Abstract
Bicycle sharing systems (BSSs) have been implemented in cities worldwide in an attempt to promote cycling. Despite exhibiting characteristics considered to be barriers to cycling, such as hot summers, hilliness and car-oriented infrastructure, Southern European island cities and tourist destinations Limassol (Cyprus), Las Palmas de Gran Canaria (Canary Islands, Spain) and the Valletta conurbation (Malta) are all experiencing the implementation of BSSs and policies to promote cycling. In this study, a year of trip data and secondary datasets are used to analyze dock-based BSS usage in the three case-study cities. How land use, socio-economic, network and temporal factors influence BSS use at station locations, both as an origin and as a destination, was examined using bivariate correlation analysis and through the development of linear mixed models for each case study. Bivariate correlations showed significant positive associations with the number of cafes and restaurants, vicinity to the beach or promenade and the percentage of foreign population at the BSS station locations in all cities. A positive relation with cycling infrastructure was evident in Limassol and Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, but not in Malta, as no cycling infrastructure is present in the island’s conurbation, where the BSS is primarily operational. Elevation had a negative association with BSS use in all three cities. In Limassol and Malta, where seasonality in weather patterns is strongest, a negative effect of rainfall and a positive effect of higher temperature were observed. Although there was a positive association between BSS use and the number of visiting tourists in Limassol and Malta, this is predominantly explained through the multi-collinearity with weather factors rather than by intensive use of the BSS by tourists. The linear mixed models showed more fine-grained results and explained differences in BSS use at stations, including differences for station use as an origin and as a destination. The insights from the correlation analysis and linear mixed models can be used to inform policies promoting cycling and BSS use and support sustainable mobility policies in the case-study cities and cities with similar characteristics.
Highlights
The use of Bicycle sharing systems (BSSs) stations as origins and destinations, aggregated over the period of a year, in the three case study cities are shown in Figure 5a for Limassol, Figure 5b for Las
In Limassol, BSS use was visibly concentrated along the promenade, between a string of six stations stretching from the Old Port near the city center and Limassol
In Malta, BSS use was concentrated in the Northern Harbor area, north of Valletta, especially at the stations located along the coastline, with very limited use of the isolated stations elsewhere on the island
Summary
Bicycle sharing systems (BSSs) are shared bicycle fleets allowing short-term public use [1]. Since the late 1990s, when only a handful of bicycle sharing systems existed, the number of BSSs around the world has increased rapidly, growing to almost 3000 active systems by 2020 [2]. Many cities around the world have introduced BSSs as part of a wider sustainable transport strategy and cycling promotion. The three Southern European island cities of Limassol (Cyprus), Las Palmas de Gran Canaria (Canary Islands, Spain) and the Valletta conurbation (Malta) exhibit characteristics considered to be barriers to Sustainability 2021, 13, 3274.
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