Dimensioning of a Bike Sharing System (BSS): A Study Case in Nezahualcoyotl, Mexico

The reported success in the implementation of sustainable transportation systems has generated great expectations at international level on the subject of urban planning. Particularly, Bike Sharing Systems (BSS) have been adapted successfully in places where it has identified a large proportion of short trips and characteristic geospatial conditions. This work is part of a project in Nezahualcoyotl in Mexico, where socioeconomic conditions in the area, the adherence of its society to this transportation mode as well as the urban trace and physical conditions favor the adoption of a BSS. This paper presents the methodology used to carry out the design and dimensioning of such system. The process involves: an optimal stations location modeling and a discrete simulation process for determining the ideal number of bicycles and the number of parking lots per station. This work focuses on the knowledge of the potential user preferences regarding their travel patterns and the computation of its utilization probability either replacing a motorized mode trip or as a link in a journey that involves transfers with more transportation modes.