Beryl and BCP Council are celebrating a significant milestone for the region’s bike and e-scooter share scheme.
Riders have now clocked up one million journeys, just a couple of weeks after the third anniversary of the scheme’s launch on 17 June 2019.
The one million journeys equate to a total distance of over 3.8m km, the equivalent of nearly 95 journeys around the Earth.
Feedback from 31,151 users since March 2021 shows that over a quarter (26.3%) of bike and e-scooter journeys in BCP have replaced road transport journeys – including driving a car/van, being a passenger in a car/van, using a taxi or riding a motorbike or moped.
This equates to almost 138 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions saved; the equivalent of around 9,208.707 boiled kettles or more than 807 flights from London to Edinburgh.*
The vehicles can be picked up from or dropped off at clearly marked ‘Beryl Bays’, which were located and installed in partnership with BCP Council and key stakeholders. This means that, currently, 283,300 people are a 5 minutes-walk from a bay, representing 78.5% of the service area’s population.
Beryl CEO, Phil Ellis, said: “We aim to remove the barriers that stop people using sustainable transport and inspire them to give it a go, so it’s obviously great news that we’ve encouraged so many two-wheeled trips.
“We made sure the scheme was planned correctly in consultation with the right people and I think that approach has been crucial in its success so far.
“This is important if we want to get people out of the car and reduce congestion while improving public health and the quality of our air.
“With the weather getting warmer now is a great time to give us a try.”
Councillor Mike Greene, BCP Council’s portfolio holder for Transport and sustainability said: “This is a real success for the joint Beryl/BCP Council initiative and I would like to thank and congratulate both teams for getting us to this incredible landmark.
“The green bikes and e-scooters are now a common sight around our towns and many of our locals and visitors have become ‘Beryl converts’ using them to make those shorter journeys to work, education and leisure, rather than taking their car. The Beryl service is proving to be a highly valuable tool in getting more cars off the road and thus helping to reduce traffic congestion in our conurbation.”
Initially launched as a bike share scheme, e-scooters were added to Bournemouth and Poole on 25 January 2021 as part of the Department for Transport’s (DfT) pilot.
You can hire a Beryl Bike or an e-scooter through the Beryl app, available for free download on the App Store for iOS, and the Google Play Store for Android users.
E-scooter riders are required to provide a valid UK Driving Licence to participate. They are also asked to provide feedback on their experiences using the vehicles to support data learnings on operating the service.
Beryl e-Scooters can be used on roads, cycle lanes, carriageways and other areas where cycling is permitted but not on pavements. Every Beryl e-Scooter has vehicle approval from the Department for Transport (DfT), ensuring it meets the highest safety standards. Beryl has and will continue to consult with key organisations as the trial progresses.