When the city of Atlanta first outlined its ambitious streetcar project for Auburn Avenue, there was a glaring blind spot.
Despite being one of the most historic African-American business districts in the country, Auburn was slated for a mere three blocks of bike lanes in the multi-modal proposal.
In response, local organizations — Red, Bike & Green, the Atlanta Bicycle Coalition and the SOPO Bicycle Cooperative — worked with supportive City Council members to pressure local leaders, and organized the Tour de Sweet Auburn bike ride, which highlighted the district’s cultural significance and united neighbors and business leaders behind the push for better bike access.
The event and resulting petition engaged voices usually absent in bicycling advocacy — and soon the city indicated it would include additional bike lanes along the Auburn corridor.
A few months later, the council approved $2.5 million for much-needed bike facilities throughout the city, including areas where residents are predominantly people of color.
Atlanta isn’t alone. A report released last week by the League of American Bicyclists and the Sierra Club — “The New Majority: Pedaling Towards Equity” — dispels too-often held stereotypes about bicycling in America, revealing a steep rise in ridership in diverse communities and overwhelming support for biking among youth, women and people of color.
In fact, the fastest growth in bicycling isn’t among whites, but within the Hispanic, African-American and Asian-American populations, growing from 16 to 23 percent of all bike trips in the U.S. between 2001 and 2009. In the African-American population, the percent of trips taken by bike doubled, far surpassing the 22 percent growth in the white population.
Toppling misconceptions like “black people don’t bike,” the report reveals that 86 percent of people of color have a positive view of bicyclists, and 71 percent say that their community would be a better place to live if bicycling were safer and more comfortable. Groups like Red, Bike and Green are changing the national conversation about bicycling, elevating bikes as a tool to address structural inequality, obesity, environmental justice, job access and youth empowerment.
They are also addressing, head-on, the stark disparities in bicycle facilities in many communities. Whether it’s bike lanes or bike-sharing systems, too many neighborhoods of color are left out of transportation planning decisions and local bicycle advocacy discussions. And that takes a tragic toll: Compared to white bicyclists, the accident fatality rate was 23 percent higher for Hispanic riders and 30 percent higher for African-American bicyclists in 2001, a trend that continues today.
This issue is “bigger than bikes.” More diverse people are now electing to ride their bikes to work, school and play. The opportunity and imperative for cities nationwide? Level the playing field and create equal access to safe and comfortable bicycling for all communities. In Atlanta, and across the country, new leaders are taking their handlebars and pedaling the movement toward equity.
Hamzat Sani is co-founder of Red, Bike & Green — Atlanta. Carolyn Szczepanski is communications director for the League of American Bicyclists.
