FAQ about bike share ridership
Public agencies and mobility consultants often struggle with the issue of ridership. If you know someone like that, share this post with them.
Bike share has become mainstream in North America, in large part thanks to the dockless explosion a few years ago. But even with surges in popularity, overall bicycling numbers aren’t anywhere near automobile numbers for short trips. Let’s fix that!
Public agencies and mobility consultants often struggle with the issue of ridership. If you know someone like that, share this post with them.
How do we get more people to use our local bike share?
The answers are easy, but the implementation is fraught with interference.
Organize bikes at mobility hubs. Make it easy for customers to find bikes to rent. High visibility streets, busy residential intersections, employment centers, etc. People who live and/or work in a bike share community should know where to find hubs even without opening an app. Where possible, combine bicycle fleets with electric scooters, mopeds, car share, and any new micromobility options.
Saturate your streets with bikes. I’m barely overstating this. You need far more bikes than you think. Far more than any recent feasibility study recommended, because advocates are afraid the correct answer will scare off local government agencies. The best form of persuasion is a trip to a city with a thriving bike share system. In this case, seeing is believing.
Design proper bike infrastructure. Good infrastructure can make bicycling an easy and obvious transportation choice, and it comes with a price tag that’s a tiny fraction of bad infrastructure. Stripe bike lanes on streets with slower car traffic (under 20 mph). Protect cyclists with physical separation on streets with faster car traffic (over 25 mph).
Look through your local planning, zoning, and engineering rules to identify regulatory obstacles to bicycling. Relaxing rules can accelerate all three of the suggestions above. (That’s right, fewer rules can help.)
Does bike share reduce bus ridership?
Yes. Fewer people will ride the bus. Buses follow fixed routes and schedules. Bikes offer enormous flexibility. And for trips under a few miles, riding a bike might be the most joyful experience.
No. In fact, more people will ride the bus. Place bike share hubs on residential streets and business districts. This will give people the ability to easily move from one mode to another: walk out of home, ride a bicycle to the bus stop, commute on the bus.
Bike share offers more choice. Avoid the trap of placing judgment on people who opt for a bicycle for short trips rather than a bus.
Will cyclists use bike share even if they own their own bikes?
Yes, no, and it doesn’t matter. This question is often used to put bike share advocates on the defensive by challenging the need for shared mobility options.
Bicycling is a fundamental mode of transportation. That’s engineering-speak, but it’s a straightforward concept. Here’s the layperson’s guide to the modal hierarchy:
Crawling is transportation.
Walking is transportation.
Bicycling is transportation.
A bunch of other modes involving motors and relying on other people.
Yes, bike owners will use bike share. Bike share can be used to commute from home to work, but bike commuters are a small percentage of the population. Americans are accustomed to living many miles from work. A bike commuter may find it more convenient to leave their long-haul bike secured inside the office building and take bike share to lunch. It’s also a great option for the bike owner visiting a different city, whether for work or for play.
No, bike owners won’t use bike share. And that’s fine. Scores of other people will. Commuters who arrive to work using their own automobile can keep their vehicle parked in the lot all day, not worried about losing their space or paying for in/out privileges. Commuters who arrive to work on a bus will have a convenient way to travel the final leg (i.e. last mile) of their trip.
It doesn’t matter. Bike share exists to provide transportation options for short trips, regardless of whether or not customers own their own bicycle.
Is bike share safe?
Safety stats aren’t something you feature in bike share marketing, but it’s still good to be aware of the general safety record. In all the years of bike share systems operating in the United States, only a few deaths have involved someone using bike share. It works out to about one fatality for every 61.5 million trips. Statistically speaking, that’s a marvelous safety record.
The real menace to public safety is car-on-car violence. Around 40,000 Americans are killed in car crashes every year. The most dangerous place for kids isn’t a swimming pool, park, or school—it’s riding in the car getting to any of those places.
There are some counterintuitive reasons bike share is safe, even compared to “normal” cycling:
Shared bicycles are 50-100% heavier than typical personal bikes. The frames are sturdier, the tires are more resistant to punctures, and the handlebars keep riders sitting upright. Bike share design lends itself to a safe riding experience by giving customers a piece of equipment that can handle less-than-ideal street conditions.
Bike share thrives in congested areas. Urbanized cities and university campuses are ideal for bike share, because it’s a great option for avoiding snarled traffic congestion. Remember, bike share is for short trips. Walking and bicycling are safest when motor vehicle speeds are low. Road designers have known for decades that bicycle-friendly streets are the safest streets.
Bike share customers aren’t accomplished cyclists. Drifting to the edge of a lane, no hand signals, no helmets, greeting pedestrians...bike share customers are regular people. They’re just trying to get from here to there in the most convenient way.
When you drive a car past a spandex-clad sportsman perched on a paper-thin frame, wearing fancy shoes clipped to his pedals, mirrors and action cameras mounted on his gear, what do you do? You assume he’s capable of riding with motorized bulls, and you don’t worry about your mirror inches from his handlebars.
When you drive past a middle-aged woman wearing ordinary clothes and dress shoes, sitting upright, head turning left and right, what do you do? You proceed with caution. Average people riding sturdy equipment on streets with low-speed car traffic is the secret to success.
Bike share is safe.
What are the most common types of bike share trips?
The most common bike share trip length is under 3 miles. That makes sense as most systems are priced for single trips to be less than 30 minutes each. Casual riding at 10 mph would get you five miles in 30 minutes.
What a happy coincidence, since half of America’s car trips are under 3 miles.
In urbanized areas, all your needs are probably met within a 3-mile radius. It’s easy to assume a big city is dense enough to have all land uses clustered within a few miles, but take a look at online maps of suburban areas. You’ll be amazed at the variety of land uses within biking distance.
Knowing your local residents (as opposed to tourists) are the top prospect for bike share, make note of the common short trips a customer could take. For now, just consider mileage and everyday errands.
When should my community install a bike share system?
Today.