Dynamic Feedback Analysis of Influencing Factors and Challenges of Dockless Bike-Sharing Sustainability in China

Tianjian Yang, Ye Li, Simin Zhou and Yu Zhang
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Tianjian Yang: School of Economics and Management, Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications, Beijing 100876, China
Ye Li: School of Economics and Management, Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications, Beijing 100876, China
Simin Zhou: School of Economics and Management, Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications, Beijing 100876, China
Yu Zhang: Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Jack Baskin School of Engineering, University of California, Santa Cruz, CA 95060, USA

Sustainability, 2019, vol. 11, issue 17, 1-17

Abstract: Dockless bike-sharing programs (DBSPs) are typical representatives of the new era of the internet economy. These schemes alleviate urban traffic congestion, reduce carbon emissions, and change people’s preferred travel modes, but they also suffer from a series of problems related to unsustainability. The sustainability performance of a DBSP is closely related to its influencing factors, which can be used to understand the main challenges of the program and consider what useful measures should be taken to overcome these issues. Therefore, it is essential to investigate the related factors that are critical to the sustainability of DBSPs from a systems-level perspective. In this paper, we explored publicly available data sources (i.e., literature, institutional reports, and announcements) to determine the intrinsic influencing factors and understand their interactions and feedback relationships. A taxonomy of the key challenges with respect to the fundamental pillars of DBSP sustainability (i.e., environment, society, and economy) was provided. System dynamics methodology was employed to map the critical factors and links in order to analyze the key challenges in facilitating the sustainability of DBSPs. Based on this approach, we put forward proposals to mitigate the severe challenges for governments and DBSP operators. The findings provide a theoretical basis and guiding role to develop improvement strategies for DBSP sustainability.

Keywords: dockless bike-sharing; supply chains; influencing factors; system dynamics; causal loop; sustainability (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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