Research Information System
Thesis Type: Postgraduate
Institution Of The Thesis: Orta Doğu Teknik Üniversitesi, Faculty of Architecture, Department of City and Regional Planning, Turkey
Approval Date: 2014
Student: CİHAN ERÇETİN
Supervisor: ELA BABALIK
Open Archive Collection: AVESIS Open Access Collection
Abstract:Considering the problems of traffic congestion, energy dependency and air pollution depending on excessive use of private car, different transport alternatives to ensure sustainable urban transportation have come into question. Particularly in some European countries, bicycle use, which does not create any pollution and uses resources and road space at a minimum, has appeared as a sustainable alternative for urban transportation and besides, recently bike-sharing systems have contributed to this process positively. Bike-sharing systems, which introduce a number of bike stations in urban areas to encourage citizens to take a bike from one station and then leave it at any other one, further promotes the usage of bikes for urban transport purposes. The system has numerous examples today in Europe, Asia, and North and South America. It has recently been launched in some Turkish cities too, while many other cities are planning to introduce this system. This research analyzes the planning and operating approaches in bike-sharing implementations. The worldwide experiences in this new approach are reviewed, and best practices in the world will be studied with a view to reveal some criteria for the successful planning and operation of these systems in Turkey. The first three bike-sharing systems, those in Kayseri, Konya and Istanbul will be assessed. The underlying objectives are to provide a better understanding of the current experience in bike-sharing systems in Turkey, to reveal the strengths and weaknesses of the systems implemented so far, and to provide recommendations for the planning, implementation and operation of future systems.