Background

Bike share has been hypothesized to be a phenomenon of social contagion. The current study describes the features of the social network of annual subscribers of the Citi Bike share system in NYC and the characteristics of those who ever took a trip with another member.

Methods

Associations comparing members who rode with others (social) to those who rode alone (non-social) on selected study variables were examined. Social network analysis was performed to examine characteristics of the network of Citi Bike members. A social trip was determined based on start and end trip time and station locations.

Results

There were 241,340 active Citi Bike members with at least 365 days of membership between May 13, 2013 and December 31, 2018. Those who had taken at least one social trip (n = 139,302, 57.7%) were more likely to be older; have higher household income; have ridden a bike in NYC 12 months before membership; not own a car; self-report as physically active; self-report good health; live in a ZCTA with a Citi Bike station; and list primary reasons for membership as a faster way to get around town or as friends and family joining. Those who never took a social trip were more likely to have requested safety tips from Citi Bike; and to report their primary reason for membership as an alternative to public transportation, personal health and fitness, or support for the program. The social network of Citi Bike members was composed of 139,302 members with 164,735 unique connections to other members. The average number of connections per social member was 2.4 and the maximum was 66. The network was not very dense or well connected with 19,809 subnetworks.

Conclusion

Social members differed from non-social members in several ways. Understanding the characteristics of key network members could play a part in promoting and encouraging bike share usage. In particular, organized social trips could increase bike share usage among women.

中文翻译：

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纽约市共享单车会员社交网络特征

背景

共享单车被认为是一种社会传染现象。目前的研究描述了纽约市 Citi Bike 共享系统年度订阅者的社交网络特征，以及曾与其他成员一起旅行的人的特征。

方法

检查了在选定的研究变量上将与他人一起骑行（社交）的成员与单独骑行（非社交）的成员进行比较的协会。进行社交网络分析以检查 Citi Bike 成员网络的特征。社交旅行是根据开始和结束旅行时间以及车站位置确定的。

结果

2013 年 5 月 13 日至 2018 年 12 月 31 日期间，有 241,340 名活跃 Citi Bike 会员，至少有 365 天的会员资格。那些至少参加过一次社交旅行的人（n = 139,302，57.7%）更有可能变老；有较高的家庭收入；入会前 12 个月在纽约骑过自行车；不拥有汽车；自我报告身体活跃；自我报告身体健康；住在有花旗自行车站的 ZCTA 中；并列出成为会员的主要原因，因为它可以更快地游览城镇或作为朋友和家人加入。那些从未参加过社交旅行的人更有可能向 Citi Bike 索取安全提示；并报告他们成为会员的主要原因，以替代公共交通、个人健康和健身或支持该计划。Citi Bike 会员的社交网络由 139,302 名会员组成，其中 164、与其他成员的 735 个独特连接。每个社交成员的平均连接数为 2.4，最大为 66。网络不是很密集或连接良好，有 19,809 个子网。

结论

社会成员在几个方面不同于非社会成员。了解主要网络成员的特征可以在促进和鼓励共享单车使用方面发挥作用。特别是，有组织的社交旅行可以增加女性共享自行车的使用。