A researcher from Corvinus University on bike-sharing

Maybe you heard about the MOL Bubi bikes in Hungary and the assistant professor also uses this because environmental protection is very important to him. Community bike systems are connected to large cities, and our studies examined how external factors from outside the transport system impacted bike-sharing. One of these was, for instance, the impact of the Covid 19 epidemic, the big lockdown on bike-sharing. One of the impacts was that when people did have to go somewhere, they preferred cycling or driving a car, as they were afraid of the infection, and did not want to travel with other people. As a result of all that, the number of people using public transport dropped dramatically. Unfortunately, one of the winners of the epidemic was the use of cars, but it is a positive feature that micro-mobility, i.e. using bikes and scooters also increased.

He also examined with his research team the turnover of new MOL Bubi stations set up for the world aquatics championship (FINA) in Budapest. In the period of the competition, these new stations were nicely integrated into the network, but after the end of the FINA, their utilization was lower than that of the new stations built in the southern part of Budapest. Perhaps the system should have been extended to other places; it is worth considering where the new stations should be built.

It is certain, however, that bike-sharing is a key element of the transport of the future, but this will require certain conditions: the station should be at a good location (e.g. you should be able to change for public transport within a short distance), and it should be not only exercise but the use of the system should be a good experience for the bikers. Bike-sharing is an important element of the transport of the future, but it will not reform transport completely. 

Read more about the research HERE!