Bikesharing in Philadelphia: Do lower-income areas generate trips?

Many bikeshare programs seek to equitably serve residents from different income strata. Experience from other cities in the US and elsewhere in the developed world suggest that bikeshare systems are used mostly by more affluent populations. In order to encourage more bikeshare usage among low-income populations, the City of Philadelphia sited docking stations in low-income neighborhoods, allowed cash payments, and provided discounts to those receiving food-stamps. We examined one-year of data for Philadelphia's Indego bikeshare system between April 2017 and March 2018. Travel patterns were examined and suggested that bikeshare trips taken from docking stations in lower-income areas are for work commute trips. Multivariate regression models confirmed that lower-income areas generate fewer trips while controlling for other factors such as transit access and whether the station is proximate to a bicycle lane. Our results suggest that despite Indego's efforts, more work is needed to generate bikeshare trips in lower income neighborhoods.