Beryl shared use bikes available to hire

A photo of a Beryl bike by breeze The brand new bike share scheme gives thousands of people the chance to enjoy two-wheeled travel. The scheme, called ‘Beryl Bikes by Breeze’, allows you to hire pedal bike for local journeys or an e-bike for a longer journey, without the need to own and store a bike yourself across Portsmouth, Southampton and on the Isle of Wight. This means you have another greener way to travel across the city, so you’re helping to tackle the climate emergency, while improving your health and reducing the number of cars on the road.

To get started, download the free Breeze or Beryl app on Google Play or the App Store. For more information read the Frequently asked questions below or visit How it works | Beryl

Top tips for a safe ride

 

The Breeze app will allow you to plan, book and pay for your journey using Beryl Bikes by Breeze: www.breezeuk.app

You can also use the Beryl app: How it works | Beryl

Both apps are available for free download on Google Play and the App Store.

Finding Beryl Bikes by Breeze is easy. When you open the Breeze or Beryl app, you’ll see the map of your immediate location and nearby bikes.

You’ll see two different symbols to indicate a bike and an e-bike.

The minimum age for hiring and riding a bike is 16. Although cycling is great no matter how old you are, for safety and insurance purposes, there is a minimum age to hire and ride Beryl Bikes by Breeze.

Absolutely no one under 16 is permitted to ride the bikes, and someone 16 or over must not unlock a bike for someone under the age of 16.

Beryl Bikes by Breeze are unlocked by inputting the six-digit bike ID number into the Breeze or Beryl app. This can be found on the unlock pad in the centre of the handlebars.

Beryl offers Public Liability Insurance. This is included in the prices charged for the scheme. More detail can be found in the service Terms and Conditions: Terms | Beryl

Beryl bikes by Breeze are intended to operate and remain within a large, designated bike zone agreed with us. The limits of the zone are clearly marked in the apps and a map is also available on Beryl’s website.

In Portsmouth we are starting with a smaller area to trial the bikes, but this area will be expanded to cover the whole city in 2023

If you hire a bike within the bike zone, you can cross the zone boundaries with no penalties as long as you finish your ride and lock the bike back in the zone. So, you can go for a cycle by the sea, as long as you return to the zone to lock up.

If you ride outside the zone and lock a bike there, a £25 “Out of zone” charge will be added at the end of your ride. You’ll still be able to unlock the bike and ride back into the zone but be aware you’ll be charged the “Out of zone” fee every time you lock the bike outside the zone.

If you leave the bike outside the zone for more than 24 hours, you’ll be charged an additional £80 penalty fee to cover the cost of recovering the bike and returning it to the zone of operation.

Beryl will never automatically lock the bike remotely when you cross the zone boundaries as this would be dangerous for riders.

If you need to make a quick stop somewhere that we don’t yet have a docking station, find a place that your bike won’t cause an obstruction, open the app, and tap ‘pause my ride’.  You can pause for a maximum of 15 minutes, and this is charged at the same cost as riding.

You are free to unlock your bike and continue riding at any time, but please be sure to park your bike in a considerate place even if you’re only stopping for a few minutes.

If you have paused your ride and run over the allotted 15 minutes, your ride will end automatically. You will receive notifications leading up to this to remind you that your time is almost up. Remember you will also be charged any out of bay or out of zone fees if they apply, so it is important that you end your ride at a parking hub in the usual manner.

Beryl Bikes by Breeze uses a system of parking bays, called docking stations. These are in key locations where you can start and end a ride. To help us maintain an organised bike share scheme, you will be charged a £10 “Out of Bay” fee if you do not end your ride at a docking station.

Beryl Bikes by Breeze are available to hire 24/7.

Please be aware that customer support is available Mon-Sun 7am-9pm. Outside of these hours unstaffed automated support is available.

Pedal bike riders can Pay-As-You-Ride at a cost of £1 to unlock + 5p per minute.

E-bike riders can Pay-As-You-Ride at a cost of £1.50 to unlock and 10p per minute.

 

Beryl is responsible for regularly checking and maintaining the bikes and e-bikes to ensure riders have a safe and enjoyable ride. Beryl employs a team of field operatives, workshop mechanics and field mechanics to support this work.

Beryl Bikes by Breeze have smart tracking that gives Beryl visibility of all the bikes and their locations. Beryl will collect and move bikes and e-bikes to meet rider demand.

A combination of physical locks that can withstand vandalism, digital processes that alert Beryl to vandalism and track the bikes along with on-street operations protect Beryl Bikes by Breeze from misuse and vandalism.

On the Breeze app you can report issues and get in touch with transport operators using the ‘Support’ section of your Breeze account.

To contact Beryl you can:

  1. Send an email to support@beryl.cc
  2. Use the in-app chat
  3. Use the website chat
  4. Give Beryl a call on 020 3003 5044 from 7am – 9pm Monday-Sunday.

Working with Beryl and Solent Transport, we have reviewed available highway space where there is expected to be high demand for the service.

Each location is then consulted on before approval is granted.

In the future, Beryl and Solent Transport plan to add cargo bikes and bikes specially adapted for people with mobility issues. This will allow a wider variety of people to use the bikes, including families and people with disabilities. You could even use one to do the big shop!