Research and Publications

New book chapter on bikesharing by UQ|UP team

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While many bike-sharing schemes have been launched amid much fanfare, sometimes their popularity has waned. A number of schemes operate at a financial loss and depend on other profitable enterprises to cross-subsidise them and some have resulted in dumped and discarded bikes becoming an eyesore. In this chapter, we explore several questions. What are the characteristics of a successful public bike-sharing program? What are the characteristics and dynamics of the riders that use these systems? Beyond users’ own predilections and patterns, are there environmental characteristics that lead a system to succeed? Drawing on current knowledge, we first discuss docked bike-sharing systems. In the second part of this chapter we discuss the public discourse around dockless systems, a new generation of bike-sharing. This discourse tied to broader discourses that preoccupy contemporary society, including the pervasive role of technology, the different pathways to sustainability, and late stage capitalism. The reactions to dockless bike-sharing schemes are likely to apply to e-scooters too-– another micro-mobility mode that operates based on a similar concept.