Herefordshire Council and partner Beryl, are celebrating the impact of the introduction of e-bikes, after they replaced almost 21,000 private road transport journeys in their first year.

 Since being introduced alongside the city’s shared bikes in February 2023, the vehicles have clocked up nearly 90,000 journeys across nearly 243,000km.

According to industry calculations, this has seen them save over three tonnes of Carbon Dioxide emissions, the equivalent of almost 1,500 litres of petrol.

Cllr Philip Price, Cabinet Member Infrastructure and Transport, said: “Beryl bikes have been a real asset to Hereford, providing an excellent way to make short journeys that are good for health and wellbeing and help to reduce congestion and pollution on our road network. 

“The e-bikes have only been part of the fleet for a year, but have seen users rack up nearly quarter of a million kilometres, which is an incredible statistic. We look forward to working with Beryl to continue and further improve the bike-share scheme across the city.”

 Research has also shown that, since the e-bikes arrived, riders in Hereford are embracing the extra variety. The latest Beryl Annual Rider Report, a survey of riders undertaken in summer 2023, showed that 84% of the riders asked had ridden the e-bikes since their arrival. It also revealed that 79% said they regularly switched between bikes and e-bikes.

Beryl CEO and co-founder, Phil Ellis, said: “It’s great to see how much of an impact our e-bikes have had in Hereford and the numbers and feedback both show that riders have really embraced the variety that the scheme now offers them.

“Our e-bikes are a fantastic way to get around and the extra power that they provide can make the occasionally hilly terrain more accessible to some riders and allow them to undertake longer journeys.

“They’re also great for commuting as, by picking up the extra slack, the electric assistance can help you arrive at work looking and feeling as fresh as when you first set off.

“By swapping the car for an e-bike journey you’re not only boosting your own health and fitness, you’re also contributing towards reducing congestion and improving air quality, so why not give it a try.”

In November last year, four brand new e-cargo bikes were added to the city’s bikes and e-bikes. This was the first time that they have been provided alongside other modes of sustainable transport in the UK as part of one integrated scheme.

 The e-cargo bikes were funded by the Midland Net Zero Hub, one of five local hubs across the UK that aim to facilitate investment into decarbonisation projects, increasing the number, quality and scale of those being delivered across the regions.

Beryl currently provides 200 bikes and 104 e-bikes for riders in Hereford to use, which have generated nearly 400,000 journeys across more than 937,000 km since the scheme was first launched in July 2019.

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