Urban life matters: The heterogeneous effects of on-demand bike-sharing platforms on urban public transit

On-demand sharing economy platforms have redefined access to goods and services, transforming consumption patterns and mobility dynamics. In the context of transportation, the rise of on-demand micro-mobility platforms has reshaped urban life by offering flexible and sustainable mobility options. Among these, bike-sharing platforms have emerged as the most significant micro-mobility system, impacting public transit systems widely in almost all cities. Particularly, this study examines the heterogeneous impacts of bike-sharing platform entry on city bus ridership across U.S. cities by using a difference-in-differences framework with fixed effects. We find that the introduction of bike-sharing platforms, on average, substitutes for city bus ridership. However, our analysis of heterogeneity reveals that this effect varies across cities depending on key urban life related factors, such as city infrastructure and demographic factors. Specifically, bike-sharing platforms substitute for bus trips in bike-friendly cities but complement bus transit in more pedestrian-friendly cities. Bike-sharing platforms also tend to substitute for bus trips in cities with relatively well-developed but not overly extensive transit systems. Stronger complementary effects are observed in cities with longer average bus trip distances, as well as in medium and large cities compared to very large cities. Our findings contribute to the literature on sharing economy platforms and urban transit by highlighting how city-level characteristics shape the relationship between bike-sharing and public transportation. The study provides valuable insights for platform owners and urban planners within city transit networks.