TY - JOUR
T1 - The paradox of public acceptance of bike sharing in Gothenburg
AU - Nikitas, Alexandros
AU - Wallgren, Pontus
AU - Rexfelt, Oskar
PY - 2015/10/26
Y1 - 2015/10/26
N2 - Bike sharing is one of the most promising urban planning interventions to facilitate an all-necessary transition towards a more sustainable transport paradigm. Regardless of the fact that hundreds of schemes run in more than 50 countries worldwide, bike sharing is still moderately investigated by research. This paper reports on a primarily quantitative study of 558 responses that was set to frame attitudes reflecting public acceptance towards the rapidly expanding bike-sharing scheme in Gothenburg, Sweden (Styr & Stll), in an attempt to identify the 'formula for success. The respondents generally believed that Styr & St,ll is a pro-environmental, inexpensive and healthy transport mode, which complements the citys public transport services and promotes a more human-friendly identity for Gothenburg. Even the respondents that self-reported a small (or no) likelihood to use bike sharing were positive towards the scheme. This means that they recognise that bike sharing has a significant pro-social potential and is not a system favouring a particular road-user segment over others that might not be interested or able to use it. The fact that the majority of the respondents do not use the scheme and yet its popularity is still vast indicates that there is much potential for more use in real terms.
AB - Bike sharing is one of the most promising urban planning interventions to facilitate an all-necessary transition towards a more sustainable transport paradigm. Regardless of the fact that hundreds of schemes run in more than 50 countries worldwide, bike sharing is still moderately investigated by research. This paper reports on a primarily quantitative study of 558 responses that was set to frame attitudes reflecting public acceptance towards the rapidly expanding bike-sharing scheme in Gothenburg, Sweden (Styr & Stll), in an attempt to identify the 'formula for success. The respondents generally believed that Styr & St,ll is a pro-environmental, inexpensive and healthy transport mode, which complements the citys public transport services and promotes a more human-friendly identity for Gothenburg. Even the respondents that self-reported a small (or no) likelihood to use bike sharing were positive towards the scheme. This means that they recognise that bike sharing has a significant pro-social potential and is not a system favouring a particular road-user segment over others that might not be interested or able to use it. The fact that the majority of the respondents do not use the scheme and yet its popularity is still vast indicates that there is much potential for more use in real terms.
KW - Town and city planning
KW - Transport management
KW - Transport planning
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84968919052&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1680/jensu.14.00070
DO - 10.1680/jensu.14.00070
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84968919052
VL - 169
SP - 101
EP - 113
JO - Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers: Engineering Sustainability
JF - Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers: Engineering Sustainability
SN - 1478-4629
IS - 3
ER -