Advocacy

Through community outreach and community building we work to foster safer and more inclusive environments for those that choose to ride. Research has shown some distinct trends and ideas that lead to people’s decision around riding, or not.

Aggregating some of the available research reveals these trends

• Safety on the roadway is a major limiting factor for those that want to ride
• Lack of cycling facilities (ie. bike lanes, paths) is directly related to perceived safety
• Women and people of color ride at lower levels than white men
• Financial barriers to access around bicycle ownership/access

The first step in creating more riders is understanding the concerns of those that do not ride but would like to. Making cycling safer and more appealing to all will carry benefits to all riders. According to survey data collected for People for Bikes American cyclists are feeling safer on the road. There’s been a 5% drop in people expressing “I worry about being hit by a motor vehicle
when riding a bicycle in my area” down from 52% to 47%. That being said, almost half of those that ride are worried about being hit by a motor vehicle. These numbers jump to 2 of 3 when considering the feelings of those that want to ride.

With this background as context our advocacy revolves around removing the limitation listed above through the power of community and connections. Education is also a crucial component to everything we do. Our role then is to create opportunities to teach tactics and issues impacting cyclist safety and helping support cycling communities wherever they are and whatever issues they face. When collisions do occur we want to make sure the rider knows that resources are available to them.

Lastly, our goal of creating peer-to-peer access to bicycle advice and mechanical support is just dawning. If you are interested in joining our network reach out here.