Evaluation of Dockless Bike-Sharing Transfer Services around Metro Stations considering Spatial Heterogeneity

The dockless bike-sharing system provides a convenient transfer option for metros, which can solve the “last mile” problem for passengers. However, the quality of bike-sharing transfer services around metro stations and its influencing factors are still unrevealed. Therefore, this study aims to evaluate the bike-sharing transfer services for different metro stations considering spatial heterogeneity. First, the transfer ridership of bike-sharing around each metro station is calculated based on the trip data of the Mobike in Shanghai. Then, a geographically weighted regression (GWR) model is used to analyze the relationships between the transfer ridership and built environment features around each metro station. Given the GWR model, a spatially varying benchmark is established to independently evaluate the bike-sharing transfer service of each metro station based on the deviation between the actual transfer ridership and its benchmark. In this case, the metro stations whose actual bike-sharing transfer ridership is below the benchmark are identified as the objects that need to improve their bike-sharing transfer services. The results show that the benchmark derived from the GWR model varies from station to station depending on the metro ridership, population density, and cycleway density around the metro station. In addition, bike-sharing transfer services around metro stations are better in Xuhui District, Minhang District, and Huangpu District, and worse in Pudong District and Qingpu District. Therefore, this study is helpful for the government and operators to better optimize the connection between dockless bike-sharing and metros.