Unveiling Women’s Needs and Expectations as Users of Bike Sharing Services: The H2020 DIAMOND Project

Andrea Gorrini, Rawad Choubassi, Federico Messa, Wafaa Saleh, Augustus Ababio-Donkor, Maria Chiara Leva, Lorraine D’Arcy, Francesco Fabbri, David Laniado and Pablo Aragón
Additional contact information
Andrea Gorrini: Systematica Srl, Via Lovanio 8, 20121 Milan, Italy
Rawad Choubassi: Systematica Srl, Via Lovanio 8, 20121 Milan, Italy
Federico Messa: Systematica Srl, Via Lovanio 8, 20121 Milan, Italy
Wafaa Saleh: Transport Research Institute, Edinburgh Napier University, 10 Colinton Road, Edinburgh EH10 5DT, UK
Augustus Ababio-Donkor: Transport Research Institute, Edinburgh Napier University, 10 Colinton Road, Edinburgh EH10 5DT, UK
Maria Chiara Leva: School of Food Science and Environmental Health, Technological University Dublin, Park House, Grangegorman, 191 North Circular Road, D07 EWV4 Dublin, Ireland
Lorraine D’Arcy: School of Transport Engineering, Environment and Planning, Technological University Dublin, Park House, Grangegorman, 191 North Circular Road, D07 EWV4 Dublin, Ireland
Francesco Fabbri: Eurecat-Centre Tecnològic de Catalunya, Carrer de Bilbao, 72, 08005 Barcelona, Spain
David Laniado: Eurecat-Centre Tecnològic de Catalunya, Carrer de Bilbao, 72, 08005 Barcelona, Spain
Pablo Aragón: Eurecat-Centre Tecnològic de Catalunya, Carrer de Bilbao, 72, 08005 Barcelona, Spain

Sustainability, 2021, vol. 13, issue 9, 1-29

Abstract: Within the objectives of the H2020 DIAMOND project, the paper investigates women’s needs and expectations as users of the bike-sharing service managed by Syndicat Mixte Autolib et Velib Métropole in the territory of Paris Region-Petite Couronne (France). The paper presents a thematic literature review focused on gender inclusion in bike-sharing schemes. The proposed methodological approach is based on ( i ) Geographic Information Systems for the analysis of geolocated open datasets related to land, sociodemographic and mobility characteristics of the areas surrounding each docking stations. This was aimed at identifying a short list of suitable bike-sharing docking stations, which were further characterized through: ( ii ) structured proprietary data focused on travel demand; ( iii ) onsite observations focused on universal design indicators; ( iv ) survey questionnaires focused on women’s concerns, needs and expectations; and ( v ) social media data from Twitter focused on the opinion of the end-users. Results showed that women use the VELIB’s bike-sharing service much less than men (about 30% of the total number of users), since they are more concerned about the following issues: accessibility (e.g., availability of bikes at the docking stations, distance to the nearest station, type and quality of the cycle paths); safety and security (e.g., perception of danger and insecurity while cycling and using the current bicycle infrastructures); social constraints (e.g., perceptions and cultural stigmatization associated with cycling and bike-sharing); weather and topography (e.g., impact of weather and the urban terrain on cycling and bike-sharing). The final aim of the H2020 DIAMOND project is to support the definition of guidelines and policies for the inclusion of women’s needs in the design of future bike-sharing services.

Keywords: gender and mobility; bike-sharing service; data analytics; inclusive transport system (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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