Exploring micromobility services: Characteristics of station-based bike-sharing users and their relationship with dockless services

Abstract

As shared mobility burst in different cities as one of the most innovative transport solutions, few efforts are found related to the exploration of dockless services and more specifically, to analysing opinions from those users that are subscribed to both, docked and dockless services simultaneously. Therefore, our study explores station-based bike-sharing users’ preferences for other dockless services. To that end, we firstly divide the sample into two groups: Group 1 being users that only use Bicimad (Madrid’s station-based bike-sharing) and Group 2 being Bicimad users that are also subscribed to other dockless services. Results show that both groups have similar users’ profiles according to their socio-demographic characteristics (male, 35–49 years old, well-educated, medium income and employee), although Group 2 shows a slightly higher rate of under-26-year-olds, which could be supporting the idea that these services are more attractive for the youngest. Moreover, our findings show that approximately 12% of station-based bike-sharing users are also subscribed to dockless services. At a higher rate, those subscribed to dockless services live outside the city centre, where the bike-sharing system is not available, showing that the two models may essentially have a complemental relationship, especially in the peripheries. Finally, results point at the importance of bike-sharing systems having a positive impact on its users, as they are keener to try new dockless options and a reduced willingness to use private cars. Insights may help to better inform public policy and promote the use of shared micromobility.