A Planning Support System for Boosting Bikeability in Seoul

The popularity of cycling has increased because it is conceived to be a much safer and environmentally friendly travel mode than automobiles and mass transit. As a result, shared-bike programs have gained attention among academics and policymakers. While inefficacies and other deficits in shared-bike programs have been described in the literature, so have these programs’ significant environmental, health, and economic benefits. The authors of this study developed a planning support system (PSS) to boost the efficacy and performance of the shared-cycling system in Seoul, Korea, using a developed bikeability index. First, they employed the Massachusetts Institute of Technology urban network analysis (UNA) and other spatial and statistical analyses to generate the model’s input dataset. Second, the authors built the bikeability index using geographically weighted regression (GWR) analysis. Using the index, the authors evaluated Seoul’s shared-bike system performance and identified important global and local variables affecting its efficacy. Based on these variables, the authors developed change scenarios. Finally, the authors used the planning support system to simulate these scenarios in multiple iterations until they reached a metric solution using the PSS feedback loop process.