The role of bike sharing stations in the perception of public spaces: A stated preferences analysis

Abstract

The pervasiveness of bike sharing schemes around the world has the potential to bring important benefits in terms of public health and reduction of congestion and emissions. However, there can be negative externalities associated to these systems, especially in terms of misuse and degradation of public spaces. This paper explores how the presence of different shared bicycle systems and their stations affect peoplés perceptions of public spaces and neighbourhoods. For this, a stated preferences experiment was created and applied in Santiago de Chile, depicting two main scenarios (downtown and residential) with various configurations of public bicycle stations (dock-based and dockless), along other cycling facilities on a street. Survey results were used to estimate a choice model, measuring the impact of the scenario attributes on the probability of being chosen as a preferred public space. Attitudes about bikesharing, the environment and mobility in general were also measured and used to estimate latent variables and their role in public space perception. Results show bike sharing stations are overall positively perceived in terms of their capacity to improve a neighbourhood’s image, safety and accessibility, although this is more likely in compact urban contexts and for users of bikesharing. Disorganized (dockless) bicycles left on sidewalks are perceived negatively, although not enough to make individuals prefer a situation without public bicycles. The previous findings indicate that bike sharing schemes could have positive effects on the image of neighbourhoods by making them look more attractive and modern.