The brakes have been put on Pembrokeshire County Council’s ‘Pay as you go’ E-bikes scheme.

The scheme launched back at the start of 2024, which saw a fleet of E-bikes provided for members of the public to use for ‘commuting, leisure and local activities’ - with users able to collect and leave the bikes at a series of pick-up and drop-off sites around the trial towns of Tenby, Haverfordwest, Fishguard and Goodwick, has now ended, due to the e-bike provider, ZEUS recently being taken over by another company.

The scheme was set up as part of a trial in April 2024, funded by the Swansea Bay and South West Wales Metro programme.

A spokesperson for Pembrokeshire Council stated: “The e-bike provider, ZEUS, has recently been taken over by another company and has taken the decision to withdraw from all of its UK locations in order to focus its on the European market.

E-bikes Tenby
Boris-style ‘pay as you go’ E-bikes were launched in Pembrokeshire towns such as Tenby back in 2024 (Observer pic)

“As a result, bikes are being removed from all UK scheme areas.

“The scheme itself has been largely successful in Fishguard and Goodwick. However, due to ZEUS's decision to exit the UK market, the scheme is now scheduled to come to an end in September 2026 and the bikes are currently being removed ahead of the closure.”

Pembrokeshire E-Bike
Pembrokeshire Council's Cabinet Member for Residents’ Services, Cllr Rhys Sinnett pictured with Will Davies, Council Transport Planner and one of the E-bikes. (PCC)

When launched, the initiative was met with scepticism by members of the public, as well as local councillors. In Tenby, locals expressed concerns on the E-bikes being ‘dumped’ around the seaside town and not left in their ‘designated’ spots.

This echoed concerns first raised by Tenby Town Council’s Cllr Charles Dale when the idea was first touted, telling his colleagues that, in principle it was a ‘great idea’ - however, he hoped that it worked out better than in Cardiff, where all the capital city’s bikes appeared to be seemingly stolen or vandalised, leading to the scheme ending.