Do Special Bike Programs Promote Public Health? A case study of New York City’s CitiBike bike sharing program
Bike travel is often considered a healthy and environmentally friendly mode of travel and promoted by cities. While it is of no debate that bike travel is good for the environment, bike accidents and exposure to toxic air pollutants also negatively affect bikers’ physical wellbeing. The net health benefits of bike travel are therefore not clear cut, and are worthy of studying case by case. This research studies the Citibike bike-sharing program in New York City and studies its overall health benefits through integrating and analyzing transportation and health data of New York City from three pathways: PA, PM 2.5, and RTI under two scenarios: with-Citibike scenario (baseline) and without-Citibike scenario (hypothetical). It is hoped that this study can help expand on the knowledge base of active transportation on public health.