TY - JOUR
T1 - Examining the causal effects of air pollution on dockless bike-sharing usage using instrumental variables
AU - Liang, Yuan
AU - Wang, Donggen
AU - Yang, Hongtai
AU - Yuan, Quan
AU - Yang, Linchuan
N1 - Funding information:
This research was supported by a General Research Fund grant from the Hong Kong Research Grant Council (HKBU12609621) and a grant from Natural Science Foundation of Sichuan (No. 2022NSFSC1906).
Publisher Copyright:
© 2023 Elsevier Ltd.
PY - 2023/8
Y1 - 2023/8
N2 - Dockless bike-sharing (DBS) has proliferated worldwide. Despite DBS's great potential to reduce air pollution, air pollution may also reduce the usage of DBS. However, not much research attention has been paid to the effects of air pollution on DBS usage. Existing attempts have mostly relied on traditional data sources and intended to establish associations, not causalities. To address this research gap, we compile a panel data set with more than 50 million DBS trip records and high-frequency air quality and weather monitoring readings over a 92-day period in Chengdu, China. We then estimate the causal effects of air pollution on DBS usage using an instrumental variable approach. We find that a 10 μg/m3 increase in PM2.5 concentrations leads to a 2.5% reduction in DBS usage. Furthermore, such adverse effects are particularly pronounced among young DBS users, during non-peak hours, for long-distance trips, and in census tracts with low housing prices.
AB - Dockless bike-sharing (DBS) has proliferated worldwide. Despite DBS's great potential to reduce air pollution, air pollution may also reduce the usage of DBS. However, not much research attention has been paid to the effects of air pollution on DBS usage. Existing attempts have mostly relied on traditional data sources and intended to establish associations, not causalities. To address this research gap, we compile a panel data set with more than 50 million DBS trip records and high-frequency air quality and weather monitoring readings over a 92-day period in Chengdu, China. We then estimate the causal effects of air pollution on DBS usage using an instrumental variable approach. We find that a 10 μg/m3 increase in PM2.5 concentrations leads to a 2.5% reduction in DBS usage. Furthermore, such adverse effects are particularly pronounced among young DBS users, during non-peak hours, for long-distance trips, and in census tracts with low housing prices.
KW - Air pollution
KW - Causality
KW - Chengdu
KW - Dockless bike-sharing
KW - PM2.5
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85162188758&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.trd.2023.103808
DO - 10.1016/j.trd.2023.103808
M3 - Journal article
AN - SCOPUS:85162188758
SN - 1361-9209
VL - 121
JO - Transportation Research Part D: Transport and Environment
JF - Transportation Research Part D: Transport and Environment
M1 - 103808
ER -
