Business and Bikeshare User Perceptions of the Economic Benefits of Capital Bikeshare

Abstract

This study investigated potential economic benefits of bikesharing in commercial areas immediately adjacent to bikeshare docking stations. With the use of a sample of five Capital Bikeshare (CaBi) stations in Washington, D.C., an intercept survey of 333 bikeshare users at five CaBi stations at commercial activity centers and a door-to-door survey of 140 local businesses within 1/10 mi of those five CaBi stations were conducted. It was found that many CaBi riders were motivated to use the system because of savings in travel time (73% of users) and cost (25% of users). In addition, 16% of riders reported making new or induced trips because of CaBi, and 23% of users reported spending more money because of it. Income level was positively associated with new trips, spending levels, and spending during new trips. Joining CaBi to save money had a significant positive association with new trips. The business survey showed that 20% of the businesses in the sample reported a positive impact of bikesharing on sales, and 70% identified a positive impact on the area. In addition, 61% would have either a positive or a neutral reaction to replacing car parking in front of their business with a bikeshare station. Businesses that perceived a positive impact on sales from the bikeshare system were more likely to support the expansion of the system and the replacement of car parking with bikeshare stations. Overall, the findings from five CaBi stations in commercial business areas suggests that bikesharing may generate benefits among both users and businesses.

Examining travel patterns and characteristics in a bikesharing network and implications for data-driven decision supports: Case study in the Washington DC area

“…To be concise, we do not show relatively loose relations among the components of DDDS in Fig. 14. For example, people's preferences for biking facilities may impact the quality of land use through changing the values of businesses (Buehler and Hamre, 2015;Poirier, 2018) and residential properties (Liu and Shi, 2017). The reduction in trip costs and the increase in mobility and safety would attract more road users to adopt BSS, which might potentially raise operational efficiency of BSS.…”

Defining a Primary Market for Bikesharing Programs: A Study of Habits and Usage Intentions in León, Mexico

“…Considering an economic perspective, Buehler and Hamre collected data from users of four main stations of the Capital Bikeshare system in Washington, D.C., and also from businesses in the neighborhoods to evaluate the economic benefits of bikesharing (16). Their results indicate that most of the riders registered savings in travel time (73%), with a much smaller percentage (25%) reporting induced trips and additional spending.…”

Geographic Data Informs Funding and Management of Metro Bike Share System

“…With the embedded GPS units in the shared bikes, bike trip data have gained popularity in urban planning, transportation geography and policy, gender studies, and travel behavior studies. Some projects focus on the travel pattern, land use and gender equality analysis [4] while others look at the bike share programs from an urban planning and policy perspective [5] [6]. A gap in the sharing economic literature is to address funding support, effective business management of allocated funds, as well as to offer equitable service to the communityespecially service to the economically disadvantaged, to whom public transportation is a critical need.…”