Hereford’s shared bike and e-bike provider, Beryl, along with scheme partners Herefordshire Council, are celebrating a significant milestone.
Beryl vehicles have now clocked up more than one million kilometres across the city - the equivalent of around 25 trips around the Earth.
According to industry calculations, the 425,000 journeys undertaken since the scheme launched in July 2019 have had a significant impact on regional air quality, saving nearly 40 tonnes of carbon emissions - the equivalent of nearly 20,000 litres of petrol consumption.
The scheme has helped to reduce traffic congestion. According to Beryl’s latest annual Rider Report - a survey of thousands of Beryl riders undertaken across all scheme areas last summer - 68% of riders in Hereford have used a Beryl vehicle to replace a car, van, motorcycle or taxi journey (either as a driver or a passenger). This is 14% more than the average across all schemes.
With nearly 132,000 hours of rides, the scheme has also helped people across the city to increase their physical activity levels, which is proven to benefit both physical and mental health.
Richard Vaughan, Herefordshire Council’s Sustainability and Climate Change Manager said: “This amazing milestone, reached in under five years, shows just how popular the bike hire scheme is in the City and that Beryl bikes are now truly a way of life! The scheme has been great for reducing congestion and improving the health and wellbeing of residents. We look forward to continuing our partnership with Beryl as we continue to improve the bike share scheme across the City.”
Beryl CEO and co-founder, Phil Ellis, said: “I’m delighted that our Hereford share scheme has been able to reach this milestone and have a significant impact on regional air quality, congestion and physical activity levels.
“We know, from talking to our users, that our vehicles are also encouraging people to adopt more sustainable long-term transport habits.
“Of those asked, 60% of Beryl riders in Hereford said they now cycle more often or much more often since joining Beryl, while 46% said they have reduced their use of cars and 44% have reduced their use of taxis.
“We will continue to work with our scheme partners and stakeholders, as well as our riders, to ensure the scheme remains as accessible, simple-to-use and convenient as possible.”
Beryl currently provides 200 bikes and 104 e-bikes for riders in Hereford to use.
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/hereford