Context-sensitive effects of the built environment on HelloRide e-bike sharing demand

E-bike sharing is an emerging micromobility service that offers a higher travel speed and greater riding comfort than other micromobility modes. Although the deployment of e-bike sharing services has expanded rapidly worldwide, the relationship between e-bike sharing demand and the built environment remains insufficiently understood, particularly across different urban contexts. Using five weekdays of trip data from the HelloRide in Kunming (China), and employing Spatial Lag Models, this study examines how built environment characteristics are associated with e-bike sharing demand in urban, suburban, and rural areas. The results indicate that population density, land-use mix, and public transport accessibility are positively associated with e-bike sharing demand across most contexts, while the effects of street-network characteristics, housing prices, and distance to the city centre vary considerably across space. These findings support capacity allocation decisions for service providers and highlight the need for context-sensitive shared e-bike governance strategies for planners and policy-makers.