Beryl Bikes scheme helps Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole (BCP) Council reduce congestion

The formation of the new unitary Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole (BCP) Council in April 2019 created an urban population of 400 000, the twelfth largest in the country. The BCP area is the economic hub of Dorset and the third fastest growing large (non mayoral) city region, but also the sixth most congested. In order to reduce congestion and encourage a cheap, healthy and environmentally friendly form of transport the council tendered for a dockless bike share partner for five years. This was awarded to Beryl, a London based operator of bike, e-bike, e-scooter and cargo bike shared services.

The BCP conurbation includes an expanding Port, University and Airport plus a growing digital creative sector. The area is renowned for high quality tourism with 9.6m visitors each year. Whilst the coastal location results in restricted geography there is also a lack of strategic transport infrastructure compared to other local authorities. Dorset itself remains a motorway free zone and there is also a distinct lack of primary/trunk roads across the conurbation. This results in significant congestion particularly at holiday times,

Congestion in BCP therefore costs an estimated £300m per annum. Securing modal shift by bike, bus, train and on foot is a priority and follows the declaration of a climate emergency by the council. Bike Share is a key deliverable of this. The council had been approached by a significant number of commercial dockless bike share suppliers with a view to operating in the area. Following research a formal procurement process was undertaken to select the best solution from the outset. Market engagement with suppliers showed preference for a longer five year contract, as opposed to a year “trial” which many authorities traditionally used at the time. Securing modal shift takes time and this would enable the market to grow in close partnership with the operator and the council.

For BCP Bike Share would be required to deliver the following:

Following the fair and equitable tender process, the council were delighted to award the contract to Beryl in March 2019. Beryl is the only micro-mobility operator that is a certified B Corporation (BCorp). The scheme was Beryl’s first large scale Bike Share deployment and they have provided purpose-built bikes of real quality. The distinctive green bikes are of step-through design so are fully accessible for all users from 4 ft 11” to 6 ft 5”. The bikes have proper pneumatic tyres for a comfortable ride and three speed gears, with the lowest ratio suitable for the steepest of hills.

Access is through the Beryl App, which clearly shows the location of all bikes available for instant hire. Crucially the bikes are fitted with in-built GPS so are continuously tracked by the operator in real time (some other bike share schemes have been dependent on users’ mobile data for this). As an example of close partnership working BCP Council is housing Beryl’s maintenance team within their own premises near to Bournemouth Station. This was historically the municipal transport depot- where lines of trams once stood there are now Beryl bikes.

A locally based manager has a team to both maintain and redistribute the bikes as required. This has ensured a trouble-free operation of the scheme, plus a single point of contact for the local authority.

Demand for Bike Share has far exceeded expectations. Launched in June 2019, in the first twelve months the BCP scheme had over 120,000 journeys taken, with 27,000 unique users. Our riders cycled over 570,000 km. Usage has increased exponentially as the scheme has grown in size to over 120km² and is now the largest in the UK outside of London. Following requests from residents the geographical area was increased to include Christchurch in 2020, funded by a £450k LTP investment in additional bikes from BCP. All other services in the area are provided commercially by the operator. E-scooters were added in 2021 as part of the Department for Transport’s National Trial and have been fully integrated into the scheme. E-bikes were also added in Autumn 2022. The Bike and E-scooter share scheme has so far been used by 188,224 different riders, undertaking 1.36 million journeys and covering a distance of five million km. A 33 per cent modal shift has occurred from car, van, taxi and motorbike, taking over 1.65million vehicle km off the road network so far.

Surveys have shown the following impacts of the bike share scheme:

The scheme grew in popularity during the challenges of the Covid Pandemic. The council in partnership with Beryl provided match funding to give free rides for over 500 NHS staff and 1000 key workers (including Social Care Workers, NHS Volunteers, shop assistants, bus, train and delivery drivers, teachers,

The scheme is therefore directly saving both carbon and congestion, whilst increasing the health of our residents and visitors.

Dockless bike share schemes traditionally had a mixed reputation for on-street clutter and obstruction and this caused some resistance to the scheme prior to introduction. The solution was therefore to introduce a network of marked “preferred parking bays” at popular locations such as high streets, transport hubs, university campuses, hospitals, leisure centres and key residential areas.

The bays are simply marked in green paint (to match the bikes themselves) on the footway with no other signage necessary. An assessment is undertaken at each site by the Council to ensure that pavement width is not compromised for other users. Overall the bays are comparatively quick to install - 120 were available for the launch of the scheme. The bays themselves are geo-fenced in the App and users are encouraged to park in a Beryl Bay at the end of their journey by a simple financial incentive- a £5 convenience fee is levied to leave a bike outside of a bay. This convenience surcharge has been very effective and 95 per cent of journeys are to/from a marked bay. This has two distinct advantages:

• Complaints about clutter and obstruction have been minimised.
• Customers value having known pick up points with a ready supply of bikes at key locations - bike share then becomes a convenient and reliable form of transport suitable for commuter journeys.

Since scheme launch the council has worked closely with Beryl to identify and install a further 300 parking areas to ensure a denser coverage, with 85 per cent of residents now within five minutes walk of a bay. This is ongoing as the project develops- locations of these are requested by users (via the App) and also identified through the use of historic tracking data of where bikes themselves. In addition numerous businesses, hotels and shops have been actively requesting bays outside their premises in support of the scheme.

South Western Railway has also been a keen advocate of the scheme from the outset, with large Beryl Bays provided directly outside the main station exits. This is of particular advantage at Bournemouth, where the station is a 25 minute walk from the town centre, but less then ten minutes on a Beryl Bike. This bay holds 20 bikes and is one of the most popular for hires, showing that bike share is an ideal “first and last mile” solution. Bikes are also available at key bus stops and 25 per cent of riders have used a bike to connect with a bus journey.

BCP Council and Beryl are working in partnership to deliver on road e-scooter courses. These are delivered by the council’s cycle instructors with the content of the courses based on the key principles of the National Bikeability scheme. The e-scooter skills training programme have helped educate users on riding technique, general behaviour, compliance with the Highway Code and how to minimise risks whilst riding. The practical instruction is also supplemented by in app safety training. This Best Practice is being shared with other local authorities involved in the trials.

Tracking data from the scheme has directly assisted in the creation of the council’s Local Cycling and Walking Improvement Plan and will enable a review of the effectiveness of capital schemes in the future. The geographical area of the scheme itself will be further extended in 2023 into Studland in partnership with the National Trust. This will assist with the significant seasonal traffic congestion in the area. 100 additional e-bikes are also being introduced in Spring 2023. These are being assembled at a new Bike factory that Beryl has opened in Poole, adding further to employment opportunities in the area. Apprenticeships are also available.

Close partnership working has delivered measurable modal shift and a saving in carbon – see table below:

In addition annual surveys of users has crucially shown that long term behavioural change is being achieved. An impressive 34 per cent of Beryl users have returned to cycling after a break, whilst 7 per cent have now subsequently bought their own bikes to use. BCP also shares Best Practice with other Local Authorities. The scheme has demonstrated with clear measurable outcomes that a combined dockless Bike and E-scooter share solution can secure modal shift and cut carbon. We look forward to developments in partnership in the future.