Global comparison of urban bike-sharing accessibility across 40 cities

Abstract

The global expansion of bike-sharing networks offers a cost-effective and environmentally friendly transportation alternative that complements public transit and promotes active, healthy lifestyles. Despite significant research, most studies focus on individual locations, specific environmental or health impacts, or infrastructure elements like bike lanes. Instead, this paper elaborates a comprehensive global comparison of bike-sharing systems by introducing a novel database that aggregates data from 40 cities worldwide. Our study integrates this data with population data and urban metrics to classify these networks topologically and assess their effective coverage concerning the population served and their relation with existing public transit systems. We introduce the “Bike-Share Service Accessibility Index” (BSAI), a new metric to evaluate and compare the performance of bike-sharing networks. Our findings provide valuable insights for urban planners and policymakers, offering data-driven strategies to enhance sustainable urban mobility through better-integrated and more spatially equitable bike-sharing systems.