Beryl Bikes partners with City of London Corporation

British urban cycling brand, Beryl, has announced its latest bike share partnership with the City of London Corporation.

The partnership will see the delivery of a dockless cycling elements from the Corporation’s transport strategy launched at the 2019 London Cycling and Walking Conference last week.

Beryl’s bike share scheme will implement bike parking bays throughout the Square Mile, in a bid to increase the number of cyclists in the area. The scheme will be a mixture of dockless and docked systems and will be the first time this hybrid model has been trialled in central London.

The bikes are fitted with an ‘always on’ GPS which enables Beryl to track where the bikes are parked or identify those that need operator intervention. Beryl’s staple Laserlight, which projects an image of a bike six metres ahead to ensure cyclists can be seen in the blind spot of vehicles, will also be fitted to the bikes.

An independently-funded report by the Transport Research Lab stated the Laserlight reduces blind spots of other vehicles by up to 97%, and increases rider visibility by up to 32%.

Beryl already operates two dockless bike share schemes in London and is accredited with Bikeplus, the agreed standard of Best Practice for the industry. The firm has also introduced bike shares in Hereford, Bournemouth and Poole as well as providing schemes in New York, Montreal and Glasgow with the Laserlight.

Beryl Founder and Chairman, Emily Brooke MBE, said: “We have designed a different model of bike share – one that is more flexible than the traditional docked schemes, and yet affords us more control than the dockless operators.

“We are very excited to be partnering with a borough that has one of the highest pedestrian and cyclist traffic volumes in London. Our aim is to create a scheme that ensures bike share is both a viable and convenient modal option for people living and working in the city.”

The scheme will be trialled the summer, with 150 bikes deployed and available for instant hire. The beryl bikes weigh 20kg, have three-speed gears and a step-through design with fully adjustable handlebars and seats to suit a range of riders.

Bikes will be available for instant hire via the Beryl App, on iOS and Android, and will cost 5p per minute to ride with a £1 unlock fee that can be waived if a user buys a bundle of minutes.

Alastair Moss, Planning and transportation Chair at the City of London Corporation, said: “We are looking forward to working with Beryl and freebike, who impressed us with their innovative solution to issues facing London, such as overcrowded and cluttered pavements.

“This trial follows the launch of the City Corporation’s first Transport Strategy, in which we have placed a renewed focus on prioritising the needs of cyclists. We are committed to improving the quality, convenience and accessibility of cycle hire facilities for City visitors, workers and residents to enjoy.”

The results of the trial will be reviewed in six months time, with scope to introduce Beryl’s e-bikes into the scheme in the future.