Category: News

Overview

1. Fleet electrification
2. The implementation of a legal mobility budget
3. Employees opt for sustainable mobility
4. Employers opt for flexible mobility policy
5. Mobility-as-a-Service is rising in popularity

Mobility trend 1. Fleet electrification

Welcome to 2023! This is the year when tax breaks for fuel engines and plug-in hybrids are being systematically phased out.

This had been coming for a while, of course.

After Peteghem’s act was approved in 2021, companies surged into action. You probably remember the endless meetings on the topic of adapting your mobility policy, and how to make it greener.

The time has finally come: electric cars are officially becoming the ‘new normal’. And that is a good thing. Electric cars are both better for the environment and cost-saving.

That may very well sound like music to your ears. Your organisation’s CO2 emissions are reduced, while you save on employee travel costs.

Moreover, the charging stations in your company car park are currently 100% tax deductible.

Not up to speed about the new legislation yet? Read briefly about the tax changes here:

• Tax deductibility for fuel cars will be systematically reduced after 1 July 2023.
• For plug-in hybrids, this rule has already applied since 1 January 2023.
• Cars purchased after this date are in a transitional phase.
• During this period, tax benefits will be systematically phased out until 2028.
• What if you buy a car after 2026 and it runs (partly) on fossil fuel? Then it is no longer tax deductible.

Mobility trend 2. The implementation of a legal mobility budget

This seamlessly brings us to the second mobility trend, as electrification goes hand in hand with the legal mobility budget. And here’s why.

When you implement the legal mobility budget in your company, you start by calculating the Total Cost of Ownership. This is done based on the current cost of your employee’s fuel car.

Your employee can then spend this budget on 3 pillars:

• Pillar 1: an environmentally friendly car
• Pillar 2: sustainable means of transport or rental costs
• Pillar 3: cash

When you look up the term ‘environmentally friendly car’ on Google, you will notice that the focus is on electric models.

Your employees are free to use the remainder of the budget for sustainable means of transport, rental costs and international train journeys with the family. Weekend in Berlin, anyone?

So, weekend getaway or even something else: you will find that the legal mobility budget brings with it a wide choice of mobility options. Your employees are therefore free to go wherever they wish, each time using the most optimal means of transport.

You may think that this sounds good, and indeed it does. Bank Van Breda and numerous other companies are very much in favour of it, and according to the coalition agreement employees without a company car will also be able to enter this tax advantageous framework in the future!

Need a practical example? See how Mediahuis implemented the legal mobility budget.

Mobility trend 3. Employees opt for sustainable mobility

If the figures from VIAS Institute and FPS Mobility and Transport are to be believed, the number of teleworkers has doubled in four years. This is reflected in fewer kilometres travelled, as well as opting for alternative means of transport. This trend continues to grow.

Let’s look at the numbers.

• One in three Belgians opted for public transport or cycling more often in 2022.
• Young people are also increasingly ditching the car in favour of commuting by bus or train.
• 33% of employees regularly cycle to work, some of whom combine this with other means of transport.
• The number of e-bikers has doubled since 2017.
• Compared to 2019 (you know, pre-pandemic) carpooling increased by 38% in 2022.

Sustainable mobility is clearly gaining momentum, and with the new technological evolutions, it is not going away any time soon. Just look at the increasing use of e-bikes.

Autonomous vehicles also need to be taken notice of. Who knows, you might soon be enjoying a ride with colleagues in a self-driving car!

Mobility trend 4. Employers opt for flexible mobility policy

The above mobility trends in society are naturally also reflected in the necessary adjustments in mobility policy. Moreover, 70% of workers would like to have more of a say in their own salary package.

That combination creates an increased focus towards a cafeteria plan.

But what is a cafeteria plan? Allow us to explain.

It is a flexible salary package that allows employees to choose their own benefits, without rising salary costs.

Those benefits could include extra days off or an internet subscription, for example, but also: sustainable mobility. That way, their salary package is personalised.

You don’t need us to tell you that this is an asset in the battle for talent.

Find out what mobility benefits you can offer your employees.

Mobility trend 5. Mobility-as-a-Service is rising in popularity

More than 97% of 18- to 35-year-olds are using mobility apps today. That’s a whole lot of people. Belgians normally install several apps to order tickets.

That in itself is not surprising, given that more than half of Belgians have shown interest in an integrated platform. Meet our hero: Mobility-as-a-Service, or simply ‘MaaS’.

A MaaS platform bundles all available means of transport: train, tram, bus, as well as shared cars and bikes. The Olympus app also includes parking options, taxis and charging cards.

With a MaaS platform, you therefore only need to download one app for all your tickets.

A MaaS app makes sustainable mobility easy for your employees. It allows them to catch the train and then rent a shared bike to their final destination. All with a single app.

For companies where greening of their mobility policy enjoys top priority, this is a genuine must-have.

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Sustainable mobility

When your employees pay a benefit in kind (BIK), it is difficult as an organisation to reduce the costs of private travel. To save on petrol costs, you can of course tell your employees to change their driving style and remove unnecessary items from their cars, but old habits die hard. With a company car, you keep losing a lot of money.

So how do you cut back? Reduce the costs linked to commuting and business travel. This is easy to do with alternative mobility.

Example in figures

Let’s look at the numbers. In this fictional example, we are travelling from Ghent to Antwerp. We depart from Bevrijdingslaan 288 and arrive at Uitbreidingstraat 2 for a meeting around 9 am.

By car

First of all, we travel this route by petrol car. We drive 62.2 km, with the petrol price at € 2.025 per litre. With a consumption of 6.8 per 100 km, the fuel cost comes to € 17.13. However, that is only one aspect of the total cost. Added to this is the consumption cost (cost of kilometres driven with the leased car, € 24.88) and the parking cost (€ 5).

The result? 1 outbound trip costs € 27.27.

By public transport

That same route can easily be done by public transport. A train ticket from Ghent to Antwerp costs (round trip) €16.60 with a Standard Multi. We also take the bus twice, which costs € 3.40 with a ten-ride card. We covered the last kilometres with a Blue-bike (€ 3.75).

The result? 1 outward trip costs € 14.45.

What about loss in time?

A car trip between Ghent and Antwerp takes about 45 minutes, but that is without any traffic jams. Realistically, such a trip takes (at least) 90 minutes.

That is the same as the time required using public transportation. But unlike a car trip, you can actually spend this time usefully, because your hands are free to answer e-mails or prepare for meetings. On top of that, you arrive without having had to deal with the stress of traffic jams.

Time and cost savings

When using public transport you can make optimal use of your time and you save € 12.82 per journey. If you take this route four times a month, you will save € 51.28. This amounts to € 615.36 on an annual basis. For a company with 20 company cars, this comes down to annual savings of € 12,307.20! Your organisation can therefore save a lot of money by implementing alternative means of transport.

Employees can also enjoy discounted rates and take advantage of a smart NMBS algorithm in the Olympus app. Besides saving on petrol costs, you will also significantly reduce your administrative expenses. KPMG and Sweco are already doing it.

Want to learn more about sustainable business mobility? Contact us.