British bike share provider Beryl and Herefordshire Council, have today announced plans to make the shared bike service in the city free for key workers during the current COVID-19 pandemic lockdown.
Aimed at increasing transport choice for journeys between home and work, NHS workers and members of the public sector will be able to access the scheme by signing up to the Beryl App with their ‘NHS’ or ‘gov.uk’ email address. This will automatically provide free unlock and up to 60 minutes use for all bay to bay rides in the Hereford service area.
During the first lockdown Beryl supported over 10,000 free journeys for NHS staff across the UK with a series of initiatives across their services.
This initiative covers all key workers from the NHS and civil services by including riders that sign up with ‘gov.uk’ or ‘NHS’ email domains.
Phil Ellis, CEO of Beryl said: “As the COVID-19 crisis continues, many people can’t stay home as they’re working to protect and aid the general public. We want to ensure these individuals can still be mobile and maintain safe distances from others while travelling to and from their places of work. As such, we’ve partnered to make Beryl bikes temporarily free for NHS and council staff in Hereford, to help them get around and to say thanks for the important work they’re doing.”
Cllr John Harrington, Cabinet Member for Infrastructure and Transport, said:
“We’re pleased to support this initiative which will give NHS, council and other key worker employees a free and flexible transport option.
“We are delighted that so many key workers have already been able to make use of free Beryl journeys during this crisis and we hope this further initiative will continue to help them to get to and from work in a quick, easy and healthy way whilst also doing their bit to improve local air quality and congestion. It’s a small but I hope welcome reward for their continued dedication, professionalism and selflessness as they continue to go above and beyond for our communities”
The initiative is live from today and will continue indefinitely with Beryl and Herefordshire Council monitoring the free rides throughout the duration of the UK lockdown. To access free rides, riders simply need to sign up to the app with a valid NHS or gov.uk email address. This will provide free use of all trips by Beryl Bikes ending in a Beryl Bay within a 60 minute ride duration.
Those using Beryl bikes to transport themselves between home and work are encouraged to wash their hands immediately before and after use, as well as stay two metres away from others whilst cycling.
For more information, please visit beryl.cc.
