The question of whether public bike share is helping transit systems or taking a bite out of ridership has been on many transit planners’ minds. The answer that is emerging seems to be that both cases can be true depending on the situation, but that, overall, bike share helps support and improve transit operations.
bike sharing
Should bike sharing be self-supporting?
Are bike sharing programs part of the city transportation system, or are they businesses disconnected from city services? That seems to be the question raised most recently in response to the financial problems of New York City’s Citibike, the largest and most prominent bike sharing system in North America.
Bixi bankruptcy a blow to bike sharing, but cities vow no disruption
Bike sharing has rapidly become a part of the urban transportation mix, easily supplementing both transit and walking for trips less than five miles. But financial problems for a large system supplier have cities wondering if their planned or already operating systems will also be impacted.
Mode choice? There’s an app for that
For almost a decade, per-capita VMT has shown a flat to downward trend. But don’t be fooled; people are traveling. Transit ridership is up. Biking and walking for transportation continues to increase. Car-sharing and ride-sharing services are seeing a boom. New technologies, including smart phone applications and interactive web sites, give these intrepid travelers the tools they need to decode the mysteries of public transit and investigate the growing availability of non-motorized travel options.
New Yorkers find new uses for bike share docking stations
Despite all the angst and dire predictions generated by the location of the Citibike kiosks, and concerns over safety and aesthetics, it appears that the docking stations are fast becoming just another piece of street furniture in New York.
New transportation app to replace personal cars in Las Vegas
A new integrated transportation system of car and bike share, shuttle buses, and on-demand cars with drivers—all linked together with a smartphone app known as Project 100—will give residents of Las Vegas a convenient way to avoid owning their own cars.
Bike share both reduces use of other modes and induces new trip-making
The bike sharing system in Washington, DC has gathered and analyzed travel data about members’ usage of both the system bicycles and other travel modes. Evidence on mode choice comes from user surveys. It is intuitive to suspect that the emergence of a new mode would both substitute for other modes and induce new travel. And that is what the Capital Bikeshare survey finds.
2013 on track to be the year of the bike share
While bike share has grown across North America since the first program was launched here in 2008, 2013 looks to be the year with the largest roll-out yet. Twenty or more new systems are planned to open this year in this country and Vancouver, BC.
Cities feel left out of transportation discussion
At the first national conference of the National Association of City Transportation Officials (NACTO), city transportation and elected officials expressed dismay that cities may be on their own in moving forward with innovative plans and policies. Attendees were frsutrated that neither cities nor transportation overall got much attention during the recent campaign season.
Bike share programs’ support of transit constrained by FTA funding rules
New bike share programs offer another opportunity to provide better access to public transit, bridging the important “last mile” between trip origins and destinations. In the U.S., however, Federal Transit Administration funding for the installation of bike-sharing stations adjacent to transit services has stalled, in part due to funding eligibility rules. Currently, FTA funds may pay for planning and construction of the bike share station itself, but not the purchase of actual bicycles. Bicycles can be purchased using FHWA funding, however. FTA and USDOT officials have acknowledged the need to change eligibility rules to embrace the rapidly growing demand for bike share, but as yet no changes have been made.