sustainability Article The Bike-Sharing System in Slovakia and the Impact of COVID-19 on This Shared Mobility Service in a Selected City Stanislav Kubal’ák , Alica Kalašová and Ambróz Hájnik * Department of Road and Urban Transport, University of Žilina, 01 026 Žilina, Slovakia;
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[email protected] Abstract: The current COVID-19 pandemic situation has a very significant impact on urban mobility, as evidenced by fundamental changes in passengers’ behavior. In many cases, passengers have switched to other modes of transport to minimize the risk of infection (particularly cycling and walking). This paper aims to point out the analysis results of the impacts of a bike-sharing system in the city of Košice before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. Additionally, this paper describes an analysis of the current state of bike-sharing in the Slovak Republic. We have stated a timeline of significant dates related to the COVID-19 pandemic. COVID-19 had a significant impact on people’s mobility and bike-sharing, as evidenced by the graphs and results in this paper. Keywords: shared economy; mobility; bike-sharing; COVID-19; Slovakia 1. Introduction Citation: Kubal’ák, S.; Kalašová, A.; At present, the car is the most commonly used means of transportation. This often Hájnik, A. The Bike-Sharing System leads to major problems in cities, such as congestion, emissions, traffic accidents and long in Slovakia and the Impact of delay times. Transport is an important area that directly affects the country’s economy [1].