01589767

Component

This paper explores how the act of participating in a bikeshare program may influence riders’ perceptions of the local community, as well as their interactions with the community. To explore that question in depth, interviews were conducted with ten people who use Bay Area Bike Share (BABS) in the downtown area of San José, California. The interviews covered how people use of the bicycle-sharing program, their opinions of the downtown, and any possible relationship between the two. Although the paper touches on topics about bikeshare that have been explored in other work, such as safety, economic, and transportation-related impacts of bikesharing, the primary focus of the paper is on how respondents’ opinions and attitudes about downtown San José may have changed since they began use of Bay Area Bike Share. Key findings include: • Riders use BABS primarily for commuting, with very few making other types of trips by bikeshare. • Riding BABS has made people more aware of safety issues in downtown San José, especially related to cycling, even though the riders have not personally experienced any safety problems. • Since riders began using Bay Area Bike Share in San José, their opinions of downtown San José have improved. • BABS riders have not frequented new businesses as a result of joining BABS.

This paper was sponsored by TRB committee ANF20 Standing Committee on Bicycle Transportation. Alternate title: The View from a Bike: How Bikeshare Membership Changes Perceptions of and Interactions with the Community

01584066

16-6673

English

13p

2016

Transportation Research Board 95th Annual Meeting

Digital/other

Maps; References; Tables

Attitudes; Bicycles; Communities; Cyclists; Membership organizations; Vehicle sharing

Pedestrians and Bicyclists; Planning and Forecasting; I72: Traffic and Transport Planning

Transportation Research Board Annual Meeting 2016 Paper #16-6673

TRIS, TRB, ATRI

Jan 12 2016 6:54PM