Many employees of the University of Oldenburg are interested in a service bike leasing or sponsorship of e-bikes by their employer.

Company bike leasing for employees of the state of Lower Saxony

As part of the collective bargaining negotiations between the employers‘ collective bargaining association of the German federal states, the service trade union Verdi and the civil servants’ association in December 2023, an agreement was also reached on company bike leasing. 

This means that in future, the federal states as employers will be able to offer their employees company bike leasing via salary conversion. The question of when employees of the University of Oldenburg will be able to take advantage of company bike leasing now depends on the implementation of the state of Lower Saxony.

Outlook and next steps

As a rule, bike leasing is organised by a service provider who takes care of the company bike leasing process. A Europe-wide invitation to tender must be issued to determine the service provider. Accordingly, as of 1 January 2024, there will be no state-wide bicycle leasing in the state of Lower Saxony, neither for employees covered by collective agreements nor for civil servants. The state of Lower Saxony expects that state employees will be able to make use of the service in the course of 2026.

On the OpenStreetMap cyclosm the condition of the cycling infrastructure around the campus can be viewed.

The university successfully took part in the CITY CYCLING event in Oldenburg from 6 September to 26 September 2024. It took second place at municipal level. It is particularly pleasing that the university team cycled over 10,000 km more than in the previous year. A total of 306 people from the university actively cycled and covered a total distance of 51,516 km. This equates to a saving of 8,552 kg of CO₂. Further information on the 2024 competition can be found on the campaign website.

For students of Carl von Ossietzky University, the semester fee automatically includes a semester ticket for local transport in germany. The ticket is valid for local trains in the second class area. Between Bremen and Norddeich (Mole)/Emden Außenhafen the IC may be used.

The semester ticket is combined with the CampusCard of the University of Oldenburg.

Further information on the semester ticket (Contact person: AStA)

Employees of Carl von Ossietzky University have the opportunity to obtain a JobTicket from the Bremen/Lower Saxony Transport Association.

You can find the application forms for this in the administration portal.

General information on the JobTicket can be found on the VBN website. On the flyer you will also find the price overview for the year 2021.

The VBN comments on the determination of the tariff zone as follows: "The fare depends on the fare zones you travel in or touch. The number of tariff zones can be determined on the basis of the course of the lines travelled. If you travel through two tariff zones, you pay fare level B, if you travel through three tariff zones, you pay fare level C, if you travel through four tariff zones, you pay fare level D, and so on. Journeys within a tariff zone and journeys from a neutral zone to an adjacent zone or vice versa are considered as price level A. Zones used twice are only counted once. A maximum of 8 zones are counted (price level H). Tickets at fare stage H entitle the holder to travel on the entire network."

For more information on the fare zones

If you have any questions, please contact Mr. Jörg Sprenger (Dec. 1)

As of 01 May 2023, the DeutschlandTicket was introduced. At present, the state of Lower Saxony does not grant its employees an employer's subsidy for the Deutschland-Ticket, so unfortunately it is not possible to apply via the employer. If employees wish to switch from the VBN JobTicket to the Deutschland-Ticket, they must cancel their JobTicket themselves with the VWG.

Within the framework of the project "E-Mobile Oldenburg" (EMO) project a comprehensive mobility concept is being developed for the city of Oldenburg, which will contribute to the targeted climate neutrality 2035 climate neutrality.

As one of the city's largest employers, the University of Oldenburg is involved in the process and is currently looking into the possibilities of implementing a charging infrastructure for electric vehicles.

The university's climate protection concept was adopted in 2022. As a university, we are aiming to achieve climate neutrality by 2030. The climate protection concept was drawn up with the involvement of various stakeholders. Among other things, participants developed various measures in workshops. The climate protection concept contains over 100 measures, including the measure ‘AM_02 Car park management’. The management of car parks is an effective measure for reducing car traffic and therefore also greenhouse gas emissions. In order to achieve our climate protection goals, we are considering implementing this measure from the university's climate protection concept accordingly.

Information basis

In a first step, basic information on the initial situation at the University of Oldenburg and on (technical) implementation options was obtained and analysed. This information is presented in the information basis for car park management. The information basis provides an overview of the central instruments of car park management as a design tool for sustainable everyday mobility at the University of Oldenburg. It supports an objective exchange on the topic of parking private cars at the UOL.

Information basis for car park management

Detailed planning

The next step is for the Climate Protection Management and Department 4 to draw up detailed plans for a car park management system by November 2025. The participation of university members is firmly anchored in this further process.