The e-Scooter scheme on the Isle of Wight is being extended to Sandown and Shanklin.
The company behind it, Beryl is offering people in the two towns the first 10 minutes of their rides free on the day of launch (13 July until 19).
Islanders are also being offered 10 per cent off all minute bundles between 7 and 18 July.
The additional 25 e-Scooters have arrived seven months after the scheme was launched in November last year.
Since then, 32,000 journeys have been taken by 6,000 individual riders in Newport, Ryde and Cowes.
There are 19 new bay locations in Shanklin and Sandown that can be found in the Beryl app. Bays have been chosen in full consultation with Isle of Wight Council, Island Roads, Hampshire Constabulary, and Solent Transport.
In-person launch events will include competitions and e-scooter skills sessions and will take place on 13 July, at Jubilee Square in Shanklin and 14 July on The Esplanade in Sandown.
The events team will also be at Ryde Town Square on Wednesday 7 July, St James’s Square Newport on Thursday 8 July and outside Waitrose in East Cowes on Friday 9 July.
For more information on these events, visit https://berylbikes.eventbrite.
Beryl CEO Philip Ellis said:
‘’We’re delighted to be expanding our e-scooter scheme on the Isle of Wight today, offering people in Sandown and Shanklin a sustainable, convenient, and enjoyable form of transport.
‘’Since we launched last year, thousands of people have used the e-scooters. We were proud to also offer NHS workers free rides during the Coronavirus pandemic and discounted rides to those on the Kickstart Scheme.
‘’By using the scheme, residents of and visitors to the Isle of Wight are helping to reduce congestion and pollution on the island, and we can’t wait to see people making use of them over the summer and beyond.’’
Councillor Phil Jordan, Cabinet Member for Transport and Infrastructure added:
“It’s great to see how Islanders and visitors have embraced e-scooters since they launched last year.
“I hope with the expansion to Sandown and Shanklin, as the roadmap out of COVID-19 goes to the next stage, the summer will be a good time to get out and about and enjoy the area on two wheels in a fun and environmentally friendly way.”