Optimizing bikeshare service to connect affordable housing units with transit service

Affordable housing and transit accessibility have long been focal points for housing and urban development agencies at all levels, from national to regional. However, these elements are often considered and planned for independently, leading over time to an expanding spatial gap between affordable housing and transit services. This separation creates issues of mobility equity. Fortunately, bikeshare, an emerging mobility solution, provides the potential to bridge this spatial gap between affordable housing communities and transit services. To leverage this, we designed a bikeshare station (BSS) location optimization tool that aims to alleviate the impacts of this spatial divide through bikeshare services. Specifically, we developed a multimodal agent-based modeling (ABM) and simulation framework aimed at enhancing accessibility to a variety of destinations. To solve this optimization problem, we developed a genetic algorithm to determine the optimal locations for BSS. There are three main conclusions from this research. First, the strategic positioning of BSS will enhance accessibility for affordable housing community (AHC) residents by reducing average transit travel time and walk distance, or increasing the number of destinations accessible by transit. This underscores the advantages of combining bikeshare and transit systems to cater to the mobility requirements of AHC residents, especially for non-work-related trips in suburban areas. Second, the relationship between transit and bikeshare is twofold: complementation and substitution. In instances where a lengthy trip involves multiple transit transfers and significant waiting time, bikeshare could replace some transit trips. Lastly, but most importantly, this study advises a forward-looking approach for governments and operators to avoid the waste of public resources when planning bikeshare systems. The tool developed by this research can facilitate this forward-looking approach in practice.