STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- The launch of the borough’s new bike share program has been delayed by the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic with no new anticipated start in sight.
In November 2019, the Department of Transportation (DOT) announced that Beryl, a United Kingdom-based bike share provider, would operate Staten Island’s new bike share program, which was scheduled to begin this spring.
However, as Spring 2020 comes to a close, the mint green bicycles have yet to hit Staten Island streets.
“Beryl was scheduled to launch in Spring 2020, however, due to the COVID-19 health crisis, the launch was delayed. DOT and Beryl are working closely to launch as soon as operationally and logistically feasible,” according to the DOT.
Whenever the program launches, it will only operate within practically the same service area -- the North Shore and along the Boardwalk on the East Shore -- as the previous bike share, operated by JUMP and Lime, despite DOT initially touting this program as a borough-wide bike share.
On Nov. 13, the DOT announced via press release that, “A new bike share provider, Beryl, will provide borough-wide service in the spring with over 1,000 new bikes.”
“This next exciting phase of our bike share pilot will allow us to work with a promising company to deliver a great and convenient transportation option to all of Staten Island,” Commissioner Polly Trottenberg said at the time. “We look forward to sharing more details of Beryl’s plans in the months ahead – and this spring, we look forward to welcoming brand-new and distinctive Beryl bikes to all of ‘The Rock.’”
However, the DOT reneged in February, stating that the new bike share will launch within practically the same service area as the previous bike share, with plans to expand to the rest of the borough at an unspecified date.
“Beryl will launch in an area similar but slightly larger than the service area from the Dockless Bike Share Pilot that JUMP and Lime operated in. Beryl will expand to cover the rest of the island later this year,” a DOT spokesperson said at the time.
When asked why the program will no longer launch borough-wide, as initially planned, the DOT would not provide a specific answer, instead stating that, “as with other bike share systems, Beryl will expand service through a phased rollout to ensure effective operations and comprehensive community outreach.”
ABOUT BERYL
Beryl -- known for it’s innovative safety technology and hybrid parking model -- will operate Staten Island’s new bike share program whenever it launches.
Emily Brooke, founder and chair of Beryl, and Phil Ellis, co-founder and CEO, visited Staten Island in November, meeting with local elected officials and representatives from DOT to showcase the company’s bikes and begin preparations for their first U.S. rollout.
“We don’t pretend that we’re going to know exactly what’s best straightaway. It’s going to be an iterative process and we’ve got a lot of work to do between now and launch to understand what’s different and what’s going to work,” Brooke said.
Beryl, founded under the name Blaze in 2012, first broke into the cycling business with the company’s innovative Laserlight technology, designed by Brooke as her final year project while studying at university. Laserlight projects a green laser outline of a bicycle onto the roadway in front of cyclists, better alerting motor vehicles of their presence.
“The theme was urban cycling and I wanted to tackle the biggest challenge for city cyclists, and that’s safety. Safety is the biggest worry of people who do bike in cities and it’s the biggest barrier for people who don’t,” said Brooke.
Laserlight proved to be a roaring success, with bike share programs across the globe, including London, Montreal and Glasgow, adopting the cycling safety tool. The tech has even appeared on New York City streets, with Laserlight piloted on 250 bikes in the Citi Bike fleet back in 2017.
“We then started working in bike share after we had the product out in the wild for a couple of years. We worked with the London bike share scheme, Santander Cycles, to implement that technology into the bikes,” said Brooke. “We’ve been working with some of the biggest and most complicated bike share schemes in the world.”
Last year, Beryl launched its own bike share service in three U.K. areas -- London, Bournemouth/Poole and Hereford -- with thousands of bikes on the road and over 60,000 trips to date.
“The best thing we could do to enable our purpose, and get more people on bikes, was to do our own bikes,” said Brooke. “The bike was the last missing piece of the jigsaw puzzle since we had done a lot of technology up to this point.”
HYBRID PARKING MODEL
Beryl’s bike shares use a hybrid parking model that allows users to pick up or drop off bikes at designated Beryl Bays -- clearly marked bike parking zones strategically placed throughout the city -- or park them responsibly on the street.
“A lot of the work, which is starting this afternoon, is finding those locations and putting them in the best possible places and working with the city to make sure they’re serving the population in the best way possible,” Brooke said. “There’s a small convenience fee people are charged if they don’t leave it in a bay, but we’re seeing between 85% and 90% of journeys are ending up in a bay.”
“It’s great for the users because you know you can rely on the service and if there’s a bay, you can typically find a bike. It’s good for the other citizens and pedestrians because the bikes aren’t strewn about everywhere. And it’s good for our operations because we know where they typically are, which helps,” Brooke added.
The DOT is currently soliciting public input on where to place the Beryl Bays in order to optimize access to the bikes for the community.
Visit the project’s website to suggest a Beryl Bay location.
ABOUT THE BIKES
The Beryl bikes are designed with a lightweight frame and comfortable seat that’s adjustable for riders spanning heights of 4′11″ to 6′5″. Each bike has three gears, allowing riders to adjust based on the hilliness of the terrain. Contactless technology installed in the unlock pad allows riders to simply hold their phone above the bike to unlock and ride. In addition to the Laserlight projection, all bikes are equipped with front and rear brake lights that turn on automatically when you pedal and remain on for two minutes when stopped.
Currently, Beryl is in the process of developing pedal-assist bikes that will be launched into the company’s U.K. programs, though it’s currently undetermined if and when those bikes would make their way to Staten Island.
“We would love to work with the city and potentially, and I’m not promising anything, but potentially, introduce them here,” said Brooke.
While it’s still unclear what pricing will look like on Staten Island, Beryl currently offers the following three pricing options for U.K. cyclists to choose from:
- Pay as you go - Unlocking fee £1.00, Per minute £0.05
- Minutes bundle - No unlocking fee, 100 mins £5, 200 mins £10, 300 mins £15, 400 mins £20
- Day pass - Unlimited rides for 24 hours £12.00
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Following delay, launch date of Staten Island’s Beryl bike share remains unknown - silive.com
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