Abstract:
Those who pay for Citibike rides on a pay-as-you-go basis (called 'Customers' in our study) will, on average, take longer trips than those who have Citibike memberships (called 'Subscribers' in our study).
Introduction:
Citibike is a bike-sharing system that was initiated in New York City in 2013. Users may ride the bikes for a fee, which can be paid out either through a membership plan, or a pay-as-you-go plan. Our group chose to investigate the difference in average trip duration between the two payment classes (Subscriber and Customer) outlined in the project abstract.
Understanding differences in trip duration with respect to payment class could have significant impacts for future policies at Citibike. Citibike could reevaluate the cost of these two payment classes based on how bikes are being used. There are other more practical and operational considerations that could address how bikes are marketed, maintained, and priced throughout the year.
Data:
Our group used data from two months worth of Citibike rides (January 2017 and July 2017) in order to see if there was a seasonal difference in the length of rides between the two ridership classes. We found the average Subscriber ride time to be shorter than the average Customer ride time in both months. Figures 1 and 2 below illustrate this trend.