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Is the London Cycle Hire Scheme becoming more inclusive? An evaluation of the shifting spatial distribution of uptake based on 70 million trips

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  • Lovelace, Robin
  • Beecham, Roger
  • Heinen, Eva
  • Vidal Tortosa, Eugeni
  • Yang, Yuanxuan
  • Slade, Chris
  • Roberts, Antonia

Abstract

Pro-cycling interventions, and cycle hire schemes in particular, are often assumed to primarily benefit the privileged. This framing has played-out in academic research, with many papers exploring the relationship between cycling and existing inequalities. A growing body of evidence suggests that cycle hire schemes tend to serve wealthy areas and young, high income groups, mirroring inequalities in other types of cycling uptake, yet there has been little research into the ‘direction of travel’ and whether such inequalities are growing or ‘levelling up’ over time. This paper explores the uptake of the London Cycle Hire Scheme (LCHS), a large, early and prominent scheme that had the explicit aim of ‘normalising’ cycling. The method involved reproducible analysis (with code documented in the GitHub repo Robinlovelace/cycle-hire-inclusive) of 73.4 million cycle high records spanning 8 years from January 2012 to December 2019, using the geographic location of docking stations alongside official statistics to assess social and spatial inequalities in uptake.

Suggested Citation

  • Lovelace, Robin & Beecham, Roger & Heinen, Eva & Vidal Tortosa, Eugeni & Yang, Yuanxuan & Slade, Chris & Roberts, Antonia, 2020. "Is the London Cycle Hire Scheme becoming more inclusive? An evaluation of the shifting spatial distribution of uptake based on 70 million trips," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 140(C), pages 1-15.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:transa:v:140:y:2020:i:c:p:1-15
    DOI: 10.1016/j.tra.2020.07.017
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    Cited by:

    1. Yang, Yuanxuan & Beecham, Roger & Heppenstall, Alison & Turner, Andy & Comber, Alexis, 2022. "Understanding the impacts of public transit disruptions on bikeshare schemes and cycling behaviours using spatiotemporal and graph-based analysis: A case study of four London Tube strikes," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 98(C).
    2. Beecham, Roger & Tait, Caroline & Lovelace, Robin & Yang, Yuanxuan, 2022. "Connected bikeability in London: which localities are better connected by bike and does this matter?," OSF Preprints gbfz8, Center for Open Science.
    3. Cunha, Isabel & Silva, Cecília & Büttner, Benjamin & Toivonen, Tuuli, 2024. "Pursuing cycling equity? A mixed-methods analysis of cycling plans in European cities," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 145(C), pages 237-246.
    4. Morton, Craig & Kelley, Scott & Monsuur, Fredrik & Hui, Tianwen, 2021. "A spatial analysis of demand patterns on a bicycle sharing scheme: Evidence from London," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 94(C).

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