Potential Impacts of Transit-Shared Bike Integration on Equity in Job Accessibility

Abstract

Travelling to work is one of the essential activities in individuals’ daily lives. However, commuters who depend on public transport often face significant challenges in accessing job opportunities, resulting in transport-related social exclusion risks. In recent years, shared mobility services have gained popularity as a solution, offering greater flexibility in first/last-mile segments of multimodal trips. These services have promising potential to improve accessibility for those who rely on public transport, thereby addressing issues of accessibility inequity. Such an intervention aligns well with the unique Dutch cycling culture, where cycling already accounts for a substantial portion of transit journeys. However, limited bike availability at the egress side diminishes the utilization of bikes for the last mile of a trip. To address this issue, integrating shared bikes with transit as an egress mode could be an effective intervention.

This thesis conducted a ”what-if analysis” in the Amsterdam Transport Region to investigate the impacts on job accessibility for different commuters and the equity of the whole transportation system if shared bikes are provided at transit stations as the egress mode. The results highlight the considerable potential of this integration in improving job accessibility and promoting social equity.

Implications drawn from the analysis provide valuable insights. Statistically, groups without car access can benefit more than groups with car access from integrating transit and shared bikes, but benefits might favour high-income groups. Geographically, accessibility improvements are mainly distributed to commuters living next to transit stations, while equity improvements are concentrated in areas with dense and developed public transport systems. Additionally, commuters living close to transit stations are more likely to contribute significantly to the overall accessibility deficiency, even though they have convenient first-mile segments. These implications guide policymakers in prioritizing interventions for targeted groups or regions, and facilitating the creation of a more equitable transportation system.