# COVID-19's Pandemic Effects on Bike Sharing Systems: A New Reality for Urban Mobility?
## 4 Discussion
\begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{l c c c c} \hline \hline  & **(1)** & **(2)** & **(3)** & **(4)** \\ \hline \multicolumn{5}{c}{**Random Effects**} & **Random Effects** & **Random Effects** & **Fixed Effects** \\ \hline Lockdown & 120.21 ** ** & 122.703 ** [FOOTNOTE:]Footnote : Note: All regressions include random effects and are estimated with robust clustered standard errors. Lockdown dummy corresponds to the alternative dummy which takes the value of 1 during quarantine period and beyond, i.e., all the weeks after the 23 March 2020 and zero otherwise. Standard errors in parentheses. *, ** denote statistical significance at 10\% and 1\%.[ENDFOOTNOTE]** \\ (23 March–forward) & (40.521) & (40.477) & (40.355) & (36.033) \\ Average duration (min) & & 0.083 & 0.095 & 0.084 \\  & & (0.152) & (0.162) & (0.140) \\ Rental stations & & & 3.787 * & 71.298 * \\  & & & (0.802) & (23.009) \\ Constant & 29.132 ** & 23.562 * & 5.142 & \(-\)302.387 \\  & (9.169) & (13.05) & (18.932) & (118.304) \\ Number of cities & 3 & 3 & 3 & 3 \\ Observations & 155 & 155 & 155 & 155 \\ R-squared (overall) & 0.338 & 0.339 & 0.344 & 0.069 \\ \hline \hline \end{tabular} Notes: All regressions include random effects and are estimated with robust clustered standard errors. Lockdown dummy corresponds to the alternative dummy which takes the value of 1 during quarantine period and beyond, i.e., all the weeks after the 23 March 2020 and zero otherwise. Standard errors in parentheses. *, ** denote statistical significance at 10\% and 1\%.  
\end{table} 
Table 9: The effect of lockdown on number of rides, comparing period before and after lockdown, excluding rides with duration less than 5 min. COVID-19 on the BS system in Slovakia, showed that during the lockdown period, the level of usage was decreased. However, after restrictions were relieved, a slight increase was recorded [55]. In a recently published study regarding the performance of BS systems in the United States [56], one of the main conclusions (five out of eleven BS systems provided feedback) was that bike-sharing moderate-frequency riders (1-2 times per month) may increase after the coronavirus restrictions are lifted. Based on the above-described analysis, we can state with relative safety that the lockdown period affected the performance of the BS systems in the examined cities since during the lockdown period the level of usage of BS systems increased. This evolution can be capitalized by the local authorities by promoting and advertising the benefits of the BS systems, even those that were not initially (and most likely could not be) conceived, but ultimately were revealed during the COVID-19 pandemic [57; 58; 59]. Specially designed campaigns could be organized by the local authorities in order to inform the people of the benefits of using bicycles, by highlighting that BS systems' level of usage was increased during the lockdown period providing them a way out from the restriction measures while at the same time maintaining social distancing. Lastly, those campaigns could promote the usage of BS systems as a significant tool to achieve sustainable mobility [56]. Our study has some limitations. The data provided cover a time period of many months before the applied first lockdown in Greece and only a few months after the easiness of the applied measures. Although the change in the level of BS bicycles' usage was recorded, analyzed, and examined, a longer time period would provide more solid conclusions and results. Furthermore, our analysis is based on quantitative data for the BS systems and at the same time, we do not have access to data concerning other available transport modes in the examined cities. As a result, no comparison among the available transport modes can be made as, for example, public transport and BS bicycles. Finally, the absence of qualitative data regarding the reasons for users' choice to use more (or at least at the same level) BS bicycles during and after the lockdown period compared to the pre-lockdown period, does not allow us to perform an in-depth analysis.