Bike-Share Planning in Cities with Varied Terrain

Decisions to install public bike-share programs are increasingly based on ridership estimations, but the topography’s influence on ridership is rarely quantified. This research evaluated a geographic information system-based approach for estimating ridership that accounted for hills. Double-weighting a slope relative to other measures produces a realistic representation of the bicycling experience. Because of their benefits, bike-share programs are increasingly of interest in cities and universities across the country. A bike-share program provides short-term use bicycles to the public through a system of unattended stations for their checkout and return. This research enhanced methodology developed in Philadelphia by developing and evaluating an additional indicator that accounts for hills. Several scenarios were tested, using Seattle as a case study, to find the best method to account for the notable impact of hills on bike riders’ choices and to evaluate the addition of slope to the calculation of bike-share demand.