Unveiling Disparities in Bicycling Mobility Patterns Across Socioeconomic Statuses: A Framework for Identifying User Profiles in Dockless Bike-Sharing Systems

Caigang Zhuang, Shaoying Li and Xiaoping Liu

Annals of the American Association of Geographers, 2025, vol. 115, issue 4, 876-898

Abstract: Cycling, as a healthy and low-carbon nonmotorized form of mobility, plays a crucial role in promoting the sustainable development of urban transportation. Thus, fostering more equitable cycling for residents has become a critical topic in current transportation research. The relationship of individual socioeconomic status (SES) in cycling mobility patterns has not been sufficiently explored, however. To address this, we introduce a framework for identifying individual social and activity portraits by fusing DBS trip data with user ID and housing price data. Leveraging this framework, we systematically investigate disparities in daily mobility patterns among cycling groups of varying SES. Specifically, we extract thirteen individual mobility indicators across four dimensions—trip purpose, time, extent, and intensity—to comprehensively characterize individual cycling patterns. Meanwhile, we use housing prices as a proxy to infer users’ SES, categorizing them into nine distinct groups. By aggregating the mobility indicators for each group, we conduct a comparative analysis of SES and daily cycling patterns. Taking Shenzhen, China, as a case study, we find that SES significantly influences the daily activity spaces of DBS users, with urban villages and older communities in the central city serving as notable exceptions. Additionally, lower SES cyclists tend to face greater daily travel burdens and shorter personal disposable time, as reflected in higher travel costs, a larger share of commuting trips, and even longer working hours. In contrast, upper SES users demonstrate higher noncommuting trip demand, characterized by a lower proportion of commuting trips and higher shares of weekend trips. These findings enhance our understanding of equity issues with nonmotorized transportation in megacities and offer valuable insights for optimizing active transport planning.

Date: 2025
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DOI: 10.1080/24694452.2025.2463508

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