Factors Influencing Travel Behaviors in Bikesharing

Abstract

Over 100 cities around the globe currently operate robust, bikesharing systems. While much research in bikesharing is duly taking place, there have been hardly any studies on the factors influencing travel behavior in bikesharing. This study has taken five variables that may significantly influence bikesharing— the floor area of nearby residential and commercial buildings, parks, schools, and subway stations—and performed regression analyses to determine their impact on the frequency of bikesharing usage. In particular, the study separately analyzes conditions which are expected to render different behaviors, including weekdays vs. weekends; precipitation; and departure point and destination. As a result of the analysis, the total area around residential and commercial buildings, parks, schools, and subway stations were shown to have a positive influence on bikesharing usage, although the extent of such influence was shown to vary depending on the model. Commercial buildings were shown to promote public bicycle usage more than residential buildings; and parks were shown to encourage bikesharing usage 3 to 5 times more than schools or subway stations. A difference between weekday and weekend travel behavior was also identified, with the latter seeing twice the amount of bikesharing traffic volume than the former. Rainfall was generally shown to decrease bikesharing usage as is presumed. The results of this study can be used in estimating the appropriate scale of new bikesharing stations at various venues, and are also applicable to building strategies for maximizing the efficiency of bicycle redistribution.