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From mobike to no Bike in Greater Manchester : using the capabilities approach to explore Europe’s first wave of dockless bike share

Sherriff, G; Adams, M; Blazejewski, L; Davies, NJ; Kamerade, D

Authors

M Adams

L Blazejewski

NJ Davies



Abstract

Globally, bike share schemes are an element of a rapidly changing urban transport landscape. Whilst many docked schemes are now embedded in cities around the world, the recent explosion of dockless systems provides an opportunity to evaluate claims that this form of shared mobility has the potential to alleviate common barriers to cycling, relieve congestion, boost low carbon travel, get people active, and reduce social exclusion. Drawing on a mixed methods study of 2270 online survey respondents and 27 interviews, all living in, working in or visiting Greater Manchester during a trial of dockless bike share, we explore the ways in which the technological, spatial and practical configuration of bike share schemes relate to a city’s infrastructure and existing cycling practices. We question assertions that bike share provision necessarily results in increased rates of cycling and enhanced social inclusion.
By using a capabilities approach and utlilising the concept of ‘conversion factors’ to describe the differing capacities or opportunities that people have to convert resources at their disposal into ‘capabilities’ or ‘functionings’, we show how the practice of bike sharing can influence a population’s propensity to cycle, as well as how bike share interacts with established barriers to cycling. We find that many established barriers to cycling remain relevant, especially environmental factors, and that bike share creates its own additional challenges.
We conclude that bike share operators must recognise the role of personal and social conversion factors more explicitly and be sensitive to the social and physical geography of cities, rather than assuming that a ‘one size fits all’ approach is adequate. To do this they should engage more closely with existing bodies, including transport authorities and local authorities, in co-creating bike share systems. Using the capabilities approach enables us to identify ways in which it could be made relevant and accessible to a more diverse population.

Citation

Sherriff, G., Adams, M., Blazejewski, L., Davies, N., & Kamerade, D. (2020). From mobike to no Bike in Greater Manchester : using the capabilities approach to explore Europe’s first wave of dockless bike share. Journal of Transport Geography, 86, 102744. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jtrangeo.2020.102744

Journal Article Type Article
Acceptance Date May 12, 2020
Online Publication Date May 26, 2020
Publication Date Jun 1, 2020
Deposit Date May 15, 2020
Publicly Available Date May 28, 2020
Journal Journal of Transport Geography
Print ISSN 0966-6923
Electronic ISSN 1873-1236
Publisher Elsevier
Volume 86
Pages 102744
DOI https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jtrangeo.2020.102744
Publisher URL https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jtrangeo.2020.102744
Related Public URLs https://www.journals.elsevier.com/journal-of-transport-geography/
Additional Information Funders : Healthy Active Cities (HEIF project)

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