A Joint Model of Cyclist Choice of Bicycle Parking Facilities

More and better bicycle parking facilities are essential to promote cycling, and understanding parking behavior is a key factor in addressing their needs. Therefore, this paper analyzes the parking preferences of cyclists with respect to facility type and location (i.e., with respect to access and egress distances), as well as the influence of bicycle parking fees and user-specific factors. This analysis is based on a stated-preference experiment (n = 2,960) on bicycle parking choice behavior among university students and employees of RWTH Aachen University, one of the largest universities in Germany. We use a mixed logit model to examine the influence of facility types, facility's placement-related cycling detours and walking distances, and the price of a parking facility. The results indicate that bicyclists are more than twice as sensitive to walking distances than to cycling detours. While cyclists prefer bicycle parking stations and covered over uncovered parking racks, they avoid taking bicycles into buildings to store them, e.g., in offices. Furthermore, they are reluctant to conduct fly parking, such as at street furniture. The study reveals that student and employee status and the resale value of the bicycle are important user-specific factors influencing the choice between parking facilities. Furthermore, there is a considerable, largely varying willingness to pay for bicycle parking, especially among those with expensive bicycles.