College Students’ Shared Bicycle Use Behavior Based on the NL Model and Factor Analysis

Shuhong Ma, Yechao Zhou, Zhoulin Yu and Yan Zhang
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Shuhong Ma: School of Highway, Chang’an University, Xi’an 710000, China
Yechao Zhou: School of Highway, Chang’an University, Xi’an 710000, China
Zhoulin Yu: Jiangshan City Transportation Bureau, Quzhou 324000, China
Yan Zhang: School of Highway, Chang’an University, Xi’an 710000, China

Sustainability, 2019, vol. 11, issue 17, 1-19

Abstract: The rise and rapid development of bicycle sharing brings great convenience to residents’ travel and transfer, and also has a profound impact on the travel structure of cities. As college students make up a major share of shared bicycle users, it is necessary to analyze the factors that influence their travel mode and riding frequency choice and to explore how these factors affect their riding behavior. To analyze the bicycle riding characteristics of college students, this paper processes many factors with unknown correlations by using a factor analysis method based on revealed preference (RP) questionnaire data. Then, taking the significant common factors as explanatory variables, a two-layer nested logit (NL) model combining riding frequency and travel mode is established to study college students’ riding behavior. The results suggest that the comprehensive hit rate of the upper and lower levels of the model (riding frequency and travel mode) are, respectively, 76.8% and 83.7%, and the two-layer NL model is applicable. It is also shown that environmental factors (“cheap,” “mixed traffic,” “signal lights at intersection,” and so on) have a significant impact on the choice of travel mode and riding frequency. Also, improving the level of bicycle service can increase the shift from walking to riding. Such findings are meaningful for policy-makers, planners, and others in formulating operational management strategies and policies.

Keywords: college students; bicycle sharing; nested logit model; factor analysis method; sensitivity analysis (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 (4)

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