Is Bicycle Sharing an Environmental Practice? Evidence from a Life Cycle Assessment Based on Behavioral Surveys

Fanying Zheng, Fu Gu, Wujie Zhang and Jianfeng Guo
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Fanying Zheng: State Key Laboratory of Fluid Power and Mechatronic Systems, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310027, China
Fu Gu: State Key Laboratory of Fluid Power and Mechatronic Systems, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310027, China
Wujie Zhang: State Key Laboratory of Fluid Power and Mechatronic Systems, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310027, China
Jianfeng Guo: Institutes of Science and Development, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China

Sustainability, 2019, vol. 11, issue 6, 1-25

Abstract: As an icon of sharing economy and product service systems, bicycle sharing is gaining an increasing global popularity, yet there is little knowledge about the environmental performance of this emerging traveling mode. To seek the answer to the question, the paper employs a survey-based method and a life cycle assessment (LCA) approach. We first conduct a questionnaire-based survey to identify the changes in traveling modes after the introduction of shared bicycles. The survey results show that the use of shared bicycles is more popular among young and low-income populations, and shared bicycles are predominantly used to replace walking and bus-taking. Based on the survey results, we model the environmental impacts of the changed traveling behaviors and the life cycle of shared bicycle with the aid of Gabi software. The LCA results shows that bicycle sharing is currently an environmentally friendly practice, as it brings environmental savings in all the indicators except metal consumption. Further, the results of sensitivity analysis show that aging, rising rental fees, and increasing volume of shared bicycles would impart negative impacts on the environmental performance of bicycle sharing. The findings of this work facilitate the management and development of bicycle sharing.

Keywords: life cycle assessment; bicycle sharing; traveling mode; environmental impact; 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 (15)

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