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Bicycle sharing systems allow users to hire a bicycle from an automated docking station for short journeys, typically one-way, providing a novel alternative to traditional methods of transport. The adoption of such systems by cities has been accelerating, with over 700 active systems as of early 2014, an increase of around 50% in a year.
UCL CASA has been observing a number of the larger systems since 2010, and collecting data on their size in terms of numbers of docking stations and bicycles. CASA Working Paper 196, authored by Oliver O’Brien, shows that, for many larger cities, their existing systems have grown in size organically or on a phased basis, by area expansion and/or intensification, during the period of study, although some systems have decreased in size.
View the Bike Share Global Map, created by Oliver O’Brien at UCL CASA