TIER thanks silent heroes in York by offering free e-scooter rides to NHS, emergency services and retail workers.

Our emergency services and retailers in the UK are facing a challenging winter ahead, with lockdown 2.0 putting the country back under strict measures. During the first lockdown in March, emergency services, retailers and other essential workers played a crucial role in keeping people safe and allowing cities, towns and villages to operate in the most efficient way possible.

In March, we introduced our TIER Heroes programme, which offered key workers free rides across many European countries. Following the success of this initiative, we decided to run another similar campaign in Europe. So far, we have handed out half a million free minutes to our users. Given its popularity, we have now brought the campaign to the UK to show our appreciation to those on the frontline in York, where we’re operating a 12-month trial. We are offering free unlocks and 400 minutes’ worth of rides around designated areas of the city to those who work within emergency services and local retail.

The offer includes unique codes, which are distributed by TIER to key organisations in the city, including York hospital, the police service, university staff and food retailers. If you are one of these key workers, all you have to do is scan the app on the scooter’s barcode, log-in with your details or create an account, add your driving licence and then enter your unique code to unlock your 400 free minutes. Essential workers can take advantage of this programme until 6 December, offering a COVID-safe and accessible mode of transport for daily commutes.

We want to ensure our users feel safe on our scooters, so anyone that signs up with the app can also opt to receive in-app and email updates with the latest safety and COVID-19 guidance. You can also read our latest blog on our COVID-secure measures.

Our other safety features include:

• Integrated helmets
• Geofenced areas and slow-go zones in busier areas of the city
• Large front wheel, dual breaks and suspension for stable riding on uneven surfaces and conditions
• A dedicated TIER patrol team responsible for monitoring and maintaining our fleet of e-scooters in the City

We are also deploying an additional c.120 e-scooters, which will service York St John’s University, the main NHS hospital and York train station, creating more designated routes for key workers’ commutes.

We are proud to be able to support the essential workers and COVID-heroes of York.