| Usage |
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| Mobility |
How does free-floating bikeshare play into mobility, and does this role differs from station-based bikeshare? Does uniformity of company across cities encourage bicycle use among tourists? How does a single user differ in travel behavior when using the same free-floating bikeshare system across many cities? |
| Physical Activity |
What proportion of the population use free-floating bikeshare? What are the trip details of users, including mode substitution, trip frequency, duration, and generation of new trips? Does population physical activity increase after introduction of free-floating bikeshare? If so, how much? |
| Equity |
|
| Spatial Equity |
Is spatial access to free-floating bikes distributed equitably across population groups? What is a suitable sized program to achieve spatial equity across a city, while still being profitable? What types of governance result in more equitable free-floating bikeshare systems? What is a suitable model for optimizing equity during free-floating bikeshare rebalancing? What user-based strategies might be effective for rebalancing within a free-floating bikeshare system? |
| Social Equity |
What are the demographics of users within free-floating systems? What are the barriers and facilitators to using free-floating systems? What pricing structures and outreach initiatives are effective in reaching low-income residents? What types of bikes in free-floating systems encourage use of bikeshare, and for whom? |
| Sharing Resources |
|
| Existing Systems |
How do we design legislation or fare integration between non-station-based systems with station-based systems? How often are free-floating bikeshare systems adhering to their service areas? How often do they come in conflict with other systems? How does user experience vary according to number and type of systems? What are some models of multimodal systems that integrate across bikeshare, carshare, transit, and more? |
| Bike Storage |
What is the frequency, impact of, and responsibility for right-of-way issues? Do technical and infrastructural fixes such as geofencing and dedicated parking areas resolve parking concerns? How do storage concerns evolve as free-floating systems proliferate? What is the prevalence of vandalism and what physical, social, environmental, or regulatory characteristics discourage vandalism? |
| For-Profit Model |
|
| Data and Privacy |
What models of data sharing between cities and bikeshare companies provide public benefits without compromising commercial interests or user interests? How do we create comprehensive standards, definitions, and mechanisms to ensure data quality and comparability? |
| Financial Sustainability |
What ride rate would free-floating bikeshare bikes need to reach to be profitable? What are effective business or public-private partnership models to replace venture capital dependency? What are other potential sources of revenue for free-floating bikeshare? |
| Context |
|
| Helmet Laws |
What are strategies to offer helmets to free-floating bikeshare riders? Does compliance differ by strategy? Does offering helmets for free-floating bikeshare encourage use (and compliance with the helmet law) How can we streamline local laws to reduce user confusion for inconsistencies of helmet requirements within single free-floating fleets? |
| Physical and Social Environment |
How do differences between North American and Chinese contexts play out in introduction, implementation, and success of free-floating systems? Does free-floating bikeshare create opportunities or obstacles to new infrastructure? How does the social environment shape success of free-floating bikeshare systems and vice versa? What environmental features may be needed for free-floating bikeshare to be successful? How does city geography impact potential success of free-floating bikeshare systems? In what ways can be learn from success on university campuses to create favorable biking conditions in larger, non-university cities? How might bikeshare success from university campuses translate into additional biking among graduates of these universities as they move to other cities? |
