Investigating the influencing factors of cooperation between shared e-bikes and subway systems: A multivariate data analysis

Abstract

Shared electric bikes (shared e-bikes) are used to connect the public transportation and have gained popularity in numerous big cities over the past decades. However, the factors influencing the integrated use of shared e-bikes and subway remain unclear. Utilizing extensive individual trip data and built environment variables as independent factors, this study established a moderated multiple regression (MMR) model to explore the cooperation relationship between shared e-bikes and subway. The findings reveal that higher land-use diversity promote the combined use of shared e-bikes and subway by reducing long-distance bike trip. In contrast, higher road density facilitates the use of shared e-bikes for entire trips, thereby discouraging their use as a means of connecting to subways. Furthermore, the study uncovers disparities in public transportation usage across different socioeconomic classes. Additionally, shared e-bike's origin distance to the nearest subway station (ODS) and destination distance to the nearest subway station (DDS) were found to have an interaction effect on the cooperation level. Shared e-bike users whose travel purpose can be met within the pedestrian catchment area around subway stations are more likely to use e-bikes to solve the last mile problem. Temporal heterogeneity examination shows that subway proximity has higher influence on people's choice to integrate shared e-bikes with subways on weekdays than holidays. There findings provide references for shared e-bikes’ deployment and public transit planning.