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Beryl offers multi-city bike-share scheme across Solent region

Posted: 7 October 2022 | | No comments yet

Beryl Bikes by Breeze will provide people across Portsmouth, Southampton and the Isle of Wight with better access to sustainable modes of transport, helping to improve air quality and public health across the Solent region.

Beryl offers multi-city bike-share scheme across Solent region

Credit: Beryl

In partnership with Isle of Wight Council, Hampshire County Council, Southampton City Council and Portsmouth City Council, Beryl Bikes are now available across the Solent region through the new micro-mobility app, Breeze, developed by Solent Transport.

The new bike-share fleet joins Solent Transport’s e-scooter hire project, providing people across the region with more choice and opportunity to make sustainable journeys and improving travel options for all. Beryl Bikes by Breeze is part of the Solent Future Transport Zone, funded by the Department for Transport.

The scheme aims to help reduce congestion and CO2 emissions, improve air quality and inspire healthy and affordable active travel choices across the Solent region. Starting with an initial pool of 200 pedal bikes and 235 e-bikes, it will increase to a fleet of more than 1000 bikes across the region by spring 2023.

Beryl has been providing scooters to residents and visitors of the Isle of Wight since 18 months, with its riders clocking up 400,000km. The launch of its e-bikes will now allow more people across the Island to benefit from Beryl’s range of micro-mobility vehicles.

Riders will be able to hire both Beryl and Voi e-scooters through the Breeze app, as well as plan journeys on buses and trains across south Hampshire and the Isle of Wight. In future, there are plans for more features to be added including the ability to buy bus, rail and ferry tickets through the app. 

Solent bike-share scheme approved for launch in Summer 2022

As the scheme expands, most people living in the operating area will be within a five-minute walk of a hire bike. Providing bikes at more than 100 sites across the region, Beryl Bikes by Breeze will give better access to transport and inspire even more people to take up sustainable travel, helping to improve air quality and public health.

A mixture of pedal bikes and e-bikes are available for everyone aged 16 and above, with cargo bikes and adapted bikes to be added to the scheme in the future, ensuring that a wide range of user requirements are catered for.

Beryl CEO Phil Ellis said: “We are absolutely delighted to be able to launch the scheme in Portsmouth, Southampton and on the Isle of Wight and, in doing so, enable more people to take advantage of the excellent local cycling infrastructure. As with all our schemes, this has been designed to provide the best possible service for users by being delivered both in partnership with the local authority and in consultation with communities and key stakeholders.”

Councillor Lynne Stagg, Chair of the Solent Transport Joint Committee and Cabinet Member for Traffic and Transportation at Portsmouth City Council, said: “As we face a global climate emergency, it’s more important than ever that our residents have access to more sustainable ways to travel. We are delighted to be able to launch the scheme across three key areas in the Solent. We want to make cycling as easy and accessible for as many of our residents as possible.”