In post-Coronavirus times, employees will no longer travel back and forth to work every day. In fact, they will often be absent from the workplace for several days because of working from home, part-time or satellite work. Many of them have also discovered the joy of cycling during the Coronavirus period. For these employees, a classic public transport subscription is not always the best solution anymore. We will check the best option for you, a multi-ride card or a subscription?

We will already give you a hint. The Olympus mobility solution often proves to be the best. It offers digital multi-ride cards from De Lijn, NMBS, MIVB and TEC, and always in a user-friendly way.

Read below how to purchase multi-ride cards through the Olympus app and when they are more advantageous than a subscription.

Telecommuting becomes the norm

The Coronavirus crisis has forced many companies to allow their employees to telecommute. It has shown that working from home is both possible and even efficient.

At Olympus Mobility, we believe that telecommuting will remain the norm for a long time to come. It will certainly become fully established in our society. Employees who are allowed to work from home two or three days a week will be much happier, simply because they will save time by not having to commute. This is a good thing, because everyone knows that happy employees are more productive and that a company can only benefit from this.

This shift already offers opportunities to reconsider the high mobility cost of commuting. At present, companies often opt for a subscription formula. But is it always the most beneficial option? The choice between a multi-ride card or subscription is no longer automatically in the latter’s favour.

Employees who used to travel the same route five days a week benefited from a subscription formula. This also used to be the best choice for the employer in terms of costs. In post-Coronavirus times, however, multi-ride cards such as ten-ride cards can be a better option than a subscription, and optimise mobility costs.

Which is the most advantageous, a multi-ride card or a subscription?

We calculated it for you below.

1. Multi-ride card or subscription for employees who take De Lijn buses and trams in Flanders

A monthly subscription to De Lijn costs €49. By purchasing De Lijn m-cards in the Olympus app, you can save up to 27% in one month, provided that you do not have to travel to work two days a week. Telecommuting thus offers an optimisation of mobility costs.

It is important to note that it is not only working from home that can reduce the need to commute by public transport, but also working part-time, travelling by bike and satellite working.

Below are a few screenshots taken from the purchase of an m-card in the Olympus app, which is intended for ten rides.

2. Multi-ride card or subscription for employees taking the MIVB metro, tram or bus in Brussels

At MIVB, a subscription is slightly more expensive compared to a multi-ride card than in comparison with De Lijn. The total savings can therefore be as much as 31%.

Below are a few screenshots taken from the purchase of Jump10 in the Olympus app. You immediately notice how economical it is in comparison to a subscription.

3. Multi-ride card or subscription for the train commuters?

A train pass is relatively cheap and almost always the best option. Especially if, as an employer, you make use of NMBS’s third-party payer scheme and fully cover the cost of the train pass. The government will then refund you 20% of the cost of the subscription.

Whether a multi-ride card is cheaper than a subscription depends on the commuting distance. In the case of two non-commuter days, a multi-ride ticket is only cheaper from a distance of more than 100 km.

A multi-ride ticket is thus only more favourable than a season ticket for people travelling from the coast to Brussels.

One Mobility-tool to solve them all

In post-Coronavirus times, companies are confronted even more than before with the variability in the use of mobility by their employees.

• Each employee has his/her own mobility modes that differ individually.
• A cafeteria plan traditionally offers many choices.
• Some are now opting for a mobility budget, and that too is something else.

Olympus Mobility meets the demands made by companies to give their employees freedom of choice. Simultaneously, it wants to offer simplicity in handling the complex issue of mobility and provide companies with an improved insight into the true costs of all this. Multi-ride card or subscription? Our Mobility tool immediately shows you the difference in cost price.

Would you like more information? Is there something we can help you with? Do not hesitate to contact us.