Sizing a New Bike Sharing System for the University Of Nevada, Las Vegas

The strategic planning objectives for a novel Bike Sharing Systems (BSS) are to locate the BSS stations, size the stations, and determine the bicycle fleet size, among others. Current guidelines to design BSS programs are tailored to city centers with large coverage areas and high bicycle to population ratios, and thus not directly transferable to a university setting. An ordered probit model was created using data from a university online stated preference survey to determine the key factors that affect the uptake rates for the UNLV BSS program and to estimate the potential demand. The demand analysis was incorporated into two optimization models where the objective formula for one was to maximize demand while the other was to minimize the travel time. As a result, a more accurate BSS program for UNLV was created than using the current guidelines. The ordered probit model predicts that having an office, longer commute times, and going to classes have a positive effect on the usage of the BSS program. Also, the placement of BSS stations should be tailored toward the destination points more than the origin points. The population of UNLV tends to consider the destination location as a focal point when deciding on a trip. Thus, UNLV must ensure that a BSS station is en route to destinations. The optimization models provide two different stories but combined with a benefit-cost analysis provided the best approach to decide on the allocation of stations and bicycles. The maximization model favored higher demand points, whereas the minimization model balanced the travel time and the demands for the origin-destination pairs. However, the benefit-cost analysis completed the story by finding a layout that allows people to travel between the farthest part of UNLV, but also to a centralized location for a more robust system for the main subgroups of the university: students, faculty, and staff members