Effects of built environment and weather on bike sharing demand: a station level analysis of commercial bike sharing in Toronto

Bike Share Toronto is Canada’s second largest public bike share system. It provides a unique case study as it is one of the few bike share programs located in a relatively cold North American setting, yet operates throughout the entire year. Using year-round historical trip data, this study analyzes the factors affecting Toronto’s bike share ridership. A comprehensive spatial analysis provides meaningful insights on the influences of socio-demographic attributes, land use and built environment, as well as different weather measures on bike share ridership. Empirical models also reveal significant effects of road network configuration (intersection density and spatial dispersion of stations) on bike sharing demands. The effect of bike infrastructure (bike lane, paths etc.) is also found to be crucial in increasing bike sharing demand. Temporal changes in bike share trip making behavior were also investigated using a multilevel framework. The study reveals a significant correlation between temperature, land use and bike share trip activity. The findings of the paper can be translated to guidelines with the aim of increasing bike share activity in urban centers.