Methods for Improving Bicycle Sharing System Balance

Many cities have developed bicycle sharing systems. This project points out that a key element in their  success and sustainability is an understanding of the spatial patterns of supply and demand.  This project  tackles the re‐balancing issue where bikes must be removed from full stations and replenished at empty  ones. Taking inspiration from the lot size problem, and capacitated vehicle routing, the project devises a  rolling window approach to this problem, in essence representing the amount of foresight that the  system planner can use to determine solutions. The submitted paper shows that a problem which might  be unsolvable with a more myopic approach can actually be solved satisfactorily when a longer window  range is used. The penalty for this added window (look‐ahead) is of course added computational effort  but the paper shows that this effort is manageable for the relatively small sample system analyzed here  (Columbus, Ohio). The paper reporting these efforts is in review.  The paper is illustrated with results  from 54 problem instances derived from variants of the base data. The results are derived on a standard  computer with widely available tools such as Python and CPLEX. 

• Record URL:
  http://www.purdue.edu/discoverypark/nextrans/assets/pdfs/new/170OSUY2.2%20Methods%20for%20Improving%20Bicycle%20Sharing%20System%20Balance_NEXTRANS%20Final%20Report_O%20Kelly.pdf
• 
• Record URL:
  https://rosap.ntl.bts.gov/view/dot/32312
• Supplemental Notes:
  • This document was sponsored by the U.S. Department of Transportation, University Transportation Centers Program.
• Corporate Authors:

  Ohio State University, Columbus

  Department of Geography, 1036 Derby Hall
  Columbus, OH  United States  43210-1361

  NEXTRANS

  Purdue University
  3000 Kent Avenue
  Lafayette, IN  United States  47906-1075

  Office of the Assistant Secretary for Research and Technology

  University Transportation Centers Program
  Department of Transportation
  Washington, DC  United States  20590
• Authors:
  • O'Kelly, Morton E
• Publication Date: 2016-12-2

Language

• English

Media Info

• Media Type: Digital/other
• Edition: Final Report
• Features: Figures; Maps; References; Tables;
• Pagination: 25p

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Bicycle facilities; Bicycling; Demand; Spatial analysis; Supply; Vehicle sharing
• Geographic Terms: Columbus (Ohio)
• Subject Areas: Operations and Traffic Management; Pedestrians and Bicyclists; Planning and Forecasting; Terminals and Facilities;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01637764
• Record Type: Publication
• Report/Paper Numbers: NEXTRANS Project No. 170OSUY2.2
• Contract Numbers: DTRT12‐G‐UTC05
• Files: UTC, NTL, TRIS, ATRI, USDOT
• Created Date: Jun 5 2017 11:45AM