Evaluation the Impacts of Bicycle-Sharing Systems on Carbon Emission Reductions ‒ Empirical Study in Beijing

Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and local air pollutants as well as external costs of traffic congestion are attracting increasing attention from the public. To promote the use of active transport in urban areas, several cities have been introducing the bike-sharing system to encourage citizens to travel by bike instead of the carbon-intensive modes of transport. Beijing municipal government initiated the public bike-share programme in Beijing in June 2012. The system developed quickly. By end of 2013, public bike-sharing system in Beijing is composed of 777 stations with 25,000 bicycles. Based on the annual system operation data in 2013 and the observed user interview survey, this paper evaluated the performance of Beijing bike-sharing system, and its benefits on carbon emission reductions. Public bike-sharing in Beijing serves the purpose of connecting to public transport system for the first or last mile. But the overall daily turnover of sharing bicycle fleet is 1.15, which is much low compared to other cities. Annual direct carbon emission reductions in 2013 generated by this system are around 404 metric tons, which are minor co-benefits of bike-sharing system.