Large-Scale Vehicle Sharing Systems: Analysis of Vélib'

A quantitative analysis of the pioneering large-scale bicycle sharing system, Vélib' in Paris, France is presented. This system involves a fleet of bicycles strategically located across the network. Users are free to check out a bicycle from close to their origin and drop it off close to their destination to complete their trip. The analysis provides key insights on the functioning of such systems and serves to inform policy makers in other urban communities wanting to explore bicycle-sharing systems. This article studies the Vélib' system from several aspects, including system characteristics, utilization patterns, the connection between public transit and bicycle-sharing systems, and flow imbalances between stations. Since flow from one station to another is seldom matched by flows in the reverse direction, the bicycle fleet can become spatially imbalanced over time. This leads to lower levels of service for users who must seek alternate stations to park or check out vehicles. Using a stochastic characterization of demand and a model developed in prior work, fleet-management strategies to deal with this flow asymmetry are presented. Reliability metrics using this characterization show the performance of the system and help identify stations with capacity bottlenecks. Utilization rates also suggest that close coupling of transit and vehicle-sharing systems are beneficial.