NEWS | New cycling initiative hopes to get more people cycling in Hereford

Cycling around Hereford is about to get a lot easier with the launch of a new initiative.

Herefordshire Council has partnered with scheme operator Beryl, for a two year contract to provide bike share across Hereford.

The scheme will be launched in Summer 2019, with bikes distributed at key destinations across the city.

The bikes will be available for hire via the Beryl App, which lets users find a bike and then easily unlock it, simply using their smartphone. The App will be available for download on the Apple app store for iPhone, and the Google Play Store for Android users.

Users will be informed of the location of ‘Beryl Bays’, the preferred parking locations to leave the bikes. However, the scheme is designed with flexibility in mind and will allow users to park the bikes elsewhere for an extra charge, provided they are safely within the scheme area.

There is no initial or ongoing cost to the council and Beryl will be responsible for supplying the bikes as well as management and maintenance of the service.

Beryl is a partner to the London bike share scheme and has experience operating two corporate dockless bike share schemes in London and recently announced a scheme in Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole. Beryl is accredited with CoMoUK, which is the agreed standard of best practice for the industry.

Marc Willimont, Acting Assistant Director for Regulatory Environment and Waste Herefordshire Council, said: “The bike share scheme is a welcome addition to the other active travel options offered through our Choose How you Move project. Bike share will give more people the opportunity to make short journeys in and across the city by bike, helping to reduce congestion and support increased activity levels.”

Philip Ellis, chief operating officer at Beryl, added: “We are looking forward to bringing out expertise in bike share to Hereford and opening up cycling to more people. We believe in the power of bringing private and public sector together to collaborate on common goals such as getting more people to choose active transport.”