Travel Characteristics and Cost–Benefit Analysis of Bikeshare Service on University Campuses

Xianyuan Zhu, Duanya Lyu, Jianmin Xu and Yongjie Lin ()
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Xianyuan Zhu: School of Civil Engineering and Transportation, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou 510641, China
Duanya Lyu: School of Civil Engineering and Transportation, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou 510641, China
Jianmin Xu: School of Civil Engineering and Transportation, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou 510641, China
Yongjie Lin: School of Civil Engineering and Transportation, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou 510641, China

Sustainability, 2025, vol. 17, issue 8, 1-16

Abstract: Bikeshare has emerged as a sustainable mobility solution not only for addressing the first- and last-kilometer problem but facilitating short- and medium-distance travel. While existing research predominantly focuses on city-level Bikeshare Programs (BSPs), there is a paucity of studies examining university campus BSPs, particularly in terms of quantitative analysis of trip frequency and system operation sustainability. This paper presents a systematical framework to investigate university campus BSPs from two complementary perspectives: users’ travel characteristics and operational sustainability. To achieve this, two successive self-reported questionnaire surveys were conducted on the campus of South China University of Technology in 2017 and 2020, respectively. Subsequently, a multinomial logistic regression model was developed to identify the key factors influencing users’ travel frequency. Finally, a cost–benefit analysis was developed to assess the operational sustainability of the system. The findings reveal two significant insights: (1) the system was profitable under the 2017 fare policy, with the potential to maximize profits by strategically increasing fares while enhancing service quality; and (2) in 2020, when the fare is adjusted closer to the predicted optimal value, there is an increase in the proportion of high-frequency users, accompanied by improved user experience, reduced difficulty in bike access/return, and slightly lower pricing satisfaction. This study provides a valuable method that can be extended to the restricted service communities for effective planning and evaluation of bikeshare systems.

Keywords: campus bikeshare; travel behavior; multinomial logistic regression; cost–benefit analysis (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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