Mapping Stockholm's Bike-share Future : A GIS-based Analysis of Bicycle-sharing Stations in Stockholm

Abstract: In cities all over the globe, bicycle-sharing systems are being implemented as a way of promoting bicycling as the primary mode of transportation. Cities encourage the residents to bicycle as a way of improving local environments and reducing traffic congestion. A step in this direction is providing a bicycle-sharing system, which increases the accessibility and mobility in a city. For the availability of a bicycle-sharing system to be maximized, the locations of the docking stations must be carefully selected and analyzed. Several studies have been conducted where the availability of bicycle-sharing systems have been evaluated, using different approaches. However, no studies have been conducted in Stockholm on the newly established Stockholm eBikes bicycle-sharing system. Thus, this thesis aims to evaluate the location of bicycle-sharing stations and determine the most suitable locations of those in Stockholm. This is done through a GIS-based MCDM method which applies an Analytical Hierarchy Process to weigh the criteria that must be considered. The analysis is done in QGIS, an open-source GIS-software, with data from OpenStreetMap and local data sources. The results indicate that the suitability of the current bicycle-sharing stations in Stockholm is high considering the analyzed criteria. Further, a suggestion is given for locations where the suitability for bicycle-sharing stations is high. This suggestion proposes new locations in Stockholm where a bicycle- sharing station could increase the availability of the bicycle-sharing system as well as the mobility in the city.