From bicycle sharing system movements to users: a typology of Vélo’v cyclists in Lyon based on large-scale behavioural dataset

Vélo’v have been available in Lyon, France, since 2005, and are one of the first major public bicycle sharing systems (BSS) implemented in Europe. With up to 7 million trips in 2013 and around 50,000 annual users plus occasional users, Vélo’v have increased bicycle use in the city by 50%. Analysing a database gathering both bicycle movement and user data for the calendar year 2011 provided by the operator, we concentrate our analysis on Vélo’v users. We characterise user mobilities and produce a user typology based on cluster analysis, relying on intensity and on annual and weekly temporal patterns. The proposed analysis, which creates user profiles from patterns, contributes to a close-reading of the interplay between BSS and other transports as well as to an improved understanding of conditions leading to a wider use of bicycles in cities.