Effects of Built Environment on the Spatio-Temporal Trajectories of Shared Bicycles: A Case Study of Shenzhen

Abstract

With the rapid development, shared bicycles have gradually become an important part of slow urban traffic in China and have played an important role in satisfying the travel needs and facilitating the transfer of residents. Exploring the spatial and temporal characteristics of the impact of the built environment on shared bike travel is of practical importance to reshape the construction of low-carbon transportation and an urban-friendly cycling environment dominated by slow traffic and public transportation. We analyzed the spatio-temporal characteristics of shared bicycle travel through multi-source big data including Shenzhen's shared bicycle OD data, OSM road network data, Baidu Street View, and POIs and used a multi-scale geographical weighted regression model (MGWR) based on the "5D" index of the built environment to analyze the spatial difference characteristics of the impact of different built environment on shared bicycle flow. The findings of the research indicate that: (1) In terms of time, the shared bicycle flow in the morning and evening peaks of both working and rest days is more significant than that of other periods, and the peak period of the remaining days lags behind that of the working days. (2) In terms of space, the spatial distribution characteristics of the traffic flow of shared bicycles during each peak period exhibit a spatial pattern of "multiple aggregation cores and several extended belts." (3) Significant differences were observed in the impact of various built environmental factors on the flow of shared bicycle travel, among which, employment facility density, enclosure degree and population density had a positive effect in each period; their influences were globally significant; and the remaining factors demonstrated varied characteristics in each period. (4) Factors with significant influence showed different spatial scales in different periods. The spatial changes of employment facility density and enclosure in each period were generally flat; the spatial changes of proximity, density of shopping facilities, and the nearest distance to subway stations in some periods were generally flat; the spatial changes of building continuity and relative walking width were obvious in some periods. Moreover, population density and green vision rate had different spatial characteristics in different periods. This study restores the travel track of shared bicycles, analyzes the spatiotemporal characteristics of shared bicycle travel in multiple periods of working days and rest days and long-term series, and increases micro-built environment factors of subjective perception of people and experience dimension based on existing objective material space environment variables, to explore the spatiotemporal differences of the impact of different built environments on the travel flow of shared bicycles which compensate for the existing shared-bike travel time and space characteristics, build a shortage of environmental impact research, and provide references for the construction of an urban-friendly cycling environment and the creation of a slow walking space.

Keywords

• bike-sharing mobility
• built environments
• flow of shared bicycles
• spatio-temporal heterogeneity
• mgwr model
• shenzhen city