A simulation framework for the design of a station-based bike sharing system

Many cities and towns offer nowadays to citizens a bike sharing system (BSS). When a company starts the service, several decisions have to be taken on the location and size of the rental stations, and the number of vehicles to use to re-balance the bikes in the stations, in addition to the cost and policies for the payment of the service. Also, when the service is in place, it is often necessary to modify it, in many cases to expand it. In this paper, starting from the experience gained in a real-case application, we present a simulation framework to support the tactical decisions in the design or revision of a BSS. We will also present the application of the framework to the case of Bicimia in Brescia, Italy.