March 7, 2018
Bike share programs: What do cyclists think?
Bike riders, listen up: Researchers at the University of Washington Sustainable Transportation Lab want your input to learn why bike share programs — like Pronto, LimeBike, Spin or ofo — succeed or fail.
The lab is conducting a short, voluntary survey of cyclists to find out what they’re looking for from a bike share program.
“We’re interested in anybody who is a Seattle cyclist, especially if they’ve used either of the systems,” said Luke Peters, a UW graduate student in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering. “Even if they didn’t use bike share, we want to know why they didn’t use it.”
Researchers are looking for cyclists to complete a survey on bike sharing programs.Jackson Holtz/University of Washington
The survey asks various questions about general bike usage and the two styles of bike sharing programs that have been used in Seattle. Seattle has had a bike system fail and then be replaced. Pronto Cycle Share, which relied on docking stations at fixed locations, shut down in March 2017 before being replaced by the system in use today, a free-floating program where users unlock bikes via mobile apps. Three companies now offer free-floating bike rentals in Seattle: LimeBike, Spin and ofo.
Peters hopes the results of the research, which includes the survey and interviews with stakeholders, will help Seattle and other cities implementing bike-sharing programs.
Survey participants will be entered to win a bike bag from Swift Industries, a Seattle cycling gear manufacturer (a $160 value). The survey is up through March 16.
More information can be found at the Sustainable Transportation Lab’s website or by contacting Luke Peters at carl.luke.peters@gmail.com or 608-235-8377, or Don MacKenzie at dwhm@uw.edu or 206-685-7198.
Tag(s): College of Engineering • Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering • Sustainable Transportation Lab
