RadEffekt

22.09.2022 - Yesterday, the first results of the project "RadEffekt - Route selection and emission reduction potential of bike rental systems" were presented in a digital press conference by Prof. Dr. Matthias Kowald and Margarita Gutjar from the Mobility Management department.

Funded by the House of Logistics and Mobility (HOLM), researchers from the Mobility Management department at RheinMain University of Applied Sciences (HSRM) have spent the past 15 months researching bike rental systems together with Verkehrsverbund Rhein-Neckar (VRN), Nextbike GmbH, the Office for Traffic Management of the City of Heidelberg, ESWE-Verkehrsgesellschaft mbH, MVGmeinRad and researchers from the Digital Business Management degree program. Until now, there were no parameters for transport demand models in the bike sharing sector. Gutjar emphasized at the presentation of her research results: "Research into people's mobility behavior is essential for the mobility transition when it comes to how it can be implemented sustainably and successfully."

Subject of the research

The research investigated the behavioral effects of mode and route choice for journeys with bicycles from public bicycle rental systems (ÖFVS) in the Rhine-Neckar transport area, such as monetary costs, travel times, cycle path infrastructure or arrival and departure times. The aim was to identify potential for the introduction of ÖFVS or their expansion in certain study areas.
First, user preferences were recorded in order to determine the duration and length of the last journey. Subsequently, questionnaires on the choice of means of transport and routes were used, in which public transport (public transport; here bus or streetcar), rental bikes (ÖFVS) and motorized individual transport (MIT) were available for selection.

"The costs of the car are underestimated by users"

"The research was designed in the area of microeconomic motives for use in order to be able to measure behaviors under which bike sharing can prevail," explained Prof. Dr. Kowald.
According to the results, respondents perceive fuel costs as less negative than the costs of bike rental or public transport. Prof. Dr. Kowald noted: "The cost of the car is underestimated by users."
Increasing travel time generally makes a mode of transport less attractive. Every additional minute to or from the rental bike station or public transport stop is rated more negatively than the travel time on the rental bike or in public transport. In contrast, the arrival and departure times were perceived less negatively when longer journeys were made by bike. Bike sharing is most preferred by young people, for example for commuting to work, to training or to colleges and universities. With a rental bike, people would like to use a developed cycling infrastructure, especially as they get older, whereby they most prefer the protected cycle lane if the cycle path is separated from the roadway by additional markings and separating elements.

"The question is: What can be done better in the future with bike sharing systems, what should be considered? The results from 'Radeffekt' should ultimately be generalized and made usable for other municipalities," says Prof. Dr. Kowald.

The project (HA project no.: 1013/21-15) is funded by the state of Hesse and HOLM funding as part of the "Innovations in the field of logistics and mobility" measures of the Hessian Ministry of Economics, Energy, Transport and Housing.