A simulation model for public bike-sharing systems

Abstract

Urban areas are in need of efficient and sustainable mobility services. Public bicycle sharing systems stand out as a promising alternative and many cities have invested in their deployment. This has led to a continuous and fast implementation of these systems around the world, while at the same time, research works devoted to understand the system dynamics and deriving optimal designs are being developed. In spite of this, many promoting agencies have faced the impossibility of evaluating a system design in advance, increasing the uncertainty on its performance and the risks of failure. This paper describes the development of an agent-based simulation model to emulate a bike-sharing system. The goal is to obtain a tool to evaluate and compare different alternatives for the system design before their implementation. This tool will support the decision-making process in all the stages of implementation, from the strategical planning to the daily operation. The main behavioral patterns and schemes for all agents involved are designed and implemented into a Matlab programming code. The model is validated against real data compiled from the Barcelona's Bicing system showing good accuracy.