Bike Sharing System

The last decade has seen an increase in the bike sharing system with more than 6800+ stations across 200+ cities across the United States dated November 2019
Since 2010, 123 million trips have been taken on bike share bikes in the U.S.

Cities with most stations

Chicago, New York City and Washington D.C. has the maximum number of bike share systems
Boston is also one of the top cities with bike-sharing systems with more than 160+ bike stations only in the Boston city area and 350+ bike station considering the Boston metropolitan area.

When the project started in 2011, there were close to 3000+ subscribers
It has seen a linear increase in subscribers over the years
As of 2019, there are more than 21,000 subscribers using blue bikes across the Boston metropolitan area

Majority of riders use the bikes for short trips in the range of 6-15 minutes
Around 12 min is the average time the bikes are used

Access to public transportation is an important feature considered while designing a bike network which helps in the last mile connection.
Around 71% of stations are located near to bus/rail network
It is equally important to have stations in places where there are no access to public transport and residential areas.

Some interesting insights from the below map -

Areas close to educational institutes such as MIT and Harvard Square are the most utilised stations
Transportation centre such as South Station and Back Bay have a huge demand for bikes
Kendal Square where a lot of tech companies are present are also high in demand

This map can help to address the areas where there is a less demand and can be used in effective planning

LimeBikes are available in 15 cities and towns in the Boston region: Arlington, Bedford, Belmont, Chelsea, Everett, Lexington, Malden, Melrose, Needham, Newton, Revere, Watertown and Winthrop.
Riders unlock them with apps wherever they might be found, as with other dockless bikes. They are only supposed to be unlocked and re-locked in the municipalities that formally host LimeBikes

Comparing the major Docked vs Dockless operators, it is clear that each market is lead by different operators
This creates an equity issue and a reluctance to shift
Even though pilot projects look promising, overcoming legal issues and boosting pedestrians confidence, is the way forward for these e-bike companies
Due to its flexibility and adaptability, e-bikes may definitely be the future
With strong year-on-year growth since 2010, bike share is gaining hold as a transportation option in cities across the U.S.
Significant ridership in an ever-widening collection of cities and clear indications of cross-over use between bike share and traditional bus and rail transit indicates that bike share can provide an essential mobility option for people in U.S. cities