Does COVID-19 pandemic shift usage patterns of bike-sharing?: an empirical evidence from the United States

Abstract

The advent of COVID-19 considerably changed our life. It totally changed the normal flow of human mobility patterns, as governments announced containment measures to flatten the epidemic curve. While people shy away from mass transit due to the high risk of disease infection, the city planner’s mission is to redesign sustainable urban transport to prevent people from turning to private cars, which induce social and environmental costs. This research leveraged weekly Public bike-sharing systems (PBSSs) data of eight cities in the US for two years, COVID-19 statistics, and daily mobility data from Google and Apple to give city planners meaningful insights. Empirical evidence clearly shows that the COVID-19 outbreak significantly reduced PBSSs ridership volume and increased average travel time. The changes in volume and travel time were also related to the number of COVID-19 cases and deaths by city. When compared with other transport modes, PBSSs ridership recovered faster. The results indicate that PBSSs might have been more resilient with the pandemic than other transport modes. Overall, this paper provides clues on how PBSSs can support a sustainable transition to a post-COVID-19 society.