Shared sustainable transport provider Beryl has today released its fourth annual Rider Report, a survey of thousands of riders used to identify behaviours, motivations, impacts and barriers.
The report surveyed over 3,000 people across 12 scheme areas that have signed up to use Beryl and is packed full of interesting findings.
In 2023, Beryl has had a positive impact on riders’ travel habits, with 10% more riders replacing private vehicle journeys with Beryl trips than in 2022. Offering riders more variety when it comes to vehicles is more likely to get them out of their cars. 41% of Beryl riders that have used three modes where available were replacing a private vehicle journey, compared to 29% of riders that have used one mode.
Findings show that Beryl schemes are now more integrated within urban transport systems. When commuting, 31% of riders use Beryl to connect with other transport modes, compared to 27% in 2022. Using Beryl for ‘first mile, last mile’ journeys is now more popular than using it for the full commute, which is only done by 25% of riders, 3% fewer than in 2022.
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Convenience and speed are the most common reasons why people sign up to use Beryl, with the number of people citing them increasing by 13% and 11% respectively compared to in 2022. There is a greater emphasis on safety in 2023, with 18% more riders stating its importance than the 70% that did in 2022.
Beryl CEO and co-founder, Phil Ellis, said: “2023 has been a year of great progress for Beryl, launching several new schemes and expanding many existing ones, allowing us to gather even more experience and insight into providing world class shared transport systems.
“One of our greatest strengths is the multimodality we can offer in many of our schemes and it’s great to see that having a positive influence on getting people out of their cars.
“The popularity of our electric vehicles is really apparent across the report, further reinforcing our belief that national e-scooter legislation could boost both safety and the perception of safety and get even more people travelling sustainably.
“Ultimately, a successful operator is one that not only listens to its riders, but also uses their feedback to shape future delivery and improvement. I promise you that Beryl will continue to do this throughout 2024 and beyond.”
Other interesting findings from the report include encouraging demographic changes, with a 3% increase in female riders and a 2% increase in riders with a disability.
The report also shows that bike share not only encourages new or lapsed cyclists to cycle more, it also encourages existing cyclists to do so, with 38% of those who already cycled doing it more since signing up to use Beryl.
The survey was sent to riders via email and within the Beryl app and we collected over 3,000 responses. Of these respondents 20% had signed up but not yet taken a ride, while 80% had taken at least one ride.
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