Sustainability obstacles of free bike-sharing model.

Abstract

Cycling is one of the options for sustainable urban mobility. Although this transport mode is not so widely used in Slovak cities, the bike-sharing project in Žilina with 80 thousand inhabitants has been remarkably successful. The system comprises of 120 shared bikes and 20 bike stations located mainly in the city core and wider centre to cover important transport destinations. During the first-year usage, a great interest of citizens has been recorded also thanks to the one-hour-free-of-charge service. That leads to an average rental number of 35 thousand bicycles per month (with a maximum of 47 thousand) and a high usage rate of the system (on average, 9.5 rides per bike per day). A more detailed analysis, including the Covid-19 pandemic’s impact on reducing bicycle rental, is presented in the article. In addition to the positive experience with the bike-sharing system, the disadvantages of the one-hour-free service model are discussed. In addition to the reduced service availability for citizens with real transport needs or higher users’ disrespect to the system, the technical operation costs are about 40 % higher due to an excessive wear system, poorer technical condition, and shorter lifespan of bicycles, or increase in a certain form of vandalism due to the bicycle joyriding. Ultimately, the overall loss is much higher because of no income, which threatens the sustainability of this system.