The milestone comes as the Beryl-operated scheme, which offers shared bikes, e-bikes and e-scooters, also surpassed five million kilometres of journeys. That’s the equivalent of nearly 125 full journeys around the Earth. 

Run in partnership with Norfolk County Council and National Grid, the scheme has had a significant impact on the environment, preventing more than 225 tonnes of harmful carbon emissions according to industry calculations. 

The achievement comes just weeks after the sitting Minister of State for Transport, Louise Haigh, said the government would look to legislate e-scooters across the UK. Louise Haigh has since been replaced as Minister of State for Transport by Heidi Alexander MP.

Beryl CEO and co-founder, Phil Ellis, said: “It’s always great to reach a significant milestone, as it shows that a scheme is not only offering a genuine sustainable transport option for a lot of people but it also dovetails well with existing modes. 

"We know from speaking to our riders that people love the fun, convenience and flexibility of e-scooters, especially for short journeys, and that is why they are so well used. 

“It's really positive that the government is looking to introduce legislation around e-scooters, but it must be the correct legislation that not only makes them more accessible to people, but also improves both safety and the perception of safety.

“It’s all there, we just need the government to introduce the correct legislation to make them more accessible, which would have a chain effect boosting their popularity, getting more people out of their cars and amplifying calls for better infrastructure."

Councillor Graham Plant, cabinet member for highways, infrastructure and transport said; “Reducing individual car travel within our urban areas plays a key role in us achieving our ambitious net-zero targets. These latest milestones show how well used the Beryl scheme is and how it’s helping so many people to make the transition to more sustainable modes of travel in Greater Norwich. 

“With more than 170 bays holding beryl bikes, e-bikes and e-scooters the scheme is really well known across the city and beyond. I’m also thrilled to see figures that show how some of our cycling infrastructure improvements across the city are helping to give more people the confidence to choose this travel option for short local journeys.”

A spokesperson for National Grid said: “We know that our responsibility as a business goes beyond safely building new energy infrastructure to enable a cleaner, fairer future. We want to leave a lasting positive impact in the areas where we build our projects and we’re delighted that our partnership with Beryl can make Norwich even more accessible to local communities.”

Beryl’s Norwich scheme has also amassed more than 530,000 hours of physical activity, which is scientifically proven to improve mental and physical health. 

Funded by the government’s Transforming Cities Fund, the scheme launched on Tuesday 17 March 2020 with bikes and e-bikes. E-scooters were added in September 2020 as part of the Department for Transport’s (DfT) e-scooter trials.

Beryl’s Norwich scheme is run in partnership with the UK’s largest electricity transmission and distribution business, National Grid, to enable more people to swap four wheels for two and travel sustainably around Norwich. National Grid is committed to decarbonising the energy system as part of a clean and fair transition that leaves no-one behind.

You can hire a Beryl Bike, e-Bike or e-scooter through the Beryl app, available for free download on the App Store for iOS, and the Google Play Store for Android users. 

For more information on Beryl schemes, please visit beryl.cc/scheme/norwich