The UK’s leading micromobility provider, Beryl, and Dorset Council are offering thousands more people the chance to take up two wheeled travel from today (1 August), a few days ahead of the UK’s biggest cycling commuting event.
A new Southeast Dorset bike share scheme, embracing Wimborne, Colehill, West Parley, West Moors and Ferndown will link up with the existing Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole (BCP) scheme, removing the barriers to sustainable transport for even more people.
It is being funded through southeast Dorset’s Transforming Cities Fund (TCF)1 programme, aimed at reducing congestion, protecting the natural environment and encouraging healthy, active travel across the region.
The new scheme launches just ahead of national Cycle to Work Day on Thursday 4 August. The event aims to encourage workers all around the country to get on their bikes and get into work on two wheels. It’s an event for everyone, from people who haven’t hopped on a bike since their school days to committed cycle commuters.
By providing 122 bikes and more than 50 bays across the area, it is hoped that the Southeast Dorset Beryl Bikes scheme will inspire even more people to take up sustainable travel, helping to improve air quality and public health. It is hoped that the scheme and infrastructure improvements will reduce road congestion and open up new opportunities for residents to commute to different local workplaces without needing to use a car.
The scheme will boost sustainable transport links in the area, allowing more people to make the following cycle journeys:
- From Wimborne – Ferndown (20 mins) Parley Cross (30 mins) Colehill (5 mins) West Moors (25 mins) Bournemouth (50 mins), Christchurch (58 mins), Poole (36 mins)
- From Ferndown – Moors Valley Country Park (25 mins) Verwood (30 mins) Colehill (15 mins) West Moors (8 mins) Parley Cross (12 mins) Bournemouth (42 mins), Christchurch (43 mins), Poole (53 mins)
Beryl CEO Phil Ellis said: “We are absolutely delighted to be able to launch the scheme in Southeast Dorset and, in doing so, enable more people to take advantage of the excellent local cycling infrastructure.
“As with all of our schemes, this scheme has been designed to provide the best possible service for users by being delivered both in partnership with the local authority and in consultation with communities and key stakeholders.
“The launch of the new bikes coincides with national Cycle To Work Day, so with the weather warm and the days still long, it is an excellent time for people to give bike share a try.”
Cllr Simon Gibson, Dorset Council’s Lead Member for Highways, said: “Active travel is a core part of our Climate and Ecological Emergency Strategy, and will help us reduce Dorset’s carbon emissions to net zero. This means we need to make cycling easy and accessible for as many of our residents as possible.
Setting up the Beryl Bike scheme in Dorset is an exciting opportunity not only to help protect the natural environment, but help people get active and even save money at a time when fuel is so expensive. And with local cycling infrastructure currently being developed through our Transforming Travel programme with BCP Council, there has never been a better time to hop on a bike in East Dorset.”
Launched in April 2019, the BCP bike share scheme currently has 900 bikes and 250 e-scooters. The Southeast Dorset scheme will increase the total number of available bikes in the region to more than 1000. As of 1 August 2022, riders have made over 1,099,500 journeys over a distance of more than 4,147,780 km since the launch.
Feedback from users* shows that over a quarter (26.3%) of journeys in the BCP Council region have replaced road transport journeys and its expected the Dorset scheme will achieve the same – including driving a car/van, being a passenger in a car/van, using a taxi or riding a motorbike or moped.
This equates to over 607 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions saved: the equivalent of around 40 million kettles boiled or more than 3551 flights from London to Edinburgh.**
Riders can hire a Beryl Bike through the Beryl app, available for download on the App Store for iOS, and the Google Play Store for Android users. The bikes can be picked up and dropped off in marked ‘Beryl Bays’.
Riders have a payment choice of Pay-As-You-Ride (£1 unlock fee + 5p per minute), Minute Bundles (no unlock fee and bundles starting at 100 minutes for £5) or Day Passes (24 hours of unlimited riding for £12). Once their ride is complete, users simply close the lock on the bike to complete their ride and make it available for the next person to use.
*Based on 34,569 user responses received since 10 March 2021
**Carbon saving calculations are approximate and are based on industry research.
Wow. Interesting that the places chosen for the beryl bikes have fairly good bus services anyway. Would have been good to choose places like Verwood that have poor bus services.
Please don’t forget the western part of this lovely county. Virtually everything is for Bournemouth, Poole Christchurch areas.
Come on DCC level up the county
Jon – This scheme was funded via the government’s Transforming Cities Fund, which is very specific about where we’re allowed to spend the money. That said, we’re constantly looking for Levelling Up Funding for all areas of Dorset – James
I don’t think you even know that Shaftesbury is in Dorset! It never gets a look-in.
So lets look at some costs. Take a day rate of £12 say 5 days each week to get to work = £60. Work 48 weeks in the year =£2880. I’m sure I could buy an adequate bicycle for considerably less. So once again big business in hand with local councillors are ripping off joe public.
Walsley – With respect, that’s an unfair comparison. We’re not suggesting people use the Beryl bikes as a substitute for a personal bicycle. We are actively encouraging people to cycle whenever they can, whether on a Beryl bike or their own. It would surely only be a “rip-off” if we said people must use a Beryl bike, which we’re certainly never going to do. The scheme is there as an optional alternative that people are free to utilise or ignore – James
Just back from Spain where we used our e-scooters as often as we could. But not here! If you can rent, why can’t you own? An industry waits to stimulate the economy. Can Dorset Council do something about this in its area of responsibility?
Glad to see the bikes in West Moors , when are the scooters arriving – dying to have a go!
No plans for the scooters as yet Christine – they’re currently only being used in the BCP area at the moment. But we’ll keep an eye on how the scheme performs and see whether introducing e-scooters would be supported by the community – James
This is crazy.! Do you know how many over 65s are in Dorset?
Do you think many of them are going to ditch their cars and use a bike in rainy, cold weather to go where ? to the shops? carrying their wares home ? on yer bike!
I wonder how many of the council members are using these new cycle lanes?
Geoffrey – No one is suggesting that the bikes are going to be suitable for everyone (especially those with mobility issues), but the point is to provide choice and support those who wish to reduce their carbon footprint and reliance on private motor vehicles. We’d also disagree that active travel isn’t appropriate for our older residents, as the new cycling infrastructure installed in Southeast Dorset is not just for bikes but for pedestrians and wheelchair users too – James
Geoffrey, I’m 69 and regularly use a bike to go a couple of miles to the shops or just for 5-10 miles around country lanes. Plenty of older people pass me. In cold weather it’s a good way to warm up. In wet weather I just put on a raincoat. We might be past retirement, but we’re not ‘past it’!
It’s ‘crazy’ not to keep exercising as you get older, and cycling on safe off-road routes is an ideal way to do that.
All very well if users are aware of and comply with the ‘rules’ governing their use, and it is policed. See
Safe and legal usage of Beryl e-Scooters
How to ride an electric scooter safely and legally
Annabel Stanley avatar
Written by Annabel Stanley
(search under are Beryl bikes insured?)
Colin – There are no plans to introduce e-scooters in the Dorset Council area at this time. The Beryl bikes are no different from private bicycles and users have a personal responsibility to adhere to the rules of the Highway Code at all times – James
Blandford and Pimperne need bikes
Agree with Colin. e-Scooters are not the problem per se. As both a user of pavements (for walking/running, not parking !) and a car driver I am very glad that Dorset is not plagued by these. If users had to have their own insurance, had to wear safety equipment (helmet, lights, bells) and had taken at least the Driving Test Theory exam or some sort of motorbike CBT test that might go some way to making their use compatible with using the public highway. e-Scooters are motorised vehicles and should be treated as such; our roads are not playgrounds.
I agree, Walking into work everyday, including wet days, to save on fossil fuels!! I find adults riding the pavements, and they don’t give way! I am on Pavements and not cycle lanes and have to dodge cyclists and they are rude to me!!!!!
The press release seems to imply this is a first for the Dorset Council area. It isn’t: Beryl Bikes have been available in Wool and Bovington for the past month. And I take issue with the comment that we’re too old if we’re over 65 – there are plenty pensioners on push-bikes around here. My old mate in the village has just turned 100 and he’s still cycling. – Tony
We haven’t stated this is a first for the area, but it’s the first time we’ve been involved in launching the scheme; We were not involved with the bikes in Wool and Bovington. And we completely agree that age is no barrier to using bikes to get around – James
If a cycle is left along a park area against hedges, by the New Mercedes garage by Premier Inn holes bay across from the water inlet bay for days, who do I report it to before the bad weather arrives?
Best to e-mail support@beryl.cc or call 020 3003 5044 – thank you.
These bicycles are absolutely useless. The new cycle lanes that have been constructed throughout the area have done nothing to help those who really want to use a bicycle as a commuting vehicle. The majority of the population in the area are ageing and need other forms of accessible and convenient transport. The vast number of carers who use the road network to attend to their clients are now hampered and inconvenienced. In short in some urban areas where there is a need for people to travel to work on short routes then cycle ways are beneficial. In this semi – urban environment where journey to work distances are not short the recent vast expenditure on cycle ways is just another example of local authority incompetence.
I have spent a few of my life in several cities using a bicycle to commute from home to places of study & employment throughout the year and at no time have I had any issue or problem using the urban road network as it existed.
Now all I have to say is that there is no way that I can utilise the newly provide cycleways to give me the benefit of helping improve journey time and fitness.
All is with good intention, but you have researched and implemented this network without asking those who have the level of experience that could have made it all so much better.
So the real question is who has paid for this nonsense, who signed it off as viable, and when are we going to see some real transport improvements in the area?
Roger – There is nothing in this scheme to the detriment of any of the groups you have mentioned. People with mobility issues, carers etc. are still able to use the existing highways infrastructure as before; no-one has been “hampered” or “inconvenienced” beyond the temporary roadworks needed to put the lanes in place. The work has been paid for by central govt’s Active Travel Fund – find out more at https://www.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk/transforming-travel
I know from recent consultations that there is a demand for Beryl Bikes in Corfe Mullen,and this would link to routes via Wimborne and Broadstone. Could you send some this way, please?
Are you joking – I’ve just ridden down from Marnhull through Sturminster Newton and the ‘traffic calming’ measure forces cyclists out into oncoming traffic when many other towns/villages/cities have a thin cycling route that safely takes you through – combine that with the state of the roads and every ride around here is quite frightening !! Please don’t pretend to be on the side of the cyclist without taking a holistic approach
Wonderful idea. It is a win win situation. Saves on our carbon footprint and keeps people healthy, saving money for the NHS
How about reopening the Park and Ride, getting a bus to stop there and supplement this with Beryl bikes. What a major effect this would have on congestion and pollution in Weymouth Town Centre – the largest urban area in Dorset Council. Also Beryl bike scheme in town centre where we need to discourage cars. Finally we do have cycle paths including one to Dorchester – useful when you look at the number of people commuting into Dorchester for work. Alternatively disperse jobs from Dorchester and don’t build the 4000 homes there.
I hope the Council is measuring the “cycle & pedestrian traffic” after all this money and effort spent. This needs to be done now and in 3 months time.
I will be very surprised if the £100 mio spent is used by more than a trivial number of local people and meanwhile slow traffic on the Ringwood Rd wastes hours of hundreds of people both local and visitors.
Can we please use data to drive more of our capital spending please.
The level of investment in these schemes is totally disproportionate to the number of people likely to use them. So far I have hardly seen anyone on the new lanes. As for e-scooters, private ones are illegal and can be confiscated so how can beryl ones be any different? It is highly dangerous walking along Bournemouth prom when these things are about. They go too fast and can’t be heard approaching.
Sheila – The new cycle lanes have only recently been completed, and the work to connect them to the local infrastructure is still ongoing so it’s far too early to determine how successful they have been. We are not operating any e-scooter schemes in the Dorset Council area – James
The sample cycle journeys suggest destinations which are outside the scheme such as Moors Valley Country Park & Verwood. This means that any time spent at these destinations would have to be added to the hire minutes as the bike couldn’t be parked. Might make it a much more expensive trip than it appears!
This is very much like the London bike thing introduced By BJ. Although people up there have an alternative also ,namely a Red Bus.
Something here in the Wyke area Gillingham hasn’t had since the Covid shut down Isolating many elderly people in their homes. Unable to go out unsupported, or the added expense of other services and taxis, this reduces people in the high st and spending in the local economy. It seems to me North Dorset and namely Gillingham are the poor relations when it comes to being supported by the Council(Dorchester) Our town council do so much with the help of groups and volunteers , So why not spend some money here.
Pauline – As we’ve explained elsewhere here, the money for this scheme has come from the government’s Levelling Up Fund, specifically allocated for sustainable travel infrastructure in the Southeast Dorset area. We are consistently lobbying and applying to central govt. for funding that can be spent elsewhere throughout the county – James
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