More than 50 percent of the Danish Embassy’s staff ride their bike to work in Beijing. The Embassy provides staff with bikes for official meetings.
If the rain is not too heavy, the Danish Embassy’s bicycle shed is always occupied by the bikes of the employees. More than 50 percent of the employees at the Danish Embassy in Beijing ride their bikes to work, a survey on the employees commuting habits reveals.
Public transportation or walking is the second most preferred means of transportation (more than 34 percent). The rest of the employees drive their car to work – sometimes sharing the ride with another colleague.
“I just continued my old habit when I moved to Beijing. Riding your bike is simply a more convenient means of transportation, when you live in a big city”, says Councellor for Development and Environment at the Danish Embassy in Beijing, Mr. Søren Kristoffersen.
Bikes are seen as a simple way to reduce the CO2 emission. Just imagine how polluted the Danish capital Copenhagen would be if the people biking today jumped into cars instead. Today 37 percent of the population in Copenhagen ride their bike to work or school. Denmark has a more than 100 year old bicycling tradition and 9 out of 10 Danes today own a bike.
The Danish Embassy has bought three bicycles to be used when employees have meetings outside the Embassy. The Embassy meeting bikes have been very well received among the Embassy’s staff, since the initiative was taken in November 2009. Acting Ambassador of the Danish Embassy Mr. Søren Jacobsen points out:
“The Embassy meeting bikes are not only popular among our colleagues. The bikes also improve the local environment, save time in traffic and save us taxi expenses”. Mr. Søren Jacobsen rides the bike to weekly meetings with other embassies. For the employees’ safety the Embassy encourages the employees to wear a bike helmet and be careful in traffic.
