Abstract
Recent data on conventional bike and/or electric bike (e-bike) sharing systems reveal that more than 2900 systems are operating in cities worldwide, indicating the increased adoption of this alternative mode of transportation. Addressing the existing gap in the literature regarding the deployment of e-bike sharing systems (e-BSSs) in particular, this paper reviews their spatio-temporal characteristics, and attempts to (a) map the worldwide distribution of e-BSSs, (b) identify temporal trends in terms of annual growth/expansion of e-BSS deployment worldwide and (c) explore the spatial characteristics of the recorded growth, in terms of adoption on a country scale, population coverage and type of system/initial fleet sizes. To that end, it examines the patterns identified from the global to the country level, based on data collected from an online source of BSS information worldwide. A comparative analysis is performed with a focus on Europe, North America and Asia, providing insights on the growth rate of the specific bikesharing market segment. Although the dockless e-BSS has been only within three years of competition with station-based implementations, it shows a rapid integration to the overall technology diffusion trend, while it is more established in Asia and North America in comparison with Europe and launches with larger fleet sizes.
Highlights
Recent years have witnessed a rapid growth in the popularity of bikesharing systems (BSSs) globally, in alignment with the urban transformations implied in the context of smart city planning, where zones dedicated to pedestrian and public transportation access are adopted as a key measure for decongestion, while BSSs provide a sustainable mobility alternative for densely populated city centers [1]
Even though the BSS concept dates back to the 1960s, and despite the fact that less than 10 cities globally were operating such systems until the late 1990s [2], sharing systems based on conventional bikes and/or electric bikes (e-bikes), which in the latter case are typically referred to as e-bike sharing systems (e-BSSs), have grown to more than 2900 systems operating in cities worldwide, as of November 2019, according to the bikesharing map developed by DeMaio and Meddin [3]
Analyzing e-BSS launch data can be useful in understanding the strategic viewpoint of actors in the e-BSS market, thereupon explaining their operative decisions and how they tailor their initial fleet size depending on the intended installation
Summary
Recent years have witnessed a rapid growth in the popularity of bikesharing systems (BSSs) globally, in alignment with the urban transformations implied in the context of smart city planning, where zones dedicated to pedestrian and public transportation access are adopted as a key measure for decongestion, while BSSs provide a sustainable mobility alternative for densely populated city centers [1]. Supported by technological advances over the years, including mobile technology, electronic payment and GPS-enabled devices, BSSs have been overcoming many operational challenges to provide fully automated, secure and cost-effective systems. Information on station locations, vehicle availability or reservation on-demand, anti-theft and vandalism prevention, rapid payments and member subscription programs comprise the main advancements that ensured an enhanced and feature-rich system operability. Real-time tracking of the vehicles through the on-board installed GPS components and alarm systems aims to prevent theft and vandalism, while on the other hand, it enables information technology (IT) solutions on the operators server side to guide users into dedicated parking zones for avoiding congestion of bikes in central areas or suggest drop-off locations that facilitate rebalancing via an application on users’ smartphones
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