E-scooter trial in Norwich extended to May 2024
Norfolk County Council has today agreed to extend the current e-scooter trial in Norwich to 31 May 2024. There will also be an increase in the number of e-scooters available and new bays planned for Hethersett and Drayton.
Initially launched as a bike share scheme, a fleet of 100 e-scooters were added to Norwich in September 2020 as part of the Department for Transport's (DfT) pilot. Since they arrived there have been more than 368,000 e-scooter journeys travelling more than 1,155,00km.
Feedback from over 4000 journeys tells us that on average 32% of journeys have replaced either a car, taxi or motorbike. According to industry calculations, this has saved almost 49 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions, the equivalent of 284 flights from London to Edinburgh.
Cllr Martin Wilby, cabinet member for highways, infrastructure and transport said;
"It's great news that the DfT have agreed nationally to extend existing e-scooter trials and I'm very happy to agree to the extension for Norwich. The Beryl scheme goes from strength to strength with more than 55,000 users registered for the Norwich scheme.
"E-scooters are a great choice for those short trips which may otherwise be done in the car. By adding more scooters and creating more bays we can increase the number of journeys being swapped. This means less congestion and cleaner air for all, and another step towards reaching our net zero targets."
Beryl CEO, Phil Ellis, said:
"Beryl CEO and co-founder, Phil Ellis, said: "E-scooters have proven to be a really popular addition to our multimodal Norwich scheme and this extension is a major boost to our aim of inspiring even more people to take up sustainable travel.
"When planned correctly with local authorities and stakeholders and with the safety of users and pedestrians treated as paramount, e-scooters can offer a fast, fun, clean and inexpensive travel option.
"The extension of the trial will allow us to gather even further evidence to support this."
You can hire a Beryl bike or an e-scooter through the Beryl app, available for free download on the App Store for iOS, and the Google Play Store for Android users.
E-scooter riders are required to provide a valid UK Driving Licence to participate. They are also asked to provide feedback on their experiences using the vehicles to support data learnings on operating the service.
Beryl e-scooters can be used on roads, cycle lanes, carriageways and other areas where cycling is permitted but not on pavements. Every Beryl e-Scooter has vehicle approval from the Department for Transport (DfT), ensuring it meets the highest safety standards. It is currently illegal to ride private e-scooters on public roads and land.
There are now 95 bays now installed across the service area, including the recently launched bays in Wymondham. This means that, currently, 113,793 people are a five minutes-walk from a bay, representing 60% of the service area's population. More bays will also be opening later this year in both Hethersett and Drayton as well as new bays across more of Norwich.
Safety is paramount which is why earlier this year Beryl and Norfolk County Council launched the Scoot Happy Training. This gives people the opportunity to take part in online training which has already been completed by almost 2000 people. In addition, more than 145 people have taken part in face-to-face Scoot Happy training sessions.