If you are traveling in Shanghai, one of the largest cities around the world, you may be able to choose a new means of transportation by installing an app on your cell phone. The bike sharing systems, operated by several bike-sharing companies deployed in most large cities in China, is more and more popular because of the assets of lower carbon emission and higher mobility. The same trend could also be found around the world.
Bike sharing system is significantly beneficial to the reduction of carbon emission. The research carried out by UCL has shown that the public bike system has reduced 25240 tons of carbon dioxide in 2016. That emission could have been caused by the other parts of the transportation system, however, because of the bike sharing system have more advantages over the other non-human powered transportation system, people would switch to biking.
The bike could solve the problem caused by the last mile, which is a drawback of the public transit system, you could never make the stop just next to your home. However, with the help of the bike sharing companies, the bikes would be distributed to almost every part of the city based on the data processing and monitoring platform. That would make it easier for people to find a bike nearby. Also, the modern bike sharing system could allow people to leave the bike at the corner when they finish the trip, making it a lot easier to plan and even carry out a short distance trip. Another merit given to the biking system is most major cities around the world would try to update their scenery, making people more likely to ride a bike. Based on these assets, people would be more willing to choose the shared bike to travel instead of waiting for a bus or driving by themselves. In fact, according to Zhang’s research, people get more mobility with the help of the bike sharing system.
In order to lower down the carbon emission in urban areas, we couldn’t only try to limit the usage of petroleum or electricity powered transportation vehicles. The basic needs of the people should be considered. However, the shared bike could reach the balance easily. The bike sharing system is a large network operated by multiple companies. The bike is distributed either by the last user or by the staff of bike sharing companies. In that way, you could find a shared bike waiting for you almost everywhere. After you arrive at your destination, what you should do is to lock your bike and report to the sharing system and the bike could be registered by the next user.
The bike sharing system could mitigate the gap between the long distance public transportation system and the destination, which would be a strong competitor against the taxi. For example, if the target place is out of reach on foot but still in reach of the bike, people may use the biking system instead of the public transportation system because the stops of the transportation system may not be just next to the place they plan to go. Another advantage of the bike sharing system is that they could provide the service other than just moving people to the place they want to go. They could offer a special service of enjoying the trip.
Now according to the bike sharing data around the world, bike sharing is a very promising substitute of the public transportation system. Some cities around the world, like Vancouver and Melbourne, is perfect for bike riding. These cities have flat roads and less urban vehicle transportation flow. In the meantime, these cities have good sceneries for people to appreciate.
Reference: Zhang, Y., & Mi, Z. (2018). Environmental benefits of bike sharing: A big data-based analysis. Applied Energy, 220(December 2017), 296–301. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apenergy.2018.03.101