From Saturday 1 July to Saturday 30 September, riders across BCP and Dorset Councils can grab a free 30 minute journey on a Beryl pedal bike between 5am and 10am, seven days a week.*
The offer aims to inspire even more people to use shared transport to get to and from work, by showcasing how much fun it can be and how many practical benefits it can bring, including:
- Saving money on fuel and parking
- Getting fitter, healthier and more active
- Improving mental wellbeing
- Avoiding sitting in traffic jams
- Contributing towards reducing carbon emissions and boosting air quality
Beryl CEO and co-founder, Phil Ellis, said: “Commuting by bike is not only convenient and fun, it’s also cost effective when compared to private vehicle use, removing the cost of petrol, parking, tax, insurance and MOT.
“BCP’s picturesque scenery makes it a great place to do so, allowing you to take in the views and the fresh air on the way to or from work.
“With the warmer weather and longer days combined with this latest offer, now is the perfect time to give it a go.”
Councillor Vikki Slade, BCP Council Leader said: “The Beryl hire scheme is all about trying to encourage more people to leave the car at home and to take up sustainable and active forms of transport. This promotion, timed perfectly during summer, provides the ideal opportunity to give cycling or scooting a go. And with Beryl bikes on virtually every corner, there really is no excuse at all.”
The findings of the latest Beryl Annual Rider Report were obtained from 1,025 riders across BCP in September 2022 and showed that commuting by Beryl is becoming increasingly popular. On average, the number of riders in BCP commuting by Beryl more than doubled to 57% last year. The report also showed that 40% of all riders asked had reduced their car usage since using Beryl - an increase of 26% on the previous year.
The report also showed that 50% of riders had used Beryl to connect with public transport, compared to just 26% the previous year. The average distance of those journeys was less than 2.5km, which also shows the increasing importance of bikeshare as an option for the first and last mile journeys
Beryl’s BCP scheme recently celebrated its fourth anniversary by passing the major service milestone of replacing over 2m kilometres of road transport journeys - the equivalent of over 50 journeys around the Earth – with Beryl sustainable transport journeys.
Launched initially as a bike share scheme in partnership with BCP Council on 17 June 2019, the scheme has generated over 1.5m journeys, of which over 379,000 have replaced trips that would have been taken in a car, van, taxi or motorbike.
According to industry calculations, this has led to a saving of nearly 270 tonnes of harmful carbon dioxide emissions, the equivalent of nearly 16,000 litres of petrol.
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 info, visit beryl.cc/scheme/bournemouth-christchurch-and-poole
*Offer limited to one per rider per day during the three month period