Dumped E-bike Provokes Questions

Published on: 7 Nov, 2024
Updated on: 10 Nov, 2024

The Beryl e-bike Brian Holt found dumped in Northway

By Martin Giles

Dragon reader Brian Holt sent in a picture of a discarded ebike in Northway. It was a Beryl bike, one of those introduced in the recent e-bike hire scheme arranged by Surrey County Council.

Mr Holt wrote: “This bike was dumped such a short time after the scheme started. I wonder how much worse is it going to get? Who is going around to collect them? And why should the public have to keep reporting this, wasting their time trying to find where to report it to and paying for the phone call?”

He was also concerned that some of the ebike bays could be obstructing pavements but reported that the abandoned bike had been taken away within 24 hours.

The Dragon NEWS got on to Beryl Bikes and posed some questions:

What happens if a hired ebike is left away from a marked out station?

Beryl uses a system of parking bays, called Beryl bays. These are marked spaces in key locations where you can start and end a ride. Anyone that ends their journey and locks the e-bike outside of a bay will have an “Out of Bay” fee added to their journey. This helps Beryl to maintain an organised scheme. Our customer and on-street teams will then work together to ensure the e-bike is returned to a bay as soon as possible for other riders to use.

The hired e-bikes are not always left tidily in the bays.

Can an ebike be pushed/wheeled/ridden away from a station without using the app/battery power and dumped?

No, bikes can only be unlocked in one of two ways, either contactless using a smart device or by using a six digit bike ID code. Once a ride is complete, users are required to close the lock on the e-bike to complete their ride and make it available for the next person to use.

Please confirm that you know the location of all your bikes at all times.

Yes, all of our e-bikes are fitted with Beryl’s industry leading, UK developed Smart Bike GPS technology, which is also used by London’s Santander Bikes and West Midlands Cycle Hire.

How many operatives are employed to pick up bikes left away from designated stations? How long should it take before they are collected?

Guided by the Smart Bike technology our on-street and customer service teams work incredibly hard in partnership to look after scheme practicalities, such as moving vehicles to empty bays or swiftly locating and returning lost or stolen ones. This approach enables the team to nearly always exceed their target of rebalancing the bikes at key hub locations within one hour, ensuring the scheme remains as user friendly as possible.

Should bikes that appear to have been dumped be reported?

Yes. The public can report incidents of vandalism or antisocial behaviour involving Beryl e-bikes quickly and easily to their Customer Support team – by phone on +44 020 3003 5044 between 7am and 9pm Mon-Sun, by email at: support@beryl.cc or through the Beryl app.

We will work with Surrey Police to investigate any incidents of theft or criminal damage and retain the option to suspend and ban/remove accounts for improper use of the scheme.

How many of the ebike stations have been installed so far? When will all stations be in place?

By November 12, there will be 200 e-bikes available to hire from a wider network of 37 bays. In Spring 2025, a full complement of 300 bikes will then be available across 56 bays that will connect with the outer areas of the town to complete a comprehensive network.

How satisfied is Beryl with the Guildford Scheme so far? What is the usage rate (eg how many bikes have been deployed and how many hired per day)? How does it compare with schemes in other towns?

We’ve been delighted with the initial response to the scheme, both in terms of rides taken and in direct feedback. So far we’ve seen nearly 12,000 sustainable journeys made across more than 25,000 km. However, the differences in size, geography, infrastructure, fleet, population and economy, to name but a few variables, mean that it is very difficult to make meaningful direct comparisons with schemes in other areas.

We also asked Surrey County Council: Is the council monitoring the scheme? If so, how? What are the performance metrics?

The contract with Beryl has a set of detailed key performance indicators and a service level agreement to ensure the scheme meets our requirements and provides a good service to Surrey, the details of these are commercially sensitive.

We monitor the performance of parking compliance and the response to bikes reported as left out of parking areas.

Responses to Dumped E-bike Provokes Questions

S Collins Reply

November 7, 2024 at 4:33 pm

I think the nearest bay to the dumped bike, at the junction of Aldershot Road and Southway, needs looking at.

There is currently space for six bikes but 20 bikes there.
Tay-Jarl Andessen Reply

November 7, 2024 at 5:13 pm

There was one dumped in Berberis Close, Bellfields two weeks ago, having migrated over three days from the corner of Larch Avenue to Cedar Way, then on to the ground in the entrance of the connecting alley in Berberis.

I moved it against the fence so it wasn’t in the pathway and contacted Beryl. Four days after supplying them with the location and bike number, it was collected. Beryl said their bikes have GPS, so should be able to gauge if one has been abandoned, as if it isn’t docked and not on hire, I’d imagine it would flag up.

Given that it was in the unlit alley, and many pensioners live in the vicinity and use the path, it was even more inconsiderate of the dumper.
Jane Hepburn Reply

November 8, 2024 at 6:33 am

I think that 12,000 rides and 25,000 kms speaks for itself.

For the sake of a few wayward users and the odd discarded bike, which, as Beryl has explained, will be paid for by the users, it’s a lovely scheme.

It’s only just started and probably needs a few tweaks; let’s give it a chance. Long may it continue and expand.

For the time it takes to complain on the Next Door app or to The Dragon News, any offending bike can be easily moved to a safe place simply by lifting the back wheel and pushing it a few yards. Good for Beryl and good for GBC. This deserves to succeed.
- Paul Robinson Reply
  
  December 20, 2024 at 1:54 pm
  
  And what do mobility scooter users, disabled and blind people do?
Derek Payne Reply

December 18, 2024 at 11:18 am

I note the feedback from Beryl to Martin Giles re his questions.
I have been asking similar questions of Beryl and SCC, and here’s a very brief summary of the additional information I have gleaned:

. Penalty fines are £10 for “out of bay parking”; £25 for “out of zone parking” and £80 if not returned to the zone inside 24 hours. Hardly a deterrent.
. Beryl have met with the police and other parties regarding the issues. (Like the police don’t have anything else to do!) I’ve suggested Beryl pay for police officers if they want enforcement carried out by them. This should not be an added unfunded burden to the police.
. Given that Beryl have set up a number of similar schemes, I asked if similar issues had occurred elsewhere. No response.
Beryl state above that they are “delighted” with how the scheme is running …

To remind readers, the setup costs were £1.3 million (£1.05 million from SCC; £250k from GBC).

I’ve stated publicly (see interview with Martin Giles and Howard Smith) that we (Boxgrove residents) support this Scheme provided there is good management and enforcement in place.

In principal, it’s fine. In reality, Beryl, SCC and GBC need to work hard and quickly to understand root causes of issues and implement corrective actions if the scheme is to be a success.

The jury’s out (and I think that’s being generous).
- Alan Judge Reply
  
  December 19, 2024 at 9:39 am
  
  Wasn’t the University of Surrey supposed to have funded a large chunk of this scheme?
Derek Payne Reply

December 22, 2024 at 10:51 am

I’ve taken the information below from Surrey News (the Surrey County Council news feed) from September.

Beryl was appointed by a project partnership made up of Surrey County Council, which is contributing £1.05million to help the start-up of the scheme, Guildford Borough Council, which is contributing £250,000, and the University of Surrey.

So it would appear that the university is part of the partnership, but is not a funding contributor.
- Alan Judge Reply
  
  December 23, 2024 at 11:20 am
  
  I see.
  
  The university used to have a separate scheme with Next Bike that wasn’t renewed when their last contract expired in June of 2023.
  
  Why pay for it when you can get it paid for by the taxpayer…
  
  https://www.nextbike.co.uk/en/university-of-surrey/news/nextbike-surrey-closing/