Public Bikesharing in North America

TLDR

Public bikesharing, an IT‑based shared bicycle system, has emerged in major North American cities over the past five years, positioning bicycles across urban docking networks for immediate public access. The study reviews early operator insights and emerging trends for prospective bikesharing start‑ups by surveying all 15 U.S. and 4 Canadian IT‑based programs in operation as of January 2012. The authors surveyed all 15 U.S.

Abstract

Public bikesharing, the shared use of a bicycle fleet by the public, is an innovative mobility strategy that has emerged recently in major North American cities. Typically, bikesharing systems position bicycles throughout an urban environment, within a network of docking stations, for immediate access. Bikesharing services with a basis in information technology (IT) began to emerge in North America approximately 5 years ago. Twenty-eight IT-based programs were deployed between 2007 and March 2013. Twenty-four are operational, two are temporarily suspended, and two are now defunct. This study examined the growth potential of bikesharing in North America on the basis of a survey of all 15 IT-based public bikesharing systems in operation in the United States and all four programs deployed in Canada as of January 2012. These programs accounted for 172,070 users and 5,238 bicycles in the United States and for 44,352 users and 6,235 bicycles in Canada. Early operator understanding of North American public bikesharing is reviewed and emerging trends for prospective program start-ups are discussed.