OPERATIONS RESEARCH Vol. 61, No. 6, November–December 2013, pp. 1346–1359 ISSN 0030-364X (print)  ISSN 1526-5463 (online) http://dx.doi.org/10.1287/opre.2013.1215 © 2013 INFORMS Models for Effective Deployment and Redistribution of Bicycles Within Public Bicycle-Sharing Systems Jia Shu Department of Management Science and Engineering, School of Economics and Management, Southeast University, Nanjing, Jiangsu 210096, China, jshu@seu.edu.cn Mabel C. Chou, Qizhang Liu, Chung-Piaw Teo Department of Decision Sciences, NUS Business School, National University of Singapore, Singapore, Republic of Singapore {bizchoum@nus.edu.sg, bizlqz@nus.edu.sg, bizteocp@nus.edu.sg} I-Lin Wang Department of Industrial and Information Management, National Cheng Kung University, Taiwan, China, ilinwang@mail.ncku.edu.tw We develop practical operations research models to support decision making in the design and management of public bicycle-sharing systems. We develop a network flow model with proportionality constraints to estimate the flow of bicycles within the network and the number of trips supported, given an initial allocation of bicycles at each station. We also examine the effectiveness of periodic redistribution of bicycles in the network to support greater flow, and the impact on the number of docks needed. We conduct our numerical analysis using transit data from train operators in Singapore. Given that a substantial pro- portion of passengers in the train system commute a short distance—more than 16% of passengers alight within two stops from the origin—this forms a latent segment of demand for a bicycle-sharing program. We argue that for a bicycle-sharing system to be most effective for this customer segment, the system must deploy the right number of bicycles at the right places, because this affects the utilization rate of the bicycles and how bicycles circulate within the system. We also identify the appropriate operational environments in which periodic redistribution of bicycles will be most effective for improving system performance. Subject classifications : bicycle sharing; proportional network flow; simulation. Area of review : Transportation. History : Received February 2011; revisions received March 2012, May 2013, August 2013; accepted August 2013. Published online in Articles in Advance November 7, 2013. 1. Introduction With heightened concerns about global oil prices, car- bon emissions, and traffic congestion, governments around the world are exploring ways to “nudge” urban resi- dents to commute using public transport instead of pri- vate automobiles. Several cities have set up public bicycle- sharing systems to facilitate short trips within the city. A bicycle-sharing system (BSS) is “a self-service short term, one-way-capable, bike rental offer in public spaces, with network characteristics” (OBIS Project 2011, p. 10). A standard BSS consists of a network of bicycle sta- tions where bicycles are docked and available for pick up. Licensed operators often use low price or even free access to bicycles (for limited time) to entice com- muters to adopt this transport mode. As of April 2013, there were around 535 bicycle-sharing programs around the world, with an estimated fleet of 517,000 bicycles (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bicycle_sharing_system). The advantages of using bicycle sharing include increased transit use, decreased personal vehicle trips, lower greenhouse gas emission, and improved public health. DeMaio (2009, p. 52) concluded that “as the price of fuel rises, traffic congestion worsens, populations grow, and a greater worldwide consciousness arises around cli- mate change, it will be necessary for leaders around the world to find new modes of transport and better adapt exist- ing modes to move people in more environmentally sound, efficient, and economically feasible ways. Bicycle sharing is evolving rapidly to fit the needs of the 21st century.” Several cities in China have already started public bicy- cle projects, with Hangzhou now running arguably the world’s largest bicycle-sharing program, with 50,000 bicy- cles deployed across 2,000 stations. It has close to 1.2 mil- lion registered users. This dwarfs the more famous VELIB program in France, which has around 20,000 bicycles deployed across 1,451 stations. In Kaohsiung, Taiwan, the first BSS, called C-Bike, was initiated in late February 2009. It originally had 20 bicycle stations, all located near train stations, with 1,500 bicycles deployed. By May 2009, it had 30 more bicycle stations in scenic areas, business 1346 Downloaded from informs.org by [140.116.53.114] on 19 February 2014, at 18:41 . For personal use only, all rights reserved.