Beryl Rider Report highlights interesting trends across Norwich
Shared sustainable transport provider Beryl has today released its fourth annual Rider Report, a survey of thousands of riders used to identify behaviours, motivations, impacts and barriers.
The report surveyed over 3,000 people in September 2023 that had signed up to use Beryl and is packed full of interesting findings.
One of the standout findings from the Norwich scheme, powered by National Grid, this year is the increasing importance of convenience and novelty when deciding to sign up, which have increased by 19% and 14% respectively compared to 2022.
Beryl has had a positive impact on rider behaviour in Norwich, with 44% of riders cycling more often or much more often since joining Beryl, 35% reducing their use of cars and 50% reducing their use of taxis. 61% of riders have used a Beryl vehicle to replace a car, van, motorcycle or taxi journey (either as a driver or a passenger).
There has been an encouraging increase in the number of riders with a disability in Norwich (13%), which has increased by 4% compared to 2022. Encouragingly, 81% of riders with a disability in Norwich say Beryl has allowed them to make trips that they otherwise wouldn't have been able to make.
Beryl Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and co-founder, Phil Ellis, said: "It has been a really positive year for Beryl and Norfolk County Council's bike, e-bike and e-scooter share scheme, with the scheme expanding further and proving even more popular than last year.
"One of the scheme's great strengths is its multimodality and we can see from the report that offering people three modes is having a really positive impact on rider behaviour, getting more people out of their cars and adopting more sustainable transport habits.
We work really hard to ensure our services are accessible to as wide a range of people as possible, so it's also really encouraging to see how much they have benefited those with a disability.
"Ultimately, a successful operator is one that not only listens to its riders, but also uses their feedback to shape future delivery and improvement. I promise you that Beryl will continue to do this into 2024 and beyond."
Councillor Graham Plant, cabinet member for highways, infrastructure and transport at Norfolk County Council said: "The beryl scheme in Norwich continues to be popular with more than 77,000 people using the scheme since it launched in March 2020. With more than 140 bays across the Greater Norwich area more people than ever can benefit from access to this fantastic sustainable travel - in fact - almost 14,000 people tried the scheme this year for the first time. This latest report shows that 61% of rides are replacing car or van journeys which means this scheme is making a real impact on air quality in the city and is a key part to us achieving our ambition net-zero targets."
Riders across Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole (BCP) Council continue to embrace multiple modes, with 51% riding all three modes compared to 6% that just ride pedal bikes and 12% that just ride e-scooters.
Beryl is also having a positive impact on lapsed cyclists in the city, with 17% of riders returning to cycling after a short break (1-5 years) and 19% returning after a break of more than 5 years.
Riders were also surveyed across other Beryl-operated schemes in Hereford, BCP, Watford, Southampton, Portsmouth, Cornwall, Plymouth, the Isle of Wight, along with Greater Manchester.
The survey was sent to riders via email and within the Beryl app. Of those who responded across Norwich, 94% had signed up and taken at least one ride while 6% had signed up but not yet taken a ride.
The survey is undertaken annually to allow Beryl to understand riders' motivations, as well as their behaviour before, during and after riding our vehicles.