Assessing Cycling Accessibility in Urban Areas through the Implementation of a New Cycling Scheme

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

The article is interesting. The use of electric bicycles is a current problem related to transport.

Substantive remarks:
A. Please extend the literature review to include articles about the relationship between bicycle traffic and the bicycle infrastructure.
B. Please develop a differential map showing the difference between Figures 4 and 6, indicating places for improving the accessibility of cycling infrastructure.
B1. If possible, please show the slope of the terrain in the study area on the abovementioned map. E-bikes have a huge advantage in the case of sloping terrain.
C. In my opinion, QGIS software was used for the analysis. Please cite the software properly: https://qgis.org/en/site/getinvolved/faq/index.html#how-to-cite-qgis
D. A worrying study using only three e-bikes. This cannot be corrected without re-doing part of the study. It is worth addressing this problem and using, for example, e-bikes from city rentals in further work.
C. Please write what requirements an e-bike must meet in Greece. They are different in different European countries. For example, the maximum engine power may affect the phenomenon studied in the article.


Detailed notes:
In Figure 1, please explain what 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 mean.
Line 246 - Please move the section title to the next page.

Good luck! I hope to read the revised article soon.

Author Response

Please see the attachment.

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Reviewer 2 Report

The Authors analyze the needs and preferences of urban cyclists through questionnaires and assess bicycle accessibility in urban areas using multicriteria analysis.

They also test the public's familiarity with novel mobility solutions like e-bicycles and their impact on accessibility and inclusiveness.

 

The topic is interesting for the development of smart cities; however, the paper requires a revision to clarify several points:

 

- The authors should extend the discussion in section 5 to explicitly highlight: what is the impact of implementing e-bicycles?  

 

- The background session is short; it lacks references and applications that make the bike useful in cities. For example, I have found other applications already proposed that are not state-of-the-art:

[R1] J. L. M. Puyol and V. M. Baeza, "Bicycle Sharing System Using an IoT Network," 2021 Global Congress on Electrical Engineering (GC-ElecEng), Valencia, Spain, 2021, pp. 131-135, doi: 10.1109/GC-ElecEng52322.2021.9788465.

[R2] C. -H. Lee, J. -W. Lee, Y. -J. Jung and I. -Y. Cho, "Relocation Framework to Improve the Usage Efficiency of Bicycle-sharing Systems," 2022 24th International Conference on Advanced Communication Technology (ICACT), PyeongChang Kwangwoon_Do, Korea, Republic of, 2022, pp. 424-428, doi: 10.23919/ICACT53585.2022.9728783.

 

- What are the next steps in integrating this system in a smart city?

 

- The paper should include a table with the acronyms used.

 

- The data used in the research is not publicly available, which limits the ability of other researchers to replicate or further analyze the findings.

 

- The paper focuses on a specific case study in the European Hub of Patras, which may limit the generalizability of the findings to other urban areas.

 

- The paper does not provide detailed information on the methodology used for the multicriteria analysis and the recording of cyclists' trajectories, which may raise questions about the validity and reliability of the results.

 

- The paper does not discuss potential limitations or challenges in implementing e-bicycles, such as infrastructure requirements, maintenance, and cost considerations.

 

- The paper does not address potential social or cultural barriers that may affect the adoption and usage of e-bicycles in urban areas.

 

- The legend numbers in the figures (1 to 5) are unclear. They must be explained. The y-axis is not understood in the figures either. In addition, they must explain how it has been carried out and which are the surveys.

 

Author Response

Please see the attachment

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Round 2

Reviewer 2 Report

Many thanks to the authors for directing all my comments. The work has gained clarity and contribution.