Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Shared mobility systems

  • Invited Survey
  • Published:
4OR Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Shared mobility systems for bicycles and cars have grown in popularity in recent years and have attracted the attention of the operational research community. Researchers have investigated several problems arising at the strategic, tactical and operational levels. This survey paper classifies the relevant literature under five main headings: station location, fleet dimensioning, station inventory, rebalancing incentives, and vehicle repositioning. It closes with some open research questions.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Angeloudis P, Hu J, Bell MGH (2014) A strategic repositioning algorithm for bicycle-sharing scheme. Transp A Transp Sci 10:759–774

    Google Scholar 

  • Benchimol M, Benchimol P, Chappert B, de la Taille A, Laroche F, Meunier F, Robinet L (2011) Balancing the stations of a self service “bike hire” system. RAIRO Oper Res 45:37–61

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Berman B, Jerram L, Gartner J (2013) Casharing programs. Navigant Consulting, 3Q. http://www.navigantresearch.com

  • Bruglieri M, Colorni A, Luè A (2014) The relocation problem for the one-way electricvehicle sharing. Networks 64:292–305

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Caggiani L, Ottomanelli M (2013) A dynamic simulation based model for optimal fleet repositioning in bike-sharing systems. Procedia Soc Behav Sci 87:203–210

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chemla D (2012) Algorithms for optimized shared transport systems. Ph.D. thesis, Université Paris-Est

  • Chemla D, Meunier F, Pradeau T, Wolfler Calvo R, Yahiaoui H (2013a) Self-service bike sharing systems: simulation, repositioning, pricing. Technical report (Hyper Articles en Ligne (HAL))

  • Chemla D, Meunier F, Wolfler Calvo R (2013b) Bike-sharing systems. Discrete Optim 10:120–146

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chow JYJ, Sayarshad HR (2014) Symbiotic network design strategies in the presence of coexisting transportation networks. Transp Res Part B Methodol 62:13–34

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Colson B, Marcotte P, Savard G (2007) An overview of bilevel optimization. Ann Oper Res 153:235–256

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cômes E, Oukhellou L (2014) Model-based count series clustering for bike sharing system usage mining, a case study with the Vélib’ system of Paris. ACM transactions on intelligent systems and technology 5

  • Contardo C, Morency C, Rousseau L-M (2012) Balancing a dynamic public bike-sharing system. Technical report, CIRRELT

  • de A. Correia GH, Antunes AP (2012) Optimization approach to depot location and trip selection in one-way car sharing systems. Transp Res Part E 48:233–247

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dell’Amico M, Hadjicostantinou E, Iori M, Novellani S (2014) The bike sharing rebalancing problem: mathematical formulations and benchmark instances. Omega 45:7–19

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • DeMaio P (2009) Bike-sharing: history, impacts, models of prevision, and future. J Pub Transp 12:41–56

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Di Febbraro A, Sacco N, Saeednia M (2012) One way car sharing solving the relocation problem. Transp Res Rec 2319:113–120

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Di Gaspero L, Rendl A, Urli T (2013a) A hybrid ACO+CP for balancing bike sharing systems. In: Hybrid metaheuristics, 8th international workshop. Springer, Berlin, pp 198–212

  • Di Gaspero L, Rendl A, Urli T (2013b) Constraint-based approaches for balancing bike sharing systems. Principles and practice of constraint programming. 19th international conference. Springer, Berlin, pp 758–773

  • Efthymiou D, Antoniou C, Waddell P (2013) Factors affecting the adoption of vehicle sharing systems by young drivers. Transp Policy 9:64–73

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Erdoğan G, Battarra M, Wolfler Calvo R (2015) An exact algorithm for the static rebalancing problem arising in bicycle sharing systems. Eur J Oper Res 245:667–679

  • Erdoğan G, Laporte G, Wolfler Calvo R (2014) The static bicycle relocation problem with demand intervals. Eur J Oper Res 238:451–457

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Forma IA, Raviv T, Tzur M (2015) A 3-step math heuristic for the static repositioning problem in bike-sharing systems. Transp Res Part B 71:230–247

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fricker C, Gast N (2015) Incentives and redistribution in homogeneous bike-sharing systems with stations of finite capacity. EURO J Transp Logist

  • George DK, Xia CH (2011) Fleet-sizing and service availability for a vehicle rental system via closed queueing networks. Eur J Oper Res 211:198–207

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kaspi M, Raviv T, Tzur M (2014a) Parking reservation policies in one-way vehicle sharing systems. Transp Res Part B 62:35–50

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kaspi M, Raviv T, Tzur M, Galili H (2014b) Regulating vehicle sharing systems through parking reservation policies: analysis and performance bounds. Technical report, working paper—Tel Aviv University

  • Kek AGH, Cheu RL, Meng Q, Fung CH (2009) A decision support system for vehicle relocation operations in carsharing systems. Transp Res Part E 45:149–158

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kloimüllner C, Papazek P, Hu B, Raidl GR (2014) Balancing bicycle sharing systems: an approach for the dynamic case. In: Evolutionary computation in combinatorial optimisation—14th European conference, EvoCOP 2014, Granada, Spain, April 23–25, 2014, Revised Selected Papers, pp 73–84

  • Krumke SO, Quillot A, Wagler AK, Wegener J-T (2013) Models and algorithms for carsharing systems and related problems. Electron Notes Discrete Math 44:201–206

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kumar A, Teo KM, Odoni AR (2013) A systems perspective of cycling and bike-sharing systems in urban mobility. Technical report, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

  • Kumar VP, Bierlaire M (2012) Optimizing locations for a vehicle sharing system. In: Proceedings of the Swiss Transport Research Conference (STRC), pp 1–30, Ascona, Switzerland

  • Lin J-R, Yang T-H (2011) Strategic design of public bicycle sharing systems with service level constraints. Transp Res Part E 47:284–294

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lin J-R, Yang T-H, Chang Y-C (2013) A hub location inventory model for bicycle sharing system design: formulation and solution. Comput Ind Eng 65:77–86

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lu C-C (2013) Robust multi-period fleet allocation models for bike-sharing systems. Netw Spat Econ 13:1–22

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Martens K (2007) Promoting bike-and-ride: the Dutch experience. Transp Res Part A 41:326–338

    Google Scholar 

  • Martinez LM, Caetano L, Eiró T, Cruz F (2012) An optimization algorithm to establish the location of stations of a mixed fleet biking system: an application to the city of Lisbon. Procedia Soc Behav Sci 54:513–524

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Meunier F (2014) Systèmes de véhicules partagés: des défis pour la RO. Bulletin de la ROADEF, pp 9–13

  • Midgley P (2011) Bicycle-sharing schemes: enhancing sustainable mobility in urban areas. Technical report, Commission on Sustainable Development UN Departement of Economic and Social Affairs

  • Nair R, Miller-Hooks E (2011) Fleet management for vehicle sharing operations. Transp Sci 45:524–540

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nair R, Miller-Hooks E (2014) Equilibrium network design of shared-vehicle systems. Eur J Oper Res 235:47–61

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pfrommer J, Warrington J, Schildbach G, Morari M (2014) Dynamic vehicle redistribution and online price incentives in shared mobility systems. IEEE Trans Intell Transp Syst 99:1–12

    Google Scholar 

  • Rainer-Harbach M, Papazek P, Raidl GR, Hu B, Kloimüllner C (2014) PILOT, GRASP, and VNS approaches for the static balancing of bicycle sharing systems. J Glob Optim 63(3):597–629

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Raviv T, Kolka O (2013) Optimal inventory management of a bike-sharing station. IEEE Trans 45:1077–1093

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Raviv T, Tzur M, Forma IA (2013) Static repositioning in a bike-sharing system: models and solution approaches. EURO J Transp Logist 2:187–229

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sayarshad H, Tavassoli S, Zhao F (2012) Multi-periodic optimization formulation for bike planning and bike utilization. Appl Math Model 36:4944–4951

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schuijbroek J, Hampshire RC, van Hoeve W-J (2013) Inventory rebalancing and vehicle routing in bike sharing systems. Technical report, Tepper School of Business

  • Shaheen SA, Cohen AP (2007) Growth in worldwide carsharing an international comparison. Transp Res Rec 1992:81–89

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shu J, Chou MC, Liu Q, Teo C-P, Wang I-L (2013) Models for effective deployment and redistribution for bicycles within public bicyle-sharing systems. Oper Res 61:1346–1359

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Singla A, Santoni M, Bartók G, Mukerji P, Meenen M, Krause A (2015) Incentivizing users for balancing bike sharing systems. In: Proceedings of conference on artificial intelligence (AAAI), pp 723–729

  • Spiess H, Florian M (1989) Optimal strategies: a new assignment model for transit networks. Transp Res Part B 23:83–102

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vogel P, Greiser T, Mattfeld DC (2011) Understanding bike-sharing systems using data mining: exploring activity patterns. Procedia-Soc Behav Sci 20:514–523

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vogel P, Saavedra BAN, Mattfeld DC (2014) A hybrid metaheuristic to solve the resource allocation problem in bike sharing systems. In: Lecture notes in computer science, vol 8457, pp 16–29

  • Waserhole A (2013) Vehicle sharing systems pricing optimization. Ph.D. thesis, Université de Grenoble

  • Waserhole A, Jost V, Brauner N (2013a) Vehicle sharing system optimization: scenario based approach. Technical report, Université de Grenoble

  • Waserhole A, Jost V, Brauner N (2013b) Vehicle sharing system pricing regulation: a fluid approximation. Technical report, Université de Grenoble

  • Wikipedia. Bicycle-sharing system, 2015a. Last accessed October 21st, 2015

  • Wikipedia. Carsharing, 2015b. Last accessed October 21st, 2015

  • Zipcar. les villes zipcar, 2015. Last accessed October 21st, 2015

Download references

Acknowledgments

This work was partially funded by the Canadian Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council under Grant 2015-06189. This support is gratefully acknowledged. Thanks are due to the reviewers for their valuable comments.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. 3000 chemin de la Côte-Sainte-Catherine, HEC Montréal, Montréal, H3T 2A7, Canada

    Gilbert Laporte

  2. CERMICS (ENPC), Université Paris Est, Marne-la-Vallée, France

    Frédéric Meunier

  3. Laboratoire d’Informatique de Paris Nord (UMR 7030), sorbonne paris cité, Université Paris 13, 99 Avenue J.-B. Clément, 93430, Villetaneuse, France

    Roberto Wolfler Calvo

Authors
  1. Gilbert Laporte
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Frédéric Meunier
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Roberto Wolfler Calvo
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Roberto Wolfler Calvo.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Laporte, G., Meunier, F. & Wolfler Calvo, R. Shared mobility systems. 4OR-Q J Oper Res 13, 341–360 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10288-015-0301-z

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10288-015-0301-z

Keywords

Mathematics Subject Classification

Search

Navigation