Nice Ride Minnesota Program Evaluation
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NICE RIDE MINNESOTA PROGRAM EVALUATION Minneapolis-St. Paul Bike Share System Prepared by: Jessica Schoner1 Greg Lindsey2 David Levinson1 1Department of Civil, Environmental, and Geo- Engineering 2Humphrey School of Public Affairs University of Minnesota Submitted to: CENTER FOR PREVENTION AT BLUE CROSS AND BLUE SHIELD OF MINNESOTA NICE RIDE MINNESOTA May 2015 Contents 1 Introduction1 1.1 Minneapolis-St. Paul Bike Share System Study Objectives.............1 1.2 Study Purpose and Goals...............................1 1.3 Structure of Report..................................1 2 Approach and Methods3 2.1 Analysis of Nice Ride electronic trip and member records..............3 2.2 Survey of Nice Ride members............................3 2.3 Secondary analyses of related databases (Census, TBI, etc.).............4 3 Effects on individual physical activity7 4 Effects on rates of cycling within general population 11 4.1 Spillover effects on non-member cycling....................... 11 4.2 Diffusion effects on expanding membership..................... 14 5 Effects on broader culture of active living 17 Appendices A IRB A-1 B Minneapolis Survey Instrument B-1 B.1 Survey......................................... B-1 B.2 Recruiting email.................................... B-24 C Minneapolis Survey Data Report C-1 D Preliminary Minneapolis Survey Findings D-1 E Bike Walk Twin Cities 2013 Count Report E-1 F Minneapolis Supplemental Models F-1 F.1 Supplemental Innovation Diffusion/Membership Descriptive Statistics....... F-1 F.2 Supplemental Innovation Diffusion/Membership Models.............. F-3 ii List of Figures 2.1 Geocoded Nice Ride Subscriber Addresses.....................4 3.1 Self-reported changes in exercising, bicycling, walking, and noticing other cyclists relative to before joining Nice Ride..........................8 3.2 Percent of bicycle trips made by Nice Ride (versus personal bicycle) in a typical month with good weather...............................9 3.3 Percent of respondents who have used Nice Ride for different trip purposes....9 5.1 Perceptions of Nice Ride having made bicycling more popular in Minneapolis... 17 5.2 Average reported bicyclist and driver comfort level by infrastructure type..... 18 5.3 Average reported bicyclist and driver comfort level by infrastructure type and per- cent of bike trips made by Nice Ride......................... 19 iv List of Tables 2.1 Summary of Minneapolis Evaluation Data Sources.................5 4.1 Descriptive Statistics for General Population Model Variables............ 12 4.2 Regression of tbot................................... 13 4.3 Descriptive Statistics for Innovation Diffusion Model Variables........... 15 4.4 OLS Regression Model of Membership Growth - Pooled.............. 16 4.5 Effects of Pooled Model 2 Independent Variables on New Membership....... 16 F.1 Descriptive Statistics for Innovation Diffusion Model Variables - By Year..... F-1 F.2 Descriptive Statistics for Innovation Diffusion Model Variables - Pooled Model.. F-2 F.3 OLS Regression Model of Membership Growth - By Year.............. F-3 F.4 OLS Regression Model of Membership Growth - Pooled.............. F-4 vi Chapter 1 Introduction 1.1 Minneapolis-St. Paul Bike Share System Study Objectives The Nice Ride Minnesota bike share system in Minneapolis and St. Paul has completed five seasons of operation. Ridership has increased steadily from the first season (about 100,000 trips) through 2013 (over 300,000 trips). What effects have implementing and expanding the system had on total physical activity levels of people who use Nice Ride? Have rates of all types of bicycling and the broader culture of active living changed in response to Nice Ride’s highly visible presence? This study aims to evaluate the effects of Nice Ride in the Minneapolis–St. Paul Metropolitan Area (Twin Cities) on both its own user base and the community at large. 1.2 Study Purpose and Goals Three key questions have been identified for the Minneapolis evaluation. 1. What are the effects of the Nice Ride bike share system on individual physical activity? 2. What are the effects of the Nice Ride bike share system on rates of cycling within the general population? 3. What are the effects of the Nice Ride bike share system on the broader culture of active living? 1.3 Structure of Report The report is structured as follows. Chapter2 describes the approach, methods, and data sources used in the evaluation. Chapters3,4, and5 describe the results, corresponding to each of the three principal goals identified in Section 1.2. 1 2 Chapter 2 Approach and Methods 2.1 Analysis of Nice Ride electronic trip and member records Nice Ride Minnesota provided a database of subscribers and trips taken on the Nice Ride bike share system. The origin station, destination station, start time, end time, and subscriber ID are electron- ically recorded for every trip. The subscriber database contains the date joined, age, geographic location, gender, and subscription type. Figure 2.1 shows the geocoded approximate locations of Nice Ride’s past and present subscribers. These data were analyzed from a “diffusion of innovation” framework using a lagged variable model of membership growth within a census block group as a function of past membership levels in the block group and network growth (new stations) in the block group, along with an indicator of the year or overall system growth. 2.2 Survey of Nice Ride members A survey instrument was developed based on past Nice Ride surveys and current evaluation and re- search needs. It received a Category 2 exemption from the Institutional Research Board (IRB) (Ap- pendixA). The instrument contained questions about the respondents use of Nice Ride, perceptions of family and acquaintance use of bicycling and Nice Ride, self-reported travel diary sample, and other attitude and socio-economic questions. The full instrument is available in Appendix B.1. Nice Ride Minnesota sent a customized URL via email to their mailing list of current and former subscribers on Tuesday, November 4th, 2014. The URL linked responses to the electronic trip records for each subscriber. As an incentive for completing the survey, respondents were eligible to enter a drawing for one of ten $50 gift card prizes. A copy of the email used to administer the survey is available in Appendix B.2. 1024 subscribers participated in the survey. The travel diary portion at the end of the survey was very long, so only 580 (57%) respondents “completed” the survey including this portion. 3 Figure 2.1: Geocoded Nice Ride Subscriber Addresses However, response rates on the main (non-diary) portion of the survey are better, with 67% of respondents completing at least 80% of the questions. Response rates for individual questions vary, with over 80% of questions having at least 768 (75%) responses. Over half the sample (56%) recorded at least two trips in the travel diary. 74% of respondents took the survey on the day it was administered, and 95% took it within the first week. The preliminary survey findings presented in the November meeting are available in Ap- pendixD. A summary report generated by the online survey package for all the non-diary, non-text survey responses is included in AppendixC. 2.3 Secondary analyses of related databases (Census, TBI, etc.) Data about bicycling and bike share use in Minneapolis and Saint Paul were collected from sev- eral sources, summarized in Table 2.1. The US Census and American Community Survey (ACS) provide the most consistent measures of rates of bicycle commuting across geographies within the 4 Table 2.1: Summary of Minneapolis Evaluation Data Sources Source Year(s) Units Measurement Nice Ride MN 2010 - 2013 Trip Origin, destination, start/end times, subscriber ID Subscriber Trips, billing address, membership status, age, gender UMN Evaluation 2014 Nice Ride subscriber Survey Responses NR & UMN 2012 Subscriber Member survey responses linked to ID US Census 2000, SF3 Census P030: Means of transportation to tract work for workers 16 years and over ACS 2006 - 2012, 1yr Census B08301: Means of transportation 2007 - 2012, 3yr∗ tract to work 2009 - 2012, 5yr∗ ∗Multi-year estimates end in the year specified. E.g., 2009 5-year estimates span 2005-2009. BWTC 2007-2013 Location Bike/ped counts with Nice Ride bike tally Met Council 2011 Household TBI Survey Responses (for control) & UMN United States over time. The Census Bureau commuting question only asks about a single mode used most frequently over the previous week, so it undercounts part-time bicyclists. ACS estimates are administered on a rolling basis for 1-, 3-, and 5-year periods. The 2000 census was adminis- tered on April 1st, so comparisons between the 2000 census and ACS should be made cautiously. US Census and ACS data are available at the block group or census tract level, depending on the measure. For finer levels of aggregation, only 5-year estimates are available. Previous survey and count results are available from University of Minnesota (UMN), Bike Walk Twin Cities (BWTC), and the Metropolitan Council. BWTC bike count data include a tally of Nice Ride bikes observed in addition to the total number of bicyclists observed. The Metropolitan Council administers a travel behavior inventory (TBI) every decade, which includes travel diaries for all members of households that participate. Data from the 2011 TBI were provided by the Metropolitan Council to explore effects of Nice Ride on cycling among non-Nice Ride subscribers (general population). Each household record contains