E-bikes available to borrow for free for Merthyr Tydfil locals

Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Council has partnered with the UK’s leading active travel charity, Sustrans, to bring its e-bike borrowing project, E-Move, to Merthyr Tydfil.

This initiative has been fully funded by the UK Government through the Shared Prosperity Fund (SPF), which is administered by Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Council. The aim of the SPF scheme is to support the levelling up of all parts of the UK and it has committed over £2.6bn funding for local investment across Scotland, England, Wales and Northern Ireland by the end of March 2025. Its purpose is to boost productivity, pay, jobs and living standards as well as improve public services, restore sense of community and empower communities.

Originally a pilot project delivered in other parts of Wales, E-Move has now been rolled out to Merthyr Tydfil and the official launch took place on Thursday 12^th September 2024, with staff from the Butcher’s Arms, Pontsticill, signing out the first e-bike.

Councillor Michelle Symonds, Cabinet Member for Regeneration, said: “This e-bikes project will help businesses provide a sustainable mode of transport for their employees and work towards reducing their Carbon Footprint; supporting the Council’s commitment to becoming Net Zero by 2030. We hope that this project will also support a reduction of the traffic in the area.

“It’s not just businesses who will benefit from this – people living in Merthyr Tydfil can also borrow one of the ten e-bikes available, as well as a helmet, lock and pannier bag. They will also receive training by a Sustrans project officer to ensure that they’re confident in operating the e-bike.”

Andrew Owen, owner of The Butcher’s Arms, said: “The e-bikes give us a unique opportunity to provide services to our community, whilst maintaining our decarbonisation pledge. It allows us to add a raft of facilities to our business, allowing us to offer food delivery services – possibly even grocery services – to our small, but ageing population of Pontsticill.

Charlie Gordon, Project Co-ordinator at Sustrans Cymru, said: “It’s fantastic that we’re able to bring E-Move to Merthyr, this is a real hub in the south Wales valleys that will benefit from a project like this.

“E-Move gives people the chance to try an e-bike for free, gives them the freedom and space to try them out for themselves, and more often than not people become converts!

“We’re really proud to help people in Merthyr Tydfil to try a fun, sustainable, and cheap mode of transport – you can charge the batteries at home or at work and get around quickly and easily.

“E-bikes save you money on fuel, they help you exercise, they can take you further than a standard bike, and they make it so much easier to deal with hills.”

Previous E-Move users have consistently reported improvements to their fitness, to their well-being, as well as increased independence and confidence.

Individuals can borrow an e-bike for a period of four weeks, while businesses and organisations can borrow them for 12 weeks.

For more information, please contact Steve Chantrell on 07825 659672 or e-mail Steve.Chantrell@sustrans.org.uk.