Somewhere in Belgium this morning, someone got paid to ride their bike to work. They didn’t win anything or fill in a form the size of a mortgage application. They just pedalled in, like every day, and the money landed in their account. Over there, paying people to cycle to work isn’t a perk. It’s the law.
Now try saying that out loud in Britain.
Here, the reward for cycling to work is the rain, the close passes, and the quiet pride of saving everyone else a fortune while getting nothing back. We have a scheme that sounds generous until you realise you are the one paying for it. A mileage rate so old it can nearly vote. And a tax system that rewards almost every way of getting to work except the one that’s good for all of us.
So here’s the maddening question. If cycling eases the traffic, cleans the air, takes pressure off the NHS and saves the country money, why does Britain still treat the bike as a hobby instead of paying you to ride it? Other countries answered that years ago. The schemes exist. The maths is settled. The only thing missing is the will.
Stick around to the end. There’s a number waiting there you’ll want handy for the next person who leans out of a car window to tell you cyclists should pay road tax.
Want the maddening version? Take your commute, both ways, times the days you ride, run it at the Belgian rate, and post what your year would be worth in the comments.
Subscribe for more on cycling, active travel and transport policy. Sources below.
SOURCES
BELGIUM
Mandatory cycling allowance, legal text (CLA 164, National Labour Council):
https://cnt-nar.be/sites/default/files/documents/fr/cct-164.pdf
2026 rates explained (EUR 0.30 default, EUR 0.37 tax-free, EUR 3,690 yearly cap, 40km/day cap):
https://www.securex.be/en/lex4you/employer/news/bicycle-allowance-2026-all-you-need-to-know
Uptake: 867,751 employees (20.4%) claimed the allowance in 2024, per the Central Economic Council / National Labour Council report (Nov 2025), summarised here:
FRANCE
Forfait Mobilités Durables, official government portal (search “forfait mobilites durables”):
https://www.service-public.fr
Legal basis: Loi d’orientation des mobilités (LOM), 24 Dec 2019. Private sector up to EUR 600/year tax-free (EUR 900 combined with public transport), public sector EUR 300. 2026 figures explained:
https://www.quelles-aides.fr/transport-mobilite/aides-transport/forfait-mobilites-durables/
NETHERLANDS
Tax-free travel allowance, mode-agnostic, any distance, commute and business, Dutch government:
https://business.gov.nl/staff/personnel-costs-and-salary/paying-your-employees-travel-allowance/
2026 increase from EUR 0.23 to EUR 0.25 per km (retroactive to 1 Jan 2026):
Tax-exempt travel allowance of €0,25 effective January 1, 2026
UNITED KINGDOM
Cycle to Work scheme (salary sacrifice), gov.uk implementation guidance:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/cycle-to-work-scheme-implementation-guidance
HMRC Approved Mileage Allowance Payments incl. bicycles at 20p/mile, gov.uk:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/rates-and-allowances-travel-mileage-and-fuel-allowances
Mileage covers business journeys only, not the regular commute (HMRC rules):
https://www.gov.uk/expenses-and-benefits-business-travel-mileage
Bicycle rate frozen since 2011 (note: the car/van rate rose from 45p to 55p in April 2026, the first change since 2011, while the bike rate stayed at 20p):
https://www.driversnote.co.uk/blog/hmrc-mileage-rate-2026
COST OF INACTIVITY TO THE NHS
Up to GBP 1 billion/year direct, plus GBP 8.2 billion wider costs, Department for Transport, second Cycling and Walking Investment Strategy:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-second-cycling-and-walking-investment-strategy/the-second-cycling-and-walking-investment-strategy-cwis2
Newest figure: active travel worth an estimated GBP 10.5 billion/year in NHS savings, third Cycling and Walking Investment Strategy (2026):
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-third-cycling-and-walking-investment-strategy/active-travel-active-england-the-third-cycling-and-walking-investment-strategy-cwis3
SOCIAL VALUE OF CYCLING (“close to a euro per km”)
EUR 0.98 net social gain per km on a standard bike, Transport & Mobility Leuven, comparative cost-benefit analysis for the Benelux and North Rhine-Westphalia:
https://www.benelux.int/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/Report_Cycling_Benelux_Executive_Summary-1.pdf
#Cycling #ActiveTravel #CycleToWork #BikeToWork #CyclingUK #CommuteByBike #CyclingInfrastructure #BikeCommute #TransportPolicy #Belgium #Netherlands #CyclingCommunity #UrbanCycling #BicycleAllowance #RideToWork
6 Comments
I only discovered these AMAP rates recently too – the Motorcycle Action Group were complaining that the rate for motorcycles is 24p – only 4p above the rate for bicycles. They want to have the same rate as cars/vans (now 55p). Regardless, the hierarchy is completely backwards as usual.
Mine works out at 18.5 mate, but you’re 100% right, rip of Britain!
At least the muppets were entertaining though, these politicians have given me nothing but frustration.
That is enough money to buy you a car… not a great car… but still.
Not sure why you would… but you could.
The Netherlands also has the fietsplan (bicycle plan), which grants tax benefits, which can lower the purchase price of a commute bike significantly (30 to 40%).
I've never bothered to try and claim bike allowance for work travel as the faff isn't worth it. When I commuted to the smoke before COVID, I got London weighting, which was all well and good but it didn't even offset the annual season ticket anymore. I rode to London a few times from Basingstoke which was over fifty miles each way, but I couldn't claim a thing. And it's not like I got anything back for not having used the train. So most of the time, I used the train as I'd paid for it. Had I got the Belgian rate, a round trip would've been €74. Quite the incentive. Yet you have the head of Hampshire County Council punching down at the proposed £4.5bn over five years active travel funding like it's an imposition.