Análisis de edades, género y nivel socioeconómico del tiempo de uso del sistema de bicicletas compartidas de València (España) (Analysis of age, gender and socio-economic level of the time of use of the València bike-sharing system (Spain))

Abstract

Los sistemas de bicicletas compartidas (SBC) son unas de las formas de transporte activo que ha ganado popularidad en las últimas décadas para el fomento la actividad física y los estilos de vida saludable entre la población. Muy pocos son los estudios a nivel español que existen abordando esta realidad. Por ello, el objetivo de este estudio es conocer las características socioeconómicas (i.e. nivel socioeconómico, género y edad) de las personas que utilizan el SBC de la ciudad de València y su relación con el tiempo de uso del SBC. Nuestra base de datos contenía el total de movimientos de 6946 usuarios (4484 hombres; 2262 mujeres) del SBC de València durante un período de 1 año. Se realizó un análisis descriptivo, comparaciones por pares (pruebas U de Mann-Whitney y Kruskal-Wallis) en datos con la distribución no normal. Los resultados del estudio mostraron diferencias significativas en el tiempo de uso por razón de género (p < 0,01), edad (p < 0,01), y nivel socioeconómico (p < 0,01). Las mujeres usan menos que los hombres el SBC de València, las personas mayores utilizan durante más tiempo SBC que las personas más jóvenes, y que las personas con un nivel socioeconómico más bajo tienen un uso mayor que las personas con un nivel socioeconómico alto y medio. Las políticas de movilidad deberían tener en cuenta estas diferencias a la hora de diseñar los programas de transporte activo para la población. Palabras clave: Transporte activo, Actividad física, Renta, Ambiente urbano, Bicicletas públicas Abstract. Bicycle sharing systems (BSS) are one of the forms of active transport that has gained popularity in recent decades for the promotion of physical activity and healthy lifestyles among the population. There are very few studies in Spain that address this reality. Therefore, the aim of this study is to know the socioeconomic characteristics (i.e. socioeconomic level, gender and age) of the people who use the BSS in the city of València and their relationship with the time spent using the BSS. Our database contained the total movements of 6946 users (4484 men; 2262 women) of the València BSS over a period of 1 year. A descriptive analysis, pairwise comparisons (Mann-Whitney U and Kruskal-Wallis tests) were performed on data with non-normal distribution. The results of the study showed significant differences in time of use by gender (p < 0.01), age (p < 0.01), and socioeconomic level (p < 0.01). Women use València BSS less than men, older people use the BSS more time than younger people, and people with a lower socio-economic level have a higher usage than people with a high and medium socio-economic level. Mobility policies should take these differences into account when designing active transport programs for the population. Key words: Active transport, Physical activity, Income, Urban environment, Public bicycles.

The Effect of Gender and Age in Small Bicycle Sharing Systems: Case Study from Logroño, Spain

“…A remarkable fact is that men between 60 and 69 years old have almost same levels of daily usage compared with men in their twenties. This result is similar to what was already found by Pans et al [44]. In general, customers made 2.6 daily trips on average.…”

“…However, women use the system less than men, except for women between 20 and 39 years old. These findings are similar to those of previous studies [42][43][44]. In addition, women's trips are in general longer than men's, as was also concluded by Pans et al [42].…”

“…In fact, even though women are the biggest group of registered customers, they took fewer daily trips than men. These results are in line with previous studies [42][43][44]. However, women usually ride for longer than men, which could imply they ride slower than men or that they use the BiciLog system as a mode of recreation instead of using it for the last-(or first-) mile, as is cited in the previous literature [50].…”

“…Nevertheless, some of the results found in this manuscript are in the same line as the results showed by other authors. For instance, women use less the system than men [42] or that older customers use more the system compared with younger customers [44]. A survey study could be useful to understand the motivation of customers to use the system and to corroborate the findings and conclusions made in this study.…”

“…However, in all schemes, the gender gap was higher for older bicycle share users. Pans et al [44] indicated that women use the Valencia BSS less than men, and older people employ the BSS more frequently than younger people, while people with a lower socio-economic level have a higher rate usage than people with a high and medium socio-economic level. Moreover, a study performed in the Paris Region of Petite Couronne (France) established that women used BSS much less than men (about 30% of the total number of users) [45].…”