Associations of built environment with moped-sharing use: A vehicle-based approach

Abstract

In recent years, moped-sharing services have become popular in Asian and European cities, but existing literature provides limited information about factors influencing moped-sharing use. This research explored the associations of built environments with the probabilities that idle shared mopeds become rented through survival analyses. The study observations are from the global positioning system records of an anonymous moped-sharing operator in Taipei, Taiwan. The empirical results indicate the following findings: (1) The associations of density and diversity attributes with moped-sharing use can refer to those of other shared vehicle uses but are dissimilar to those of general mopeds. (2) Moped-sharing service operators are suggested to move idle shared mopeds from employment centers to areas with dense residential, school, or retailing activities; diverse floor uses, industries, or transit services; and dense streetlights or moped parking spaces. (3) Moped-sharing service operators are also suggested to develop vehicle-rebalancing strategies in accordance with the built environment attributes within different catchment area sizes and periods. (4) Moped sharing is a complementary service rather than a competitive service to other intracity public transport services.