Every morning, hundreds of thousands of Berliners make a choice. They could take the U-Bahn. They could drive. They could call a taxi. Instead, they get on their bikes.
That choice — repeated every day, in every weather — is not just a personal preference. It's a public good. Every cyclist in Berlin reduces congestion on the roads, lowers emissions in the air, and costs the city nothing in transport infrastructure beyond paint and tarmac.
The average Berlin commuter cycles approximately 6km each way. That's 12km per day, 60km per week, and roughly 2,400km per year. Against an equivalent car journey, that's approximately 360kg of CO₂ avoided annually — per cyclist.
Berlin has approximately 800,000 regular commuter cyclists. Together, they avoid an estimated 290,000 tonnes of CO₂ every year just from commuting alone.
Nothing. No discount. No credit. No reward of any kind. The BVG doesn't give cyclists a free coffee. The city doesn't offer a tax rebate. Employers rarely offer cycling allowances. The social contract for cyclists is: you do a public good, and you receive the abstract satisfaction of knowing you did.
Incentive structures matter. When cities want more people to cycle, they build infrastructure. But infrastructure only removes the barrier — it doesn't create positive pull. Financial rewards do. Research consistently shows that small, consistent rewards change long-term behaviour more effectively than one-off incentives.
PedalPay exists because we believe cyclists deserve to be rewarded. Not as charity. Not as a gesture. As a genuine exchange: you bring value to the city, and the city — through its businesses — gives value back.
Every kilometre you cycle with PedalPay earns credits. Those credits are redeemable at Berlin partner venues — cafés, gyms, eco brands. The businesses benefit from foot traffic. The cyclists benefit from real discounts. The city benefits from more cycling. Everyone wins.
It took longer than it should have for someone to build this. But it's here now.
Join 20+ Berliners already on the PedalPay waitlist.