Promoting cycling as the first and last kilometre transport mode in Hong Kong

Abstract

Cycling is a sustainable and green transport mode. It is cheap to use and provide greater flexibility compared to other road-based public transport modes. Therefore, it could be an effective solution to solve the first and last kilometre problems of railway transport by replacing alternative motorised feeder modes in Hong Kong. Although bicycle-transit and bicycle-rail integration have become the research interest for researchers internationally, there has not been any study on this topic in Hong Kong’s context. This dissertation investigates this issue by site surveys and interview surveys at two selected locations within new towns in Hong Kong. It was found that cycling is currently not a major first and last kilometre transport mode in new towns of Hong Kong. The travel time and distance for Bike-and-Ride cyclists are found to be no more than 10 minutes and 2.5 km. The key attracting factors for cycling is the time saving and lower costs, but the major barriers for cycling is the bicycle unavailability, insufficient and poor security of bicycle parking facilities and discontinuous cycle tracks. It was found that even though cycling infrastructure is provided in new towns, the quality and quantity are not satisfactory to encourage cycling. There is also no evidence that bike-sharing system is acting as the transfer mode to MTR stations currently. For residents to consider using shared bikes as the transfer mode to MTR stations, it is found that the rental cost of shared bikes has to be reduced to a level less than the fare of the alternative public transport feeder. To promote cycling as the first and last kilometre transport modes, more works have to be done on improving the cycling infrastructure as well as integrating the cycling and railway systems as a whole. It is also recommended that a bicycle masterplan shall be prepared for Hong Kong.