Norfolk County Council has agreed to extend the current e-scooter trial in Norwich to 31 May 2024. There will also be an increase in the number of e-scooters available and new bays planned for Hethersett and Drayton.
Initially launched as a bike share scheme, a fleet of 100 e-scooters were added to Norwich in September 2020 as part of the Department for Transport’s (DfT) pilot. Since they arrived there have been more than 368,000 e-scooter journeys travelling more than 1,155,00km.
Cllr Martin Wilby, cabinet member for highways, infrastructure and transport said; “It’s great news that the DfT have agreed nationally to extend existing e-scooter trials and I’m very happy to agree to the extension for Norwich. The Beryl scheme goes from strength to strength with more than 55,000 users registered for the Norwich scheme.
“E-scooters are a great choice for those short trips which may otherwise be done in the car. By adding more scooters and creating more bays we can increase the number of journeys being swapped. This means less congestion and cleaner air for all, and another step towards reaching our net zero targets.”
Beryl CEO and co-founder, Phil Ellis, said: “E-scooters have proven to be a really popular addition to our multimodal Norwich scheme and this extension is a major boost to our aim of inspiring even more people to take up sustainable travel.
“When planned correctly with local authorities and stakeholders and with the safety of users and pedestrians treated as paramount, e-scooters can offer a fast, fun, clean and inexpensive travel option.
“The extension of the trial will allow us to gather even further evidence to support this.”