Bicycles ought to be a great transportation equalizer. Inexpensive, easy to use, and even healthy, bikes should enable everybody to journey swiftly to their jobs, families, community centers, and other destinations.
Why, then, is cycling so often seen as an activity for the affluent, who use fancy racing or mountain bikes, along with a specialized wardrobe and paraphernalia? Why is the appearance of bikeshare and bike lanes in low-income neighborhoods often perceived as the beginning of gentrification?
“A lot of projects come into neighborhoods, people feel that they’re not for us,” said Waffiyyah Murray, Philadelphia’s Better Bike Share program manager. The first time a bicycle station appears, they ask, “What is this, I don’t know anything about this, nobody talked to me.”
When outsiders make decisions without community engagement, the battle for equity is well on its way to being lost. Philadelphia’s young bikeshare system, Indego, began in 2015 with an awareness of these barriers and a determination to tear them down.
High-income white residents take three times more bikeshare trips than low-income people of color.
Many obstacles block bicycle equity: lack of separated bike lanes, access to quality bikes, repair facilities, and safety classes. Bikeshare adds in the need for digital access and for credit, as well as the high cost of replacing a lost bike ($1,200 in Washington, D.C.’s system).
These obstacles have a major effect: bikeshare shows sharp divisions along race and class lines, with whiter and wealthier individuals far more likely to use it. Only 9 percent of low-income people of color, 18 percent of high-income people of color, 13 percent of low-income white residents, and 29 percent of high-income white residents have ridden bikeshare in their cities, according to a national 2017 Portland State University survey.
That breaks down to high-income whites taking more than three times as many bikeshare trips as low-income people of color.
Although the methodology is different, these numbers stand in sharp contrast to Philadelphia’s. Forty-five percent of Indego passholders are from nonwhite groups and 35 percent of passholders have incomes less than $25,000, according to 2018 City of Philadelphia figures.
Phildelphia’s equity toolkit
Indego has worked hard to speak with low-income and minority residents and provide bikeshare stations where they are most needed. They have provided monthly low-income plans, cash-payment options, and lessons on bike safety. And they have added innovative community classes that build bicycle and digital skills together.
Equity for bikeshare begins with ”a lot of research, a lot of surveys, a lot of meetings,” and community outreach, finding out “how people feel about cycling,” said Murray. While many programs “skip the outreach part,” or engage in only cursory meetings, extensive communication is “so important, especially when you’re engaging” neighborhoods that “have historically been under-served for years.” This counteracts historical experience in which people may feel that officials simply don’t care. “Don’t just talk,” said Murray, “work to engage,” so that “everybody feels included.”
One key tool is Indego’s bike-ambassadors program, using people from trusted local organizations. People in specific neighborhoods know, for instance, what store may be a local gathering point and what intersection is particularly dangerous. It’s important to adjust to “those kind of small details that only people living in that community or neighborhood would know,” Murray said.
Marketing that shows local people in familiar neighborhoods further adds comfort to under-served areas. And the spectrum of outreach efforts should be ongoing, beginning before bikeshare is added and continuing even after a program appears successful.
Increasing bikeshare equity also means affordability. While a monthly pass is normally $17, Indego provides a $5 Access Pass to low-income residents. A cash-payment option is available for those who don’t feel comfortable with, or lack, credit. (Nationwide, only 32 percent of bikeshare systems have any kind of low-income pass, says a NACTO report, and Philadelphia is among the pioneers.)
While some bikeshare programs are reluctant to provide cash options, fearing people won’t return bikes (since they can’t be easily charged), Murray explained that “we don’t have a huge issue with people not returning bikes.” Even seemingly lost bicycles “end up coming back eventually.” Still, Indego does charge a $1,000 fee for lost or destroyed bikes.
Pedaling through the digital divide
Finally, it’s crucial to bridge the digital divide. Smartphone apps are integral to accessing bikeshare: they allow users to find bikes and locate available docks. Computer access is required for purchasing and maintaining monthly plans, and basic knowledge of touch-screen technology is needed for one-day use, explained Jennifer Kobrin, director of MyPLACE & Digital Initiatives of the City of Philadelphia. To get the most out of the system, “you really need to know how to . . . read an online map,” which “requires a certain level of digital skills,” she added.
Those of us immersed in the digital world can forget how confusing this technology is at first. And maintaining a high-speed internet connection is expensive. Low-income residents may have only a smartphone with a limited monthly plan—or no access at all.
To help, the City of Philadelphia has the Keyspot Network, which provides over 50 public-access computer centers throughout the city. Of course, computers are also available at local libraries.
To empower individuals, Kobrin co-founded the Digital Skills and Bicycle Thrills program. “Many people find kind of terrifying the first time they use a computer,” she said. Accessing bikeshare gives people a tangible and exciting goal.
Digital Skills and Bicycle Thrills is currently in its seventh four-week session. Each has from 20 to 30 students, with a 60 percent graduation rate, extremely high for an adult-education course. “You get some people that are really strong on bikes, and some that are strong with digital literacy,” said Kobrin. “It allows people to really support each other.” The class combines basic digital skills with bicycle safety and gives graduates six months’ free bikeshare.
Organizers hope to expand the program in the future, with a Spanish language program and through partnerships with other cities. Not surprisingly, funding is a problem. However, if money can be found, thousands may be sent coasting into a more mobile future, on bikes and online.
Photo of Indego’s launch in 2015 by Better Bike Share.