Exploring Continual Usage Intention of Shared Electric Bicycles: Empirical Evidence for Urban Sustainable Micro-Mobility

As a typical model of urban green and sustainable micro-transportation, shared electric bicycles play a crucial role in short and medium-distance travel as well as in connecting with public transportation. To respond to the national concept of low-carbon travel, this study takes users of urban shared electric bicycles in Kunming, Yunnan Province as the research sample and distributes questionnaires online through the Wenjuanxing platform to conduct an investigation into the factors influencing residents’ short-term and long-term continuance usage intention of shared electric bicycles. The results of the ordered logit model show that: at the level of personal attributes, the number of family-owned electric bicycles exerts a negative impact on residents’ short-term and long-term willingness to continue using shared electric bicycles. In terms of travel attributes, travel frequency has a positive impact on residents’ long-term continuance usage intention of shared electric bicycles, while exerting little influence on their short-term continuance usage intention. As for the original travel modes, groups with the habit of walking show a rejection of shared electric bicycles. From the perspective of attitudinal perceptions, independent variables reflecting instantaneity characteristics such as riding speed, unlocking speed and easy electric bicycle returning have a promoting effect on residents’ short-term continuance usage intention; independent variables reflecting sustainability characteristics such as good endurance capacity contribute to residents’ long-term continuance usage intention, while the overall travel comfort has a positive effect on the continuance usage intention across all time periods. Based on the model results, this paper puts forward policy recommendations from four aspects to promote urban residents’ continuance usage intention of shared electric bicycles.