Boosting the eco-friendly sharing economy: the effect of gasoline prices on bikeshare ridership in three U.S. metropolises

Abstract

Abstract Transportation has become the largest CO2 emitter in the United States in recent years with low gasoline prices standing out from many contributors. As demand side changes are called for reducing car use, the fast-growing sharing economy shows great potential to shift travel demand away from single-occupancy vehicles. Although previous inter-disciplinary research on shared mobility has explored its multitudes of benefits, it is yet to be investigated how the uptake of this eco-friendly sharing scheme is affected by gasoline prices. In this study, we examine the impact of gasoline prices on the use of bikeshare programs in three U.S. metropolises: New York City, Boston, and Chicago. Using bikeshare trip data, we estimate the impact of citywide gasoline prices on both bikeshare trip duration and trip frequency in a generalized linear regression setting. The results suggest that gasoline prices significantly affect bikeshare trip frequency and duration, with a noticeable surge in short trips. Doubling gasoline prices could help save an average of 1933 gallons of gasoline per day in the three cities, approximately 0.04% of the U.S. daily per capita gasoline consumption. Our findings indicate that fuel pricing could be an effective policy tool to support technology driven eco-friendly sharing mobility and boost sustainable transportation.