Picture of Cllr Bills at the Beryl bike bay outside Hethersett Library The UK’s leading micro mobility provider, Beryl, and Norfolk County Council have expanded the bike, e-bike and e-scooter share scheme. The first new bay has been installed in Hethersett outside the library with three more due to be installed over the coming months. This makes the scheme accessible to thousands more people in the area and creates a fantastic sustainable transport link between Hethersett and Wymondham. . The extension of the scheme has been made possible thanks to funding from the Department for Transport E-cycle extension fund. It will take advantage of The Blue Pedalway, a cycle lane opened in July 2020 that connects Hethersett with Sprowston via Norwich city centre. It currently takes approximately 30 minutes to cycle 6.5 miles between the two locations. A 30 minute journey on a beryl pedal bike would cost just £1.50 or £3 on an e-bike or e-scooter when using a minute bundle. Councillor David Bills, Councillor for Humbleyard Division said: “I’m delighted to welcome the Beryl network to Hethersett. This will be a huge benefit to local residents with safe travel routes to neighbouring Wymondham as well as into Norwich. These bikes, e-bikes and e-scooters are a great option for those wanting to leave the car at home and travel more sustainably, which in turn will help to reduce congestion and improve air quality for all. ” Beryl CEO and co-founder, Phil Ellis, said: “We want to encourage even more people to take up sustainable transport and extending our Norwich scheme to Hethersett will help make it even more accessible. “Norwich has excellent cycling infrastructure and, with the warmer weather and longer days on the horizon, I’m confident that even more people will now be encouraged to try the multiple modes we have in Norwich. “By getting more people out of the car and onto two wheels we can not only contribute towards improving public health but also cutting congestion on the area’s roads and improving air quality.” Since its launch on Tuesday 17 March 2020, the scheme has amassed 900,000 journeys across nearly 2,700,000km – the equivalent of over 67 trips around the Earth. Figures show that the scheme is going from strength to strength, with the overall number of rides in the last year up by 39% compared to the scheme’s second year and 379% compared to the scheme’s first year. User feedback shows that, on average, 23.2% of journeys have replaced road transport journeys such as using or being a passenger in a car, van, taxi or motorbike. According to industry calculations, that has saved almost 570 tonnes of harmful CO2 emissions, the equivalent of almost 3329 flights between London and Edinburgh. The scheme now has a total of 118 bays across the Greater Norwich area including Wymondham, Hethersett and Drayton. 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. Image provided by Norfolk County Council
