Investigating users’ perspectives on the development of bike-sharing in Shanghai

Abstract

High levels of car dependence have caused tremendous challenges for sustainable transport development. Transport planners, therefore, seek ways of replacing motor vehicles, as well as increasing the proportion of active travel. The bike-sharing scheme can be seen as an effective way of doing so, particularly in Asian cities. The aim of this paper is to investigate users' perspectives on the development of bike-sharing using Shanghai as an example. Semi-structured interviews are used to examine the main factors motivating and impeding the development of the bike-sharing scheme in Shanghai. Our findings show that convenience, saving time and financial savings are the major motivations; whereas problems with bicycles being poorly maintained and abused by users, operational issues, financial issues and an unsuitable business model are the major obstacles. In addition, the findings also suggest that a public and private partnership could be the best option for running a sustainable bike-sharing scheme with clear areas of responsibility. Financial incentives, a bicycle-friendly infrastructure, regular operational management and supportive policies should be prioritised. In order to achieve the targets set by the Shanghai Master Plan 2035, transport planners and policymakers should integrate the bike-sharing scheme within the wider active travel system.

Transport Planning and Management and its Implications in Chinese Cities

“…This means that the local government and/or transport authority are more likely to reject the transport appraisal proposal to build a cycle highway, particularly in a tier 3 or 4 city, as the conventional cost-benefit analysis model is still widely applied to evaluate mega transport projects in China, and even in the UK (Hickman and Dean, 2018;Spurling et al, 2019;Vickerman, 2017). Last but not least, the management of dockless bicycles also constitutes an issue for most Chinese cities, primarily because of oversupply (Lyu et al, 2020), arbitrary parking , and repair and recycling (Lyu et al, 2020). It is evident that the advantages and disadvantages need to be carefully considered and balanced when implementing strategies to tackle transport issues.…”

– The European Conference on Arts, Design and Education 2022 Official Conference Proceedings

“…Considering that other modes of transportation have declined by 10%, the increase in bicycle usage is uncharacteristic. This indicates that people embraced shared bikes over other modes of transportation available to them (Lyu et al, 2021). As shown in (Figure 3) below, public transportation and cars continue to be the preferred means of transportation for longer distances (Sun, 2018).…”

Step-free railway station access in the UK: the value of inclusive design

“…The semi-structured interviews were based on a list of predetermined questions, sufficiently structured to address specific dimensions of the benefits of step-free access but also allowed space for participants to offer new insights into the research topic. Open-ended questions are more flexible than close-ended questions, and the latter may prevent participants from expanding on the subject matter [26,27]. This is particularly pertinent for this research as the benefits of step-free access may well be wide-ranging and thus require questions that allow for a degree of interpretation.…”