Beryl, in partnership with BCP Council, are now providing 20 e-bikes for use across the existing scheme area. 

The move makes BCP only the second area in the country, after Norwich, to offer three forms of sustainable transport (e-scooters, push bikes and e-bikes) under the same scheme. 

One of the main benefits of using an e-bike is that electric assistance kicks in once the rider begins to pedal. This extra power can open up cities, enabling riders to tackle hills and undertake longer journeys. It is also useful for commuting, helping to reduce physical exertion and allowing workers to arrive at work clean and ready to go. 

Beryl CEO and co-founder, Phil Ellis, said: “By boosting people’s options and making our scheme even more accessible, we can hopefully continue to get more people out of the car and onto two wheels.  

“E-bikes can help us break down even more barriers to sustainable travel and that can only be a positive thing as we work with BCP Council to help reduce congestion, improve public health and boost air quality.

“We have launched a small initial fleet, but we hope through working with the council we can ramp those numbers up, if the e-bikes prove to be popular.

“So with the warm weather, long days and sky-high petrol prices, now is the perfect time to saddle up and give e-bikes a try.”

Councillor Mike Greene, BCP Council’s portfolio holder for transport and sustainability said: “Beryl bikes and e-scooters are proving to be an incredibly popular and efficient way of getting around locally and I’m delighted that even more people will be able to enjoy travelling sustainably and actively using these brand new e-bikes.

“They offer a range of benefits including enabling people with disabilities to enjoy cycling, and helping people ride further and with less physical exertion. 

“BCP Council is a trailblazer for micromobility in the south and I’m looking forward to seeing the e-bikes in action this summer.”

Beryl’s annual Demographic Survey ran in August 2021 and generated over 1000 responses from users. Findings from the survey showed that, while pedal bikes and e-scooters are more popular (than e-Bikes) for leisure riding, e-bikes are preferable for commuting, shopping or running errands. This showed that e-bikes have a complementary journey profile to pedal bikes and e-scooters.

The survey also showed that people using three modes of micromobility are also more likely to have reduced their usage of cars. Of those respondents who used three forms of micromobility, five per cent said they had completely stopped using their car and 30% said they had used their car less often since using Beryl vehicles. 

In areas where users just rode bikes, no respondents said they had completely stopped using the car and 25% said they had used it less often. 

You can hire a Beryl e-bike 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’s innovative bike share scheme, please visit beryl.cc/bikeshare.