Bühler launches pioneering mobility concept for employees

Bühler's goal is to reduce commuter mobility emissions by 30% by 2025 and to join forces to create incentives for employees to adapt their mobility behavior in a forward-looking way.

Mobility Alliance Eastern Switzerland - cooperation between employers, politics and public transport 

Employers contribute significantly to regional traffic and therefore also to congestion and emissions. New approaches are needed to achieve the climate and transport goals of the cantons and companies. One measure is to shift the majority of commuter traffic to buses, trains and bicycles. However, employers can only significantly reduce car traffic if employees have a good alternative to the car. Targeted cooperation between the public sector, mobility providers and employers is needed to promote these alternatives. The new Eastern Switzerland Mobility Alliance brings together politicians, public transport providers and leading employers to shape corporate mobility together, quickly and sustainably. The first pioneering flagship project of the Mobility Alliance is the new mobility concept of Bühler AG in Uzwil.

Initial situation at Bühler 

As a family-owned company, Bühler has always been aware of its social responsibility and ensures education, good working conditions, healthy nutrition and health. As an important employer in the Uzwil region, the company is aware of its role. It is not only about creating jobs, but also about maintaining the quality of life in the community. Bühler has committed to reducing the CO₂ footprint of the Uzwil site by 60% by 2030. The company estimates that around 5,000 tons of CO₂ are caused each year by journeys to and from work. The declared goal is to reduce this figure by at least 30% by the end of 2025. This corresponds to around 1,500 tons of CO₂ or the equivalent of 5,600 Mallorca flights. Through its cooperation in the Mobility Alliance of Eastern Switzerland, Bühler has succeeded in applying its commitment to sustainable innovation to its own corporate mobility. After the preliminary work in 2023, Bühler will launch its new mobility concept on September 1, 2024.

New mobility concept - better public transport connections for 80% employees

The completely new mobility concept is based on an AI-supported data analysis of the commuter traffic generated by Bühler, carried out by the climate innovation company 42hacks. The data shows how good the public transport connections are for each individual commute. The survey revealed that currently only around 30% of the approximately 3,000 Bühler employees in Uzwil can travel by public transport without having to make many changes and at roughly the same speed as by car. In several workshops with 42hacks, Bühler employees and partners from politics and the OSTWIND fare association, measures were developed to offer almost 80% of employees a good public transport alternative to traveling by car.

Concrete measures - attractive public transport package, TIER, bicycles and shuttle bus 

To make the use of public transport for commuting to work even more attractive for employees, Bühler is financing the realization of a pioneering offer with a lump sum to the OSTWIND fare association. Employees receive an exclusive public transport package for CHF 365 per year, in return forgoing a free parking space at their workplace. The public transport package includes the following products:  

• a half-fare travelcard
• an annual season ticket for all zones of the respective local fare network (OSTWIND or Z-Pass)
• Additional credit for public transport journeys that go beyond the regular area of validity of the travelcard

Uzwil is well connected to the surrounding towns by rail. However, the train station is about one kilometer away from the Bühler company. From June, the municipality of Uzwil will be introducing ten stations with scooters and bikes from the shared mobility provider Tier. Thanks to the collaboration in the mobility alliance, two of these will be located directly at the train station and at the Bühler Campus. This will enable employees to get from the train station to the Uzwil site quickly by bike or scooter.   

Employees who live within a five-kilometer radius of the plant can travel to work by bike. To promote cycling, Bühler provides rental bikes from the Urban Connect multimodal mobility platform as well as secure parking and service stations for bicycles on the company campus in addition to the Tier offers. Employees will also receive discounts on the purchase of new and used bicycles and e-bikes on Bühler Mobility Day on June 24, 2024.  

In collaboration with the municipality of Uzwil and the canton of St. Gallen, Bühler is also planning to test a Bühler shuttle bus in a pilot phase. Employees from the surrounding area up to 8 km away can book the shuttle via an app and are then picked up at home by one of the two small buses and brought back at the end of the working day.

Flexibility despite commuting by public transport 

The workshops have shown that employees are concerned about their flexibility when they travel by public transport. Employees who opt for the attractive public transport package still have the option of traveling by car. In this case, however, they pay for the parking space. To ensure flexibility when traveling by public transport, even in emergencies, Bühler provides additional electric cars on the company premises.  

By implementing the mobility concept, Bühler is the first company in the Eastern Switzerland Mobility Alliance to demonstrate what can be achieved when employers, politicians and tariff associations pull together to make corporate mobility more sustainable. 

Source: www.bühlergroup.com