IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/pubtra/v14y2022i2d10.1007_s12469-021-00278-w.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Investigating a small-sized bike-sharing system’s impact on transit usage: a synthetic control analysis in Tucson, Arizona

Author

Listed:
  • Xiaofeng Li

    (The University of Arizona)

  • Yao-Jan Wu

    (The University of Arizona)

  • Alireza Khani

    (University of Minnesota Twin Cities)

Abstract

The bike-sharing system (BSS) is an emerging travel mode that has attracted increased attention in recent years. One of the most critical reasons for this increased attention is that the BSS claims to solve the first-mile and last-mile problems, and can be used to connect with existing transit. However, some studies suggest that BSSs could compete with transit rather than collaborating. Previous studies only focused on large-sized BSSs, ignoring an analysis of the impact of small-sized BSSs. To fill this gap, this paper conducted a case study to investigate the impacts of introducing a small-sized BSS on transit (including regular bus, express, and streetcar) usage in Tucson, Arizona. All transit routes are categorized into two groups: treated routes with the defined buffer of BSS and control routes without BSS. Then, the synthetic control method (SCM) is employed to provide an unbiased comparison on the average ridership per stop of the treated transit routes. The ridership data and point-of-interest data are collected and used to synthesize virtual treatment transit routes. The results show that a small-sized BSS generally has a slight impact on the ridership of most transit routes because of the limited coverage. However, the streetcar experiences an increase in ridership and increases by 0.55 passengers as a result of 1 BSS trip. Furthermore, the relationship between a small-sized BSS and transit may be also dependent on whether a transit route can access areas having the densest BSS network. These findings suggest that the role of BSSs in an urban transportation system can be controlled by relocating the locations of BSS stations considering the characteristics of transit routes.

Suggested Citation

  • Xiaofeng Li & Yao-Jan Wu & Alireza Khani, 2022. "Investigating a small-sized bike-sharing system’s impact on transit usage: a synthetic control analysis in Tucson, Arizona," Public Transport, Springer, vol. 14(2), pages 441-458, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:pubtra:v:14:y:2022:i:2:d:10.1007_s12469-021-00278-w
    DOI: 10.1007/s12469-021-00278-w
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s12469-021-00278-w
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s12469-021-00278-w?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Munasib, Abdul & Rickman, Dan S., 2015. "Regional economic impacts of the shale gas and tight oil boom: A synthetic control analysis," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 50(C), pages 1-17.
    2. Kyle Gebhart & Robert Noland, 2014. "The impact of weather conditions on bikeshare trips in Washington, DC," Transportation, Springer, vol. 41(6), pages 1205-1225, November.
    3. Campbell, Kayleigh B. & Brakewood, Candace, 2017. "Sharing riders: How bikesharing impacts bus ridership in New York City," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 100(C), pages 264-282.
    4. Martin, Elliot W. & Shaheen, Susan A., 2014. "Evaluating public transit modal shift dynamics in response to bikesharing: a tale of two U.S. cities," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 41(C), pages 315-324.
    5. Martin, Elliot PhD & Shaheen, Susan PhD, 2014. "Evaluating Public Transit Modal Shift Dynamics In Response to Bikesharing: A Tale of Two U.S. Cities," Institute of Transportation Studies, Research Reports, Working Papers, Proceedings qt6x29n876, Institute of Transportation Studies, UC Berkeley.
    6. Alberto Abadie, 2005. "Semiparametric Difference-in-Differences Estimators," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 72(1), pages 1-19.
    7. Faghih-Imani, Ahmadreza & Eluru, Naveen, 2015. "Analysing bicycle-sharing system user destination choice preferences: Chicago’s Divvy system," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 44(C), pages 53-64.
    8. Li, Weibo & Kamargianni, Maria, 2018. "Providing quantified evidence to policy makers for promoting bike-sharing in heavily air-polluted cities: A mode choice model and policy simulation for Taiyuan-China," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 111(C), pages 277-291.
    9. Saberi, Meead & Ghamami, Mehrnaz & Gu, Yi & Shojaei, Mohammad Hossein (Sam) & Fishman, Elliot, 2018. "Understanding the impacts of a public transit disruption on bicycle sharing mobility patterns: A case of Tube strike in London," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 66(C), pages 154-166.
    10. Shaheen, Susan PhD & Martin, Elliot PhD & Cohen, Adam, 2013. "Public Bikesharing and Modal Shift Behavior: A Comparative Study of Early Bikesharing Systems in North America," Institute of Transportation Studies, Research Reports, Working Papers, Proceedings qt7010k9p3, Institute of Transportation Studies, UC Berkeley.
    11. Noland, Robert B. & Smart, Michael J. & Guo, Ziye, 2016. "Bikeshare trip generation in New York City," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 94(C), pages 164-181.
    12. Faghih-Imani, Ahmadreza & Eluru, Naveen & El-Geneidy, Ahmed M. & Rabbat, Michael & Haq, Usama, 2014. "How land-use and urban form impact bicycle flows: evidence from the bicycle-sharing system (BIXI) in Montreal," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 41(C), pages 306-314.
    13. Abadie, Alberto & Diamond, Alexis & Hainmueller, Jens, 2010. "Synthetic Control Methods for Comparative Case Studies: Estimating the Effect of California’s Tobacco Control Program," Journal of the American Statistical Association, American Statistical Association, vol. 105(490), pages 493-505.
    14. Caulfield, Brian & O'Mahony, Margaret & Brazil, William & Weldon, Peter, 2017. "Examining usage patterns of a bike-sharing scheme in a medium sized city," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 100(C), pages 152-161.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Radzimski, Adam & Dzięcielski, Michał, 2021. "Exploring the relationship between bike-sharing and public transport in Poznań, Poland," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 145(C), pages 189-202.
    2. Böcker, Lars & Anderson, Ellinor & Uteng, Tanu Priya & Throndsen, Torstein, 2020. "Bike sharing use in conjunction to public transport: Exploring spatiotemporal, age and gender dimensions in Oslo, Norway," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 138(C), pages 389-401.
    3. Kim, Kyoungok, 2023. "Investigation of modal integration of bike-sharing and public transit in Seoul for the holders of 365-day passes," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 106(C).
    4. Yuanyuan Zhang & Yuming Zhang, 2018. "Associations between Public Transit Usage and Bikesharing Behaviors in The United States," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(6), pages 1-20, June.
    5. Kumar Dey, Bibhas & Anowar, Sabreena & Eluru, Naveen, 2021. "A framework for estimating bikeshare origin destination flows using a multiple discrete continuous system," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 144(C), pages 119-133.
    6. De Zhao & Ghim Ping Ong & Wei Wang & Wei Zhou, 2021. "Estimating Public Bicycle Trip Characteristics with Consideration of Built Environment Data," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(2), pages 1-13, January.
    7. Kim, Minjun & Cho, Gi-Hyoug, 2021. "Analysis on bike-share ridership for origin-destination pairs: Effects of public transit route characteristics and land-use patterns," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 93(C).
    8. Zhao, De & Ong, Ghim Ping & Wang, Wei & Hu, Xiao Jian, 2019. "Effect of built environment on shared bicycle reallocation: A case study on Nanjing, China," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 128(C), pages 73-88.
    9. Hu, Beibei & Zhong, Zhenfang & Zhang, Yanli & Sun, Yue & Jiang, Li & Dong, Xianlei & Sun, Huijun, 2022. "Understanding the influencing factors of bicycle-sharing demand based on residents’ trips," Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, Elsevier, vol. 586(C).
    10. Wang, Kailai & Chen, Yu-Jen, 2020. "Joint analysis of the impacts of built environment on bikeshare station capacity and trip attractions," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 82(C).
    11. Link, Christoph & Strasser, Christoph & Hinterreiter, Michael, 2020. "Free-floating bikesharing in Vienna – A user behaviour analysis," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 135(C), pages 168-182.
    12. Pengfei Lin & Jiancheng Weng & Quan Liang & Dimitrios Alivanistos & Siyong Ma, 2020. "Impact of Weather Conditions and Built Environment on Public Bikesharing Trips in Beijing," Networks and Spatial Economics, Springer, vol. 20(1), pages 1-17, March.
    13. Zhou, Xiaolu & Wang, Mingshu & Li, Dongying, 2019. "Bike-sharing or taxi? Modeling the choices of travel mode in Chicago using machine learning," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 79(C), pages 1-1.
    14. Kuo, Pei-Fen & Shen, Chung-Wei & Chiu, Chui-Sheng, 2021. "The impact of large-scale events: A difference-in-difference model for a Pokémon go safari zone event in Tainan and its effect on bikeshare systems," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 149(C), pages 283-299.
    15. Wang, Jueyu & Lindsey, Greg, 2019. "Do new bike share stations increase member use: A quasi-experimental study," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 121(C), pages 1-11.
    16. Caulfield, Brian & O'Mahony, Margaret & Brazil, William & Weldon, Peter, 2017. "Examining usage patterns of a bike-sharing scheme in a medium sized city," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 100(C), pages 152-161.
    17. Saberi, Meead & Ghamami, Mehrnaz & Gu, Yi & Shojaei, Mohammad Hossein (Sam) & Fishman, Elliot, 2018. "Understanding the impacts of a public transit disruption on bicycle sharing mobility patterns: A case of Tube strike in London," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 66(C), pages 154-166.
    18. Qiu, Waishan & Chang, Hector, 2021. "The interplay between dockless bikeshare and bus for small-size cities in the US: A case study of Ithaca," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 96(C).
    19. Todd, James & O'Brien, Oliver & Cheshire, James, 2021. "A global comparison of bicycle sharing systems," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 94(C).
    20. Mix, Richard & Hurtubia, Ricardo & Raveau, Sebastián, 2022. "Optimal location of bike-sharing stations: A built environment and accessibility approach," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 160(C), pages 126-142.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:spr:pubtra:v:14:y:2022:i:2:d:10.1007_s12469-021-00278-w. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.