Ranking barriers & optimum solutions for public bicycle sharing system: an MCDM approach

Decision-makers around the world adopted Public Bicycle Sharing System (PBSS) due to its easy access at major strategic locations and its user-friendly operations. The documented studies identify various barriers and solutions for PBSS but study on identification of optimum solution for varied conditions is limited. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to rank the barriers and solutions for PBSS implementation for Indian urban areas. As the framework is robust so methodology can apply globally. Initially, 31 PBSS barriers and 14 solutions were identified after reviewing literature and assessment from professionals. Finally, two Multi-Criteria Decision-Making methods (MCDM) were integrated to rank barriers and solutions for Indian cities using an expert opinion survey. The result shows that infrastructure barriers of the city, social barrier for cycling and travel characteristics barriers have more impact in the main criteria whereas presence of exclusive bicycle lane, government policies and provision of modified and e-bicycle are found to be the most optimum solutions and have potential to overcome the influence of barriers. The outcome of this research will help various stakeholders to develop pro-cycling policies, decision on financial resource allocation, understanding on the existing barriers and solutions to develop future policy to increase PBSS usage.