A Distance-Based AHP-DEA Super-Efficiency Approach for Selecting an Electric Bike Sharing System Provider: One Step Closer to Sustainability and a Win–Win Effect for All Target Groups

Patricija Bajec, Danijela Tuljak-Suban and Eva Zalokar
Additional contact information
Patricija Bajec: Transport Logistics Department, Faculty of Maritime Studies and Transport, University of Ljubljana, Pot pomorščakov 4, 6320 Portorož, Slovenia
Danijela Tuljak-Suban: Department of Quantitative Methods, Faculty of Maritime Studies and Transport, University of Ljubljana, Pot pomorščakov 4, 6320 Portorož, Slovenia
Eva Zalokar: SŽ-Potniški Promet, d.o.o., Kolodvorska 11, 1506 Ljubljana, Slovenia

Sustainability, 2021, vol. 13, issue 2, 1-24

Abstract: Existing research on electric bike sharing systems (e-BSS) emphasises the importance of the sustainability of the systems and the need to respect the views of all stakeholders when planning e-BSS. However, this research overlooks the fact that the sustainability of e-BSS depends to a large extent on the skills and knowledge of the parties who select an electric bike provider, which in most cases is the investor in the e-BSS. There is no previous paper that provides support for investors in (1) defining a set of criteria for selecting a provider that takes into account all of the three domains of sustainability (economic, social, and environmental) and (2) developing a tool that best meets sustainability standards on the one hand and the needs and requirements of all stakeholders (including e-bike users and investors) on the other hand. A distance-based analytic hierarchy process/data envelopment analysis (AHP-DEA) super-efficiency approach was proposed and applied to adapt DEA to the needs of predefined groups by using slack variables. The approach takes into account the fact that not all outputs have a positive impact on the final outcome; the approach also allows decision-makers to define the hierarchical structure of the importance of the criteria directly based on the responses of the selected group. A case study in Slovenia illustrated the application of the approach.

Keywords: sustainable e-BSS; provider selection; sustainable criteria; distance-based AHP; slack-based DEA model (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)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/2/549/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/2/549/ (text/html)

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:gam:jsusta:v:13:y:2021:i:2:p:549-:d:476932

Access Statistics for this article

Sustainability is currently edited by Ms. Alexandra Wu

More articles in Sustainability from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().