Impact of Covid-19 on Associations between Land Use and Bike-Sharing Usage

Abstract

Bike-sharing as a human-centred, zero-emission, sustainable, alternative, and easily accessible transport mode has been implemented globally and consistently contributing to communities and the environment by alleviating consumption of natural sources, traffic congestion, and air pollution, which is considered a solution for future cities. The appearance of Covid-19 significantly impacts public transportation modes, including the bike-sharing system. The intention of this study was to investigate the spatiotemporal impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on associations between urban factors and bike-sharing usage in Los Angeles, United States, by analysing a sizeable actual trip dataset and employing geographically weighted regression (GWR) models. GWR was conducted for examining the varying spatial association between bike infrastructure, public transport, and urban land use factors, and bike-sharing trip volume. The results indicated that bike-sharing usage significantly decreased during the pandemic and essential service as restaurant was found consistently and positively associated with bike-sharing use. GWR provided clear spatial patterns of bike usage based on urban land use and big user databases. The outcomes of this study could inspire policymakers and shared mobility operators to support these safe, sustainable transport alters (such as rebalancing bike stations), help city resilience, and shape a sustainable future of mobility in the post-Covid-19 era.