Modeling the Effects of Public Bicycle Schemes in a Congested Multi-Modal Road Network

Abstract

With increasing concerns about environmental and energy issues in many large Chinese cities, local authorities are introducing public bicycle schemes to promote the use of green transportation modes. This paper proposes a novel model for investigating the effects of the public bicycle schemes in a congested multi-modal road network with auto, bus, and public bicycle travel. The decision-making process of travelers regarding travel modes and route choices is assumed to follow a hierarchical choice structure. The effects of pollution emissions by motorized vehicles (i.e., autos and buses), crowding discomfort in buses, and riding fatigue on bicycles are considered in the proposed model. The multi-modal travel choice equilibrium problem is formulated as an equivalent variational inequality problem. The existence and uniqueness of the solution of the proposed model are examined. A heuristic solution algorithm that combines a diagonalization approach and the method of successive averages is adapted to solve the proposed model. A numerical example is given to illustrate the application of the proposed model and solution algorithm. Findings are reported on the effects of the public bicycle schemes and emission tax policy on the multi-modal transportation system. The optimal public bicycle rental price and emission tax for maximization of social welfare can also be determined by the proposed model.