Impacts Of Imposing A Start Fee On The Bikesharing Program: Empirical Evidence Of Taipei YouBike

Abstract

Some bikesharing programs in Taiwan impose start fees of NT$ 5-10 to replace the 30-min complimentary period. This research reveals the impact of a NT$ 5 start fee by analyzing over three million Taipei YouBike trip data as a case study. The statistical results show that the daily ridership dropped 43% on the weekends and 14% on the weekdays, indicating how powerful such a slight fee adjustment was on user behavior. Regardless of the fee adjustment, the rental peak hours, duration, and travel distance remained almost unchanged. The daily turnover rate decreased noticeably from 10.4 to 8.0 rentals per bike. Most trips had one end next to the mass rapid transit (MRT) stations or schools. Locating YouBike stations along the MRT lines had multi-faceted effects: offering first- and last-mile services, providing a choice at midnight and in the areas without public transit services, and replacing specific MRT trips.

Keywords

• bikesharing
• public bike system
• fee adjustment
• price elasticity
• case study