Taking a multimodal approach to equitable bike share station siting

Abstract

Lack of reliable and efficient transportation is often cited as a pivotal barrier to healthcare and employment access. Many people without regular access to automobiles depend on public transit as their main mode of transportation. Shared bikes represent a significant opportunity to improve transit accessibility but have issues with low-density and inequitable distribution of services, typically in low-income areas. This study develops a method to estimate transit service supply within a region with micromobility using bus schedule and bike station location data. A bi-objective optimization model is developed and applied to Pittsburgh, USA as a case study, to illuminate how stakeholder preferences towards equity (i.e., improving mobility access for disadvantaged communities) impacts the design of docked bike share systems. Results indicate that bike share systems can significantly improve public transit supply within a region, particularly in neighborhoods that have bike stations deployed. High preference for equity enables disadvantaged communities to have greater access to transit routes, and a neutral preference for equity can help bridge transit supply disparities among population groups. Network connectivity constraints of bike share system necessitates a large number of stations to achieve comprehensive coverage of an urban area.