The Public Bicycle as a Feeder Mode for Metro Commuters in the Megacity Beijing: Travel Behavior, Route Environment, and Socioeconomic Factors

Abstract

The last mile between metro stations and commuters’ homes or workplaces has become one of key topics in relation to metro ridership in megacities where more than 10 million people live. Although the public bicycle is widely believed to be one of new ways to solve the last-mile problem, the determinants of the use of public bicycles by commuters as a feeder mode have been scarcely discussed in the literature. This paper aims to contribute to this topic by using Beijing as a case study. Based on a travel survey among public bike users in Beijing, this study applied the binary logit model and cluster analysis to explore the determinants of public bike use around metro stations. The paper focused on three independent variables: route environment, socioeconomic factors, and travel distance. The results showed that middle-aged and medium-income commuters are more likely to use public bicycles as a feeder mode for metro transport. The built environment had significant effects on public bike use. Most of the cyclists preferred cycling routes with high directness, while high-income and high-education cyclists viewed comfort and safety of the trip as priority factors. Most trips were within 2 km, and a longer travel distance was significantly related to a higher possibility of public bicycle use. The findings and conclusions can enhance our existing understanding of public bike use as a feeder mode to solve the last mile problem and provide new evidence for policymaking on promoting public bikes in megacities.