By July 2022, employees of IKEA across three continents will commence their participation in an international carpool trial, designed to encourage employees to create sustainable habits with the assistance of a ridesharing app.
The customized Ride2Work app was designed and built by global carpooling technology provider Liftango. Liftango says it has the vision to take cars off the roads in partnership with like-minded companies in the fight against climate change.
“There is still some hesitancy in catching public transport coming out of the pandemic, which is why many large companies are looking for ways to encourage safe and sustainable commuting alternatives. Allowing employees of these particular IKEA stores to carpool with verified colleagues, will give many IKEA employees peace of mind while ensuring that sustainability through ridesharing is still a core focus,” said Liftango CEO Kevin Orr.
IKEA is kicking off the Ride2Work trial in stores across Australia, Italy, Croatia, Serbia, Romania and Canada. Stores in these countries are the forerunner to gradually rolling out the service to all stores globally.
“Healthy and sustainable living is a key focus area at IKEA, with an aim to inspire and enable people to live better lives within the limits of our planet. This Ride2Work employee-carpool program will encourage thousands of IKEA coworkers to think about ways they can reduce their environmental impact, whilst having positive interactions with colleagues on the way to and from work. As well as the impact this program will have on the environment, we foresee Ride2Work having a great effect in forming strong workplace relationships, creating a strong sense of morale and positively contributing to co-worker wellbeing,” said IKEA Australia Meet and Travel Leader Daniela Pichler.
Within the Ride2Work app, employees can track their impact by monitoring CO2 reduction, kilometers or miles driven and CO2 offsets by planting trees. The app also ensures that COVID-19 safety requirements are adhered to by users, with an easy way to assist in COVID-19 contact tracing should the need arise.
After the successful trial, not only will rolling out this program across more than 500 IKEA stores become a possibility, but the organization will look for innovative ways to make this type of technology available to customers globally.
