Motives and factors that determine city residents’ use of public bicycles. The case of Lodz, Poland

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There is increasing research available showing that the transport habits of the inhabitants of large agglomerations are changing. Nowadays, dynamic intra-urban mobility involves increasing residents’ use of public bicycles. The main purpose of the article is to learn the motives and factors that determine the use of public bicycles of Lodz residents. Opinions on the quality of rental systems and their integration with public transport were also examined. The data were obtained in a quantitative study using an interview questionnaire, using the CAPI (Computer Assisted Personal Interview) technique. The survey was conducted from March to April 2019 among 300 respondents – residents of the city of Lodz (both users and non-users of city bikes).The results indicate that the main reason for using a city bike is associated with counteracting problems common for large cities such as congestion and inefficient public transport. Therefore, the public bicycle is a solution that increases transport accessibility and, above all, allows faster travel, thus avoiding the negative effects of urbanization, including transport congestion. Our research results indicate the importance of cycling infrastructure on the respondents’ routes of respondents for their decision to use a public bicycle. Correlation analysis confirms the importance of assessing the bicycle system for people’s decision to use it. Therefore, improving the service parameters, (e.g., rental fees, station location, integration with public transport) adapting the service to customer expectations, and introducing additional functionalities (cargo bikes, tandems, tricycles for seniors) will determine the further popularity of public bikes among Lodz residents. The most favorable assessments were for integrating the public bike system with other transport, especially at public transport stops, and improving bicycle routes; in turn. The research indicates the need to improve the operation of the system, in particular, bike returns and the servicing of the bikes, increase the integration of the city bike with metropolitan transport, carry out in-depth market research to better understand the expectations and behavior of users and non-users of the system, and introduce solutions that supplement the public service bicycle – in particular, interactive maps that allow you to report places that require bicycle infrastructure availability or repair.