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Beryl is running an initiative to sharpen skills, boost confidence and reinforce the importance of responsible riding.
The Scoot Happy Tour offers Beryl riders a variety of ways and incentives to boost their knowledge and abilities when using e-scooters in Birmingham.
In-person sessions, which are an accessible two-hour course run by qualified Bikeability instructors on local roads and cycle paths, will be held each month at a specified location.
The next Scoot Happy Events in Birmingham will take place on Sunday, February 18, and Sunday, February 25, from 10am to 2.30pm, at Chatsworth Way bay.
Participants that took part in Beryl Scoot Happy in-person sessions in the Norwich and Bournemouth/Poole trial areas during 2023 made an average of 10.3 e-scooter journeys each following the course.
These figures show that riders feel equipped to use the scooters independently after receiving training.
The events held so far have therefore generated thousands of extra journeys from riders who felt they needed extra help to feel safe enough to use an e-scooter regularly. This has contributed towards reducing traffic congestion and improving air quality.
For those unable to attend sessions, there’s also an online quick start guide and full course, which focus on users’ roadcraft skills and their ability and awareness when sharing road space with others.
Both are incentivised, so participants can claim 15 minutes free for the quick start guide and 30 minutes free for the full course.
Phil Ellis, Beryl CEO, said: “We believe that safety is paramount, and we put it at the forefront of everything that we do, whether that’s designing schemes, working with local authorities, developing products or helping our users.
“We know that fears over safety can inhibit people from taking up sustainable transport schemes, so by helping to boost confidence and awareness, we can hopefully help to remove some of the barriers.
“The numbers show that our sessions in 2023 managed to inspire thousands more sustainable journeys, contributing towards reducing road congestion and improving air quality and public health.”
The Beryl Annual Rider Report for 2023 showed that 87% of the e-scooter riders surveyed considered safety to be an important factor when choosing to ride – the second most important factor after convenience.
The report also showed that 1.4% of users said safety concerns were a barrier to riding more often. That represents a significant drop from the 4% in 2022 and the 9% in 2021 who said they were a barrier, demonstrating the ongoing impact of the Scoot Happy training since its launch in April 2022.
Beryl currently operates Department for Transport (DfT) approved e-scooter schemes in Bournemouth and Poole, Norwich, the Isle of Wight and West Midlands.
Since the first scheme was launched in Norwich in September 2020, users have clocked up more than 1.8 million journeys across the four schemes.
