Equity and bike infrastructure

I used to bike all over my city to get to work. In the process I saw that there seemed to be differences in the bike infrastructure in different areas. Unfortunately, I often found worse infrastructure in lower income neighbourhoods. Since then, the city has improved some infrastructure, but a lot of those improvements are located in higher income areas.

Ermagun and colleagues (2023) examined the equity of bike infrastructure access in 50 cities across the US. Sadly, their findings match my experience. Socially vulnerable populations including African Americans, Hispanic, low-income, and carless households are more likely to have extremely risky cycling conditions. In addition, these areas are often of lower priority for improvements.

This is clearly problematic, especially as being able to bike commute can help reduce costs and increase access to different work opportunities. As I consider what I can do to change this, I realize that I could contribute to the problem myself. I’ve been to city consultations about cycling infrastructure that impacts me. I have the privilege of having time on the evenings and weekends to attend these meetings. Whereas people without this privilege may be unable to attend. This can then be perceived as a lack of support or interest. This article makes me think that I have to be sure to not just advocate for cycling infrastructure in the spaces I travel regularly but across the whole city.