Transport for Greater Manchester will be hosting pop-up market events across the city centre this month to promote Cycle Hire schemes and Active Travel projects in Manchester.
The events will be held from 9am-5pm at Stevenson Square, Manchester on Thursday 16 June and from 10am-2pm at Cutting Room Square, Manchester on Saturday 18 June
The pop-up market events, delivered in partnership with Manchester City Council and the transport planning company Mosodi, will feature local cycling, walking and sustainability partners and organisations. They will also showcase free offers for TfGM’s Cycle Hire scheme and e-cargo bike pilot, free offers for cycle training and maintenance, and lots of sustainable merchandise, prizes, and giveaways.
In conjunction with the events, from Clean Air Day on Thursday 16 June until Manchester Day on Sunday 19 June, first time users of the Beryl Cycle Hire scheme will be able to access a free unlock and free first fifteen minutes ride for either the pedal or e-bikes from any of the current stations along Oxford Road, at Media City, at the University of Salford campus, or near to Piccadilly station.
In addition to this, first time users can get their first hour free (following a £1 one-off registration fee) on the Cargoroo e-cargo bikes. These bikes are available from stations in Ancoats, Chorlton, and Whalley Range as part of the e-cargo bikes pilot.
To access the offer, first time users of either the Cycle Hire scheme or the e-cargo bikes pilot need to download the Beryl or Cargoroo apps on their mobile, register an account, and visit a station/bike which can be located via the in-app maps.
FAQs on the Beryl Cycle Hire scheme can be found here, and FAQs on the Cargoroo e-cargo bike pilot can be found here.
The public trial of the Cycle Hire scheme has been a great success so far with nearly 130,000 kilometres already ridden by over 14,000 active users. The full scheme is planned to roll-out from August 2022 in a phased approach which will ultimately see 1,500 bikes available across stations in parts of Manchester, Salford, and Trafford.
The Cargoroo e-cargo bike pilot has also been successful, even out-performing some other pilot cities in Europe which have more of a historic cycling culture. We appreciate all the help partners have provided in promoting the schemes and helping to make them a success so far.
Helping residents transition away from cars towards active travel is one of the ways in which Greater Manchester hopes to achieve its net-zero targets.
Speaking at the Decarbonisation Summit 2022 on Wednesday 8 June, Dame Sarah Storey, Active Travel Commissioner in Greater Manchester said, “In Greater Manchester 77% of households don’t have access to a bike, and that’s one of the emphasises of the Bee Network that’s being rolled out across key areas at the moment. One of the great ways to allow people to have access is to have public access bikes.
We’re trying to focus on those 250 million car journeys of 1km or less that are done in Greater Manchester every year. Over 40,000 tonnes of carbon will be saved if we can convert those journeys to an active version of travel.”
