
She says she hopes Amazon and other companies offering similar benefits will help encourage city leaders to pay more attention to sidewalks, bike lanes and buses, no matter where a new employee chooses to live.
