One major issue in bike-share operations is a spatial mismatch between demand and supply. One common strategy to fix the mismatch is to rebalance the bike fleet by truck, but the more trucks operators use to meet the demand, the more VMT the system produces, offsetting the VMT reduction benefit from bike-share system. Another rebalancing strategy, an incentive approach, involves the operator incentivizing the user to take a bike to the undersupplied area by offering a reward of some sort. Unlike the truck-based strategy, this strategy does not produce additional vehicle-related emissions. The strategy has been implemented in some docked bike-share services, but the potential on a dock-less e-bike-share system is unknown. This dissertation examines the potential effect of the incentive approach on the bike-share use and its benefits, focusing especially on VMT reduction. The PI will conduct behavior research needed to develop and apply an agent-based model and then apply this model to test the effectiveness of different configurations of an incentive strategy. The findings will provide a basis for developing promotional and operational strategies and policies that enhance the beneficial out comes of dock-less e-bike-share.
