The pulse of the cycling city: visualising Madrid bike share system GPS routes and cycling flow

With the aim of shifting towards a more sustainable urban transport model, cycling mobility is being promoted in many cities and, in consequence, Bike Share Systems have been the focus of attention in an increasing number of studies over the past years. However, we know very little about the impact of these BSS in cities beyond the station level. What paths do cyclists follow? What are the most important urban arteries in terms of cycling flow? These are important questions to be addressed in order to implement policies and infrastructure where they are really needed. The main goal of this study is to visualise the cycling flow derived from Madrid BSS activity, obtained by processing over 250,000 GPS routes, and to provide an analysis of how this flow is distributed across the urban street network at different moments. We explore the diverse levels of use over the course of the day, and during the weekdays, weekends or holidays, as well as the different cycling patterns of frequent and occasional users.

为构建更可持续的城市交通模式，诸多城市正积极推广自行车出行，共享单车系统（Bike Share Systems，BSS）也因此在近年受到越来越多研究的关注。然而，目前学界对这类共享单车系统在站点层级之外对城市的影响仍了解甚少。骑行者会选择何种路径？以骑行流量为核心考量维度，哪些是城市的关键主干道？这些问题均需得到妥善解答，方能在实际有需求的区域制定适配政策并推进基础设施建设。本研究的核心目标为：对由马德里共享单车系统（Madrid BSS）运营数据衍生的骑行流量进行可视化呈现——该流量通过处理超25万条GPS路线获取——并分析该流量在不同时段下的城市道路网络分布特征。此外，本研究还探究了一日内、工作日、周末及节假日的差异化使用强度，以及高频骑行用户与偶尔骑行用户的差异化骑行模式。