Exploring taste heterogeneity and substitution patterns in dockless bike-sharing parking preferences

Shujing Zhang, Thomas O. Hancock, Stephane Hess and Shunping Jia

Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, 2026, vol. 204, issue C

Abstract: Dockless bike-sharing (DBS) is an important sustainable urban transportation mode in many cities but faces challenges with disorderly parking management. This study aims to explore the presence of taste heterogeneity and substitution patterns in DBS users’ parking preferences and to determine how interpersonal variations, alternative-specific attributes, and socio-demographic characteristics affect parking choices. Based on stated-preference data collected in China, a mixed nested logit (Mixed NL) model is employed to account for both inter-alternative correlation and random taste heterogeneity. The results indicate that reducing the distance to parking and increasing monetary fines are more effective in discouraging disorderly parking than offering incentives for orderly parking or adjusting parking fees. Social influence also plays a critical role, as users are more likely to park disorderly when they observe others doing so. Meanwhile, the research also reveals that users are willing to pay an average of 0.8 CNY to reduce the distance to parking by 100 m, and are willing to accept on average an additional 58 m of the distance to parking in exchange for 10 min of free riding time. These insights into DBS users’ parking behaviour enhance the understanding of the effectiveness of possible policy interventions and offer a valuable reference for developing future management strategies.

Keywords: Dockless bike-sharing; Parking behaviour; Mixed GEV model; Taste heterogeneity; Inter-alternative correlations; Stated choice experiment (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0965856425004409
Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:transa:v:204:y:2026:i:c:s0965856425004409

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/supportfaq.cws_home/regional
https://shop.elsevie ... _01_ooc_1&version=01

DOI: 10.1016/j.tra.2025.104807

Access Statistics for this article

Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice is currently edited by John (J.M.) Rose

More articles in Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice from Elsevier
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Catherine Liu ().