Bikeshare has emerged as a rapidly growing mode of transport in over 700 cities globally, up from just a handful in the 1990s. The global bikeshare fleet is now well over 400,000 bikes, most of which are integrated with technology capable of tracking their usage. Some analysts had forecast a rise in the number of bike crashes after the introduction of bikeshare. By combining ridership data with crash data, this paper documents the safety record of bikeshare programs in selected North American, Australian and European cities. The results suggest bikeshare may be safer, on a per kilometre basis, than private bike riding, for both fatal and non-fatal crashes. According to the results of this analysis, a bikeshare user is half as likely to be fatally injured, per kilometre travelled, than a general cyclist, in jurisdictions in which a bikeshare program operates. Indeed the bikeshare fatality rate was found to be comparable to that of the safest countries for cycling, the Netherlands and Denmark. Some explanations for this somewhat surprising finding include the possibility of increased driver awareness and cautiousness around bikeshare users, an upright riding position and slower speed. These results suggest that bikeshare programs may have a positive impact on road safety outcomes. Improved data collection of crashes involving bikeshare riders will assist future efforts to document the safety of bikeshare users. (Author/publisher)
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