Bikesharing: The first- and last-mile service of public transportation? Evidence from an origin–destination perspective

Public bikesharing systems are expected to function as the first- and last-mile service of public transportation rather than an alternative means of public transportation. Compared to station-based analysis, this study attempted to investigate the key factors affecting the contribution of the first- and last-mile service of bikesharing to public transportation systems from an origin–destination pair perspective. To this end, first-mile transfer trips at the destination stations and the last-mile trips at the origin stations of bikesharing were modeled using bivariate Poisson and bivariate generalized Poisson models based on the bikesharing system in Taipei metropolitan. The estimation results revealed that the BGP model performed better than the BP model, and that the contribution of both the first- and last-mile bikesharing service to public transportation strengthened as a function of a decrease in the bikesharing riding distance, the direction of the bikesharing origin–destination pair heading to central business district, and a high student and employment population.