Impacts Of Imposing A Start Fee On The Bikesharing Program: Empirical Evidence Of Taipei YouBike

Chih-Lin Chung; Chun-Liang Huang

doi:10.6180/jase.202311_26(11).0006

Impacts Of Imposing A Start Fee On The Bikesharing Program: Empirical Evidence Of Taipei YouBike

Chih-Lin Chung This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. and Chun-Liang Huang

Tamkang University, No.151, Yingzhuan Rd., Tamsui Dist., New Taipei City 25137, Taiwan

Received: August 14, 2022
Accepted: December 27, 2022
Publication Date: March 9, 2023

Copyright The Author(s). This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are cited.

Download Citation: ||https://doi.org/10.6180/jase.202311_26(11).0006

ABSTRACT

Some bikesharing programs in Taiwan impose start fees of NT$5-10 to replace the 30-min complimentary period. This research reveals the impact of a NT$5 start fee by analyzing over three million Taipei YouBike trip data as a case study. The statistical results show that the daily ridership dropped 43% on the weekends and 14% on the weekdays, indicating how powerful such a slight fee adjustment was on user behavior. Regardless of the fee adjustment, the rental peak hours, duration, and travel distance remained almost unchanged. The daily turnover rate decreased noticeably from 10.4 to 8.0 rentals per bike. Most trips had one end next to the mass rapid transit (MRT) stations or schools. Locating YouBike stations along the MRT lines had multi-faceted effects—offering first- and last-mile services, providing a choice at midnight and in the areas without public transit services, and replacing specific MRT trips.

Keywords: Bikesharing, Public Bike System, Fee Adjustment, Price Elasticity, Case Study

REFERENCES

[1] The Meddin Bike-sharing World Map. en.
[2] E. Fishman, S.Washington, and N. Haworth, (2013) “Bike share: A synthesis of the literature" Transport Review 33(2): 148–165. DOI: 10.1080/01441647.2013.775612..
[3] E. Heinen, B. Wee, and K. Maat, (2010) “Commuting by bicycle: An overview of the literature" Transport Reviews 30(1): 59–96. DOI: 10.1080/01441640903187001..
[4] C. Lu, Y. Chung, and C. Feng, (2018) “Investigating the effect of environmental context and number of stations on bikesharing usage" Journal of the Chinese Institute of Transportation 30(2): 113–137. DOI: 10.6383/JCIT.201809_30(2).0002..
[5] J. Tu, S. Chang, and Y. Chen, (2020) “Improvement strategies for rental stations of public bike system" Journal of the Chinese Institute of Transportation 32(1): 23–56. DOI: 10.6383/JCIT.202003_32(1).0002..
[6] C. Chung and Y. Huang, (2016) “Operations assessment based on open data of public bike systems: A case study of Taipei YouBike" Journal of the Chinese Institute of Transportation 28(4): 455–478. DOI: 10.6383/JCIT.201612_28(4).0003..
[7] O. O’Brien, J. Cheshire, and M. Batty, (2014) “Mining bicycle sharing data for generating insights into sustainable transport systems" Journal of Transport Geography 34: 262–273. DOI: 10.1016/j.jtrangeo.2013.06.007..
[8] A. Kaltenbrunner, R. Meza, J. Grivolla, J. Codina, and R. Banchs, (2010) “Urban cycles and mobility patterns: Exploring and predicting trends in a bicycle-based public transport system" Pervasive and Mobile Computing 6(4): 455–466. DOI: 10.1016/j.pmcj.2010.07.002..
[9] N. Berloco and P. Colonna, (2012) “Testing and improving urban bicycle performance" Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences 53: 72–83. DOI: 10.1016/j.sbspro.2012.09.861..
[10] M. Bordagaray, L. dell’Olio, A. Fonzone, and Á. Ibeas, (2016) “Capturing the conditions that introduce systematic variation in bikesharing travel behavior using data mining techniques" Transportation Research Part C 71: 231–248. DOI: 10.1016/j.trc.2016.07.009..
[11] J. Corcorana, T. Lib, D. Rohdea, E. Charles-Edwardsa, and D. Mateo-Babianoa, (2014) “Spatio-temporal patterns of a public bicycle sharing program: The effect of weather and calendar events" Journal of Transport Geography 41: 292–305. DOI: 10.1016/j.jtrangeo.2014.09.003..
[12] W. El-Assi, M. Mahmoud, and K. Habib, (2017) “Effects of built environment and weather on bikesharing demand: A station level analysis of commercial bikesharing in Toronto" Transportation 44: 589–613. DOI: 10.1007/s11116-015-9669-z..
[13] P. Vogel, T. Greiser, and D. Mattfeld, (2011) “Understanding bikesharing systems using data mining: Exploring activity patterns" Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences 20: 514–523. DOI: 10.1016/j.sbspro.2011.08.058..
[14] M. Bordagaray, A. Ibeas, and L. dell’Olio, (2012) “Modeling user perception of public bicycle services" Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences 54: 1308–1316. DOI: 10.1016/j.sbspro.2012.09.845..
[15] A. Campbell, C. Cherry, M. Ryerson, and X. Yang, (2016) “Factors influencing the choice of shared bicycles and shared electric bikes in Beijing" Transportation Research Part C 67: 399–414. DOI: 10.1016/j.trc.2016.03.004..
[16] S. Lai, (2012) “An acceptance and satisfaction Study on public bike system–A case study on Taipei U-bike system" Journal of the Chinese Institute of Transportation 24(3): 379–405. DOI: 10.6383/JCIT.201209.0379..
[17] J. Lin, N.Wang, and C. Feng, (2017) “Public bike system pricing and usage in Taipei" International Journal of Sustainable Transportation 11(9): 633–641. DOI: 10.1080/15568318.2017.1301601..
[18] M. Razo and S. Gao, (2013) “A rank-dependent expected utility model for strategic route choice with stated preference data" Transportation Research Part C 27: 117–130. DOI: 10.1016/j.trc.2011.08.009..
[19] T. C. DOT. YouBike Annual Performance Evaluation Final Report. en. 2020.
[20] J. Zhao,W. Deng, and Y. Song, (2014) “Ridership and effectiveness of bikesharing: The effects of urban features and system characteristics on daily use and turnover rate of public bikes in China" Transport Policy 35: 253–264. DOI: 10.1016/j.tranpol.2014.06.008..
[21] X. Zhou, (2015) “Understanding spatiotemporal patterns of biking behavior by analyzing massive bike sharing data in Chicago" PLoS ONE 10(10): 0137922. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0137922..
[22] T. C. DOT. Press Release: The YouBike Start Fee Reduced the Lack-of-bike Situation and Maintained the Turnover Rate Higher Than the Global Average. en.
[23] T. M. of Transportation. Taxi Operational Survey. en. 2016.
[24] T. M. of Transportation. Passenger Car Usage Survey. en. 2017.
[25] T. M. of Transportation. Scooter Usage Survey. en. 2017.
[26] T. M. of Transportation. Commonly Used Transportation Statistics Data Query. en.
[27] J. García-Palomares, J. Gutiérrez, and M. Latorre, (2012) “Optimizing the location of stations in bikesharing programs: A GIS approach" Applied Geography 35: 235–246. DOI: 10.1016/j.apgeog.2012.07.002..
[28] J. Lin and T. Yang, (2011) “Strategic design of public bicycle sharing systems with service level constraints" Transportation Research Part E 47: 284–294. DOI: DOI:10.1016/j.tre.2010.09.004..
[29] S. Jäppinena, T. Toivonena, and M. Salonena, (2013) “Modelling the potential effect of shared bicycles on public transport travel times in greater Helsinki: An open data approach" Applied Geography 43: 13–24. DOI: 10.1016/j.apgeog.2013.05.010..