Bike sharing - the new public transport mode

Important results from the project

The project intends to study and assess the impact of better access to bike sharing stations on the choice of travel mode in large organisations, both for commuting and service trip purposes. One of the goals is to determine which incentives and measures, within and outside of the organisation, are the most effective in getting employees to choose environmentally friendly forms of transport.

Expected long term effects

We expect to: - see changes in travel mode with the introduction of the new bike sharing option at the workplaces; - assess the potential of bike sharing as a new mode of public transport in the city, alone and in combination with existing public transport; - gain new knowledge about barriers and incentives for increased bicycling, bike sharing and the related efficiency of public transport in general; - to estimate the potential reduction in carbon emissions that can thus be achieved, and conditions for this; - identify additional research needs in relation to cycling, bike sharing and exercise habits in order to calculate the socioeconomic impact of bike sharing systems.

Approach and implementation

We construct bike sharing stations in close proximity to head offices in cooperation with Stockholm City Bikes/Clear Channel, and carry out surveys of attitudes, travel habits and exercise habits of the staff at the involved workplaces before and after this change. We also calculate travel statistics on commuting and business travel in order to estimate the proportion of trips that are relevant for bike sharing.