Socio-Ecological Predictors of Frequent Bike Share Trips: Do Purposes Matter?

Using bike share could increase physical activity and improve health. This study used the social-ecological model to identify predictors of frequent bike share trips for different purposes. Participants residing in the U.S. were recruited via Amazon Mechanical Turk (MTurk). Self-report trip purposes were used to group participants into using bike share for commuting only (n = 260), social/entertainment only (n = 313), exercise only (n = 358), dual or triple-purpose (n = 501), and purposes other than commuting, social/entertainment, and exercise (n = 279). Results showed that at the intrapersonal level, perceived use of bike share to be helpful for increasing physical activity was a significant predictor for all groups, except for the other purpose group. Adjusting outdoor activity based on air quality was a significant predictor for the dual or triple-purpose group. At the interpersonal level, having four or more friends/family using bike share was a significant predictor for the other purpose group. At the community level, distance to the nearest bike share within acceptable range was a significant predictor for social/entertainment and dual or triple-purpose groups. The findings suggest that it is important to consider factors at multiple levels for predicting bike share usage. Moreover, health educators and policy makers should adopt different strategies for promoting bike share usage based on trip purposes.