Public bike-sharing schemes (PBSS): Prospects in Bangladesh

摘要

Public bike-sharing schemes (PBSS) or bicycle hiring schemes (BHS) are now available in many cities globally. The purpose of this paper is to provide an outline for the feasibility of implementing PBSS in Bangladesh, particularly in Dhaka city, discussing the major issues that need to be considered. For doing this, PBSS that are already available and operating in six different cities London, Paris, New York, Buenos Aires, Hangzhou, and New Delhi - were studied and relevant documents were reviewed to understand the salient features of the schemes as well as their overall operating and management systems. By understanding the critical aspects of the PBSS in the above mentioned cities, the implementation process and tasks required for PBSS were assessed with the existing conditions in the case study area of Dhaka city. The detailed scheme of bike-sharing for the case study locations in Dhaka were prepared and analysis was made of the strengths, weakness, opportunities, and threats (SWOT analysis) of the proposed scheme. Questionnaire surveys of bicyclists were made to understand their travel patterns as well as deriving their opinions and views regarding the proposed PBSS for the case study locations. Findings of this research will help as the guiding principles for implementing PBSS in Dhaka city as well as in other similar cities in Bangladesh, or in other countries in the Global South.