Examining the Effects of the Sacramento Dockless E-Bike Share on Bicycling and Driving

Dillon T Fitch,Susan L Handy,Hossain Mohiuddin

doi:10.3390/su13010368

Abstract

One way cities are looking to promote bicycling is by providing publicly or privately operated bike-share services, which enable individuals to rent bicycles for one-way trips. Although many studies have examined the use of bike-share services, little is known about how these services influence individual-level travel behavior more generally. In this study, we examine the behavior of users and non-users of a dockless, electric-assisted bike-share service in the Sacramento region of California. This service, operated by Jump until suspended due to the coronavirus pandemic, was one of the largest of its kind in the U.S., and spanned three California cities: Sacramento, West Sacramento, and Davis. We combine data from a repeat cross-sectional before-and-after survey of residents and a longitudinal panel survey of bike-share users with the goal of examining how the service influenced individual-level bicycling and driving. Results from multilevel regression models suggest that the effect of bike-share on average bicycling and driving at the population level is likely small. However, our results indicate that people who have used-bike share are likely to have increased their bicycling because of bike-share.

Highlights

By providing a wider array of transportation options such as bike-share services, cities hope to reduce their dependence on private vehicles and in turn reduce the externalities associated with them
While micromobility services can influence travel behavior in many ways, we focus on bicycling because bike-share can both encourage more bicycling as well as replace it, and we focus on driving because evidence for bike-share’s role in reducing driving is important for gauging the potential for bike-share to improve transportation sustainability
Few studies have attempted to quantify the effects of bike-share services on general bicycling and driving at an individual level

Summary

Introduction

By providing a wider array of transportation options such as bike-share services, cities hope to reduce their dependence on private vehicles and in turn reduce the externalities associated with them Innovative micromobility services such as shared electric-assisted bicycles (e-bikes) and e-scooters, with improved origin–destination convenience stemming from dockless parking have spread rapidly. It is clear that micromobility services have substantial potential, with an estimated 84 million trips in the U.S in 2018 [1], but adoption rates at the city level are difficult to measure. It is unclear how many users (and how much frequency of use) are needed to achieve substantial improvements in transportation sustainability. Surveys of micromobility users indicate that young men are the most prevalent user group [2,3,4]

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion