Analysis of Factors Affecting the Extra Journey Time of Public Bicycles

Abstract

Many countries worldwide are introducing public bicycle systems to reduce urban traffic and environmental problems. However, studies on the usage behavior of public bicycles have not considered the trip purpose of riders extensively due to data limitations. Therefore, this study defined the “extra journey time” from usage time and origin–destination (OD) expected time and clustered public bicycle usage behaviors. Subsequently, the effects of the location characteristics of the departure and arrival stations, road environmental factors, and weather conditions for each cluster were analyzed. Three clusters were obtained from the results. Riders in Cluster 1 were inferred to have used the bicycles to commute and for work purposes, and riders in Clusters 2 and 3 used the bicycles for leisure purposes. Moreover, the bike station location characteristics, road environmental factors, and weather conditions influenced the probability of classification into one cluster. In particular, bike lanes near the departure and arrival stations increased the probability of classification under Clusters 2 and 3. The trip patterns according to the extra journey time of public bicycles were classified under these clusters. Furthermore, the differences in the characteristics of the bicycle usage types were identified according to the location and meteorological factors affecting them.