China’s bike-sharing boom: how two wheels drive urban consumption

The rapid rise of dockless bike-sharing has not only facilitated micro-mobility in Chinese cities but also generated important spillover effects across transportation, environmental, and economic domains. In a new study published in the KeAi journal China Economic Quarterly International, a team of researchers in China confirmed that these effects extend to household consumption, further illuminating the value of bike-sharing platforms within the broader digital economy.

“We found that bike-sharing significantly increases household consumption, particularly in dining-out expenses,” shares lead author Yongli Chen. “It lowers commuting costs, increases leisure, and enhances access to lifestyle services, creating opportunities for more frequent and diverse consumption activities.”

Specifically, per capita household consumption rose by 3.9%–6.8% following the entry of bike-sharing services, while dining-out expenses increased by 3.8%–4.9%. These results hold under multiple robustness checks, including alternative estimation methods, placebo tests, and sample replacements.

“The consumption growth is driven by two mechanisms,” says Chen. “First, bike-sharing shortens commuting time and alleviates traffic congestion, increasing residents’ leisure time. Second, it reduces housing-related expenses by improving access to more affordable residential areas, which in turn raises disposable income for other consumption.”

The researchers also found that the effects are particularly pronounced in cities with poor public service access and suboptimal traffic conditions. “Bike-sharing affects consumption not only by improving mobility but also by adjusting consumption structures,” adds Chen. “Spending shifts toward tourism, food, and daily necessities, while no significant changes were observed in education, healthcare, or durable goods consumption.”

The study offers meaningful policy implications. The researchers argue that platforms should recognize and internalize the externalities generated by their services. For instance, leading bike-sharing providers like Meituan, HelloBike, and Didi’s Qingju have all moved beyond simple mobility offerings to integrate lifestyle services, forming a hybrid business model that links users with consumption scenarios.

“This evolution reflects an effort to capture the indirect economic value generated by improved mobility,” explains Chen. “HelloBike’s shift into hotel and tourism bookings, and Meituan’s integration of shared bikes to connect users with food and entertainment, exemplify strategies aiming to internalize these positive externalities.”

From the perspective of public policy formulation, the authors recommend that governments leverage the consumption-promoting potential of shared mobility by offering supportive measures—such as tax incentives, subsidies, or management support—to enhance the sustainability of bike-sharing platforms. These measures can encourage green travel, reduce infrastructure costs, and stimulate domestic demand in the context of slower economic growth.

“Urban transportation plays a key role in shaping consumption patterns. Enhancing shared mobility can help cultivate 15-minute living circles and promote economic activity in dining, tourism, and entertainment,” says Chen. “Given the relatively low fiscal burden of shared mobility systems, they can serve as powerful tools for sustainable urban development.”

Future research directions proposed by the team include exploring the impact of bike-sharing on store-level sales using platform data, examining long-term welfare impacts beyond consumption—such as employment and labor flexibility—and expanding studies to other types of shared services to develop a comprehensive understanding of the externalities of the sharing economy.

###

Contact the author: Zhu Xi, Antai College of Economics and Management, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, No. 1954, Huashan Road, Xuhui District, Shanghai, 200030, China, zhuxi97@sjtu.edu.cn

The publisher KeAi was established by Elsevier and China Science Publishing & Media Ltd to unfold quality research globally. In 2013, our focus shifted to open access publishing. We now proudly publish more than 200 world-class, open access, English language journals, spanning all scientific disciplines. Many of these are titles we publish in partnership with prestigious societies and academic institutions, such as the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC).