This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies. Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: Transportation accounts for almost one-quarter of greenhouse gas emissions in Canada. In Metro Vancouver, around 40% of emissions are from transportation.
In Canadian cities, transportation raises concerns beyond greenhouse gases: urban air pollution, exposure of roadside populations to toxic pollutants, traffic, congestion and road safety hazards. In 2015, transportation-related air pollution was associated with more than 1,200 premature deaths in Canada. As Canada aims to reduce emissions, what can cities do to create a transportation system that is greener, more sustainable, comprehensive and equitable?
Shared micromobility systems, such as bike and scooter rental programs, offer an interesting transportation solution. Users do not need to own a vehicle, and they do not have to worry about parking, storage, security or maintenance. These programs are easily accessible and they are particularly well-suited for short trips in dense urban areas.
How much can shared micromobility reduce emissions, and what is its broader potential as an urban transportation option? To answer these questions, we recently looked into Vancouver's bike-share program. We used a trip diary survey by the city's transit operator, TransLink, to understand how people choose their modes of transportation.
Using data from actual bike-share trips and combining them with several transportation and emissions models, we arrived at some interesting results. Our analysis shows that about 29% of daily trips in Vancouver are made by car drivers, while roughly 7% are made by personal bicycles or bike-share systems. Most of the short commuting trips in our study had an average distance of about 2 km (1.2 miles).
Much longer leisure trips had an average distance of around 10 km (6 miles). E-bike trips tended to be slightly longer in both groups. Of particular interest were trips with the potential to replace car journeys.
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