UK-based micromobility operator Beryl and BCP Council have announced that one of the most utilised e-scooter trials in England has achieved a 31% growth in usage in its second year.
The scheme in Bournemouth and Poole, in the UK’s southern region, has expanded from 264,346 journeys in its first year to 346,393 in its second, since it was launched on 25 January 2021.
With an average usage of four trips per e-scooter per day, Bournemouth is the second most utilised trial out of 32 across England, according to the Department for Transport’s National Evaluation (DfT) released in December.
Beryl CEO and Co-Founder, Phil Ellis, told Zag Daily the pilot was “meticulously planned and delivered in partnership with the local authority” and “in consultation with the community and key stakeholders”.
“Doing it this way ensures that we provide the best possible service to our users, which encourages as many people as possible to adopt more sustainable travel habits,” said Ellis. “Customer service is also important to us and our dedicated customer and on-street teams work closely to ensure schemes run as smoothly as possible.
Bournemouth & Poole scheme
The e-scooters are set to stay for at least another year, following BCP Council’s decision last October to accept the DfT’s invitation to extend the scheme until May 2024.
Nearly a third (31.2%) of all e-scooter journeys in the BCP Council region have replaced road transport journeys, according to Beryl, including driving a car/van, being a passenger in a car/van, using a taxi or riding a motorbike or moped.
The firm says that industry calculations and modal shift data show this equates to more than 90 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions saved.
Cllr Mike Greene, BPC Council’s Portfolio Holder for Sustainability and Transport, said: “One of our primary goals for the scheme was to help combat congestion and reduce levels of pollution in Bournemouth and Poole. The popularity of the e-scooters has shown the support there is for alternative, sustainable forms of transport in the area.”
Beryl also operates a bike and e-bike share scheme in the area which launched in April 2019. Beryl’s e-scooters operate concurrently with its bike and e-bike share scheme, allowing riders to hire and drop off e-scooters, bikes and e-bikes from Beryl bays.
“Our customer team can deal with up to 2,500 enquiries in a busy week and work incredibly hard to ensure customers feel valued, achieving an average response time of 80 seconds and customer satisfaction rating of over 89% for 2022.”
