Brighton & Hove’s relaunched e-bike scheme enters second phase

The number of Beryl  Bikes available for hire around Brighton & Hove is being boosted by the imminent arrival of 100 new e-bikes and, for the first time,  50 pedal bikes. A new pricing scheme will enable people to ride as cheaply as 4p per minute.

The Brighton cycle hire scheme was relaunched with Beryl at the end of March this year and has now reached phase two in which the stock is being increased and a number of old hubs being brought back into use. By Autumn, the aims is to have grown the fleet to a total of 780, made up of 468 e-bikes and 312 pedal-only bikes.

The scheme will also boast three electric vehicles which will help with redistribution and servicing of bikes, and two electric cargo bikes used for swapping the bikes’ batteries.

Since the relaunch of the scheme at the start of April, Beryl BTN Bikes have been used for almost 44,000 journeys spanning more than 166,000km across the city.

Along with more bikes and hubs, the current temporary pricing will change and a range of permanent pricing options are being launched. Users will be able to purchase two day, seven day and 30 day Riding Passes which offer discounted hire rates.

Under the new system, a typical 23 minute journey by pedal bike only using the new 30 day pass offer would cost less than £1

• £12 for 100 minutes (two day pass) = 12p per minute, plus £1 unlock fee for e-bikes, no fee for pedal bikes
• £24 for 300 minutes (seven day pass) = 8p per minute, plus £1 unlock fee for e-bikes, no fee for pedal bikes
• £32 for 800 minutes (30 day pass) = 4p per minute, plus £1 unlock fee for e-bikes, no fee for pedal bikes

Each of these passes has a 30 minute journey cap at which point charges move to the ‘pay as you ride’ tariff. The pay as you ride tariff will also be available for anyone who doesn’t want to purchase one of these passes.

• Pedal bikes – 8p per minute plus £1 unlock
• E-bikes – 16p per minute plus £1 unlock

Councillor Trevor Muten, Chair of the Transport and Sustainability committee said: ‘It’s great to hear that we’ll soon be seeing more Beryl bikes on the streets of Brighton & Hove and that users will be offered cheaper pricing options.

‘We have heard what people have said about pricing and so I’m really pleased to see that the new Riding Passes will bring down the cost to users. This is really important if we want more people to cycle around our great city.

‘The new scheme has been very popular since the relaunch. More bikes and a bigger hire zone mean they’ll be accessible to thousands more residents and visitors.

‘Beryl BTN Bikes are an easy and affordable way to get around the city. The new e-bikes have made even some of the hilliest areas so much easier to access and for those that still want the full pedal bike experience, that’s now an option too.’

Beryl CEO and co-founder, Phil Ellis, said: ‘We’ve been delighted with the initial reaction to the scheme and would like to thank everyone who has tried the bikes so far and provided us with valuable feedback.

‘It’s really exciting that we can now focus on expanding and making our bikes more convenient and accessible to even more people, opening them up to a wider range of uses such as shopping or commuting.

‘With bike share also removing the additional costs of fuel, insurance, tax, MOT, maintenance and storage associated with private vehicle ownership, it really is a cost effective way to get around the city.’