But Divvy still has a long way to go when it comes to providing equal access to diverse residents. That’s the conclusion of a new report that looks at the Chicago bike-share system alongside New York’s Citi Bike and Philadelphia’s Indego networks. The study, titled “Breaking Barriers to Bike Share: Insights From Residents of Traditionally Underserved Neighborhoods,” was produced by Portland State University in collaboration with the Better Bike Share Partnership, which provided a $75,000 grant for Divvy for Everyone.

The researchers talked to people in lower-income communities of color, including Bronzeville on Chicago’s south side, and identified a number of issues that will need to be addressed if the demographics of bike-share ridership are going to expand. Residents expressed concerns about traffic safety, crime, police harassment, financial barriers, and liability for the bikes. The survey also revealed that many residents in these neighborhoods are unclear about how the systems work, and showed there’s a need for more one-on-one outreach regarding the mobility, health, and economic benefits of using bike-share programs.

In all three cities studied, the researchers focused on areas where outreach has been done to spread the word about the local bike-share programs. In Chicago this was the central portion of Bronzeville. Here CDOT has previously contracted Go Bronzeville, a group that was already promoting sustainable transportation in the neighborhood, to tell neighbors about the discounted D4E memberships. Between July 2015 and October 2016 the group reported 36 outreach events, including rides, socials, and tabling at community happenings, reaching more than 1,500 residents. Researchers also surveyed a control group of residents in an area south of Washington Park where there was no Go Bronzeville outreach.

The study found that survey responses from Bronzeville residents were quite similar to those from their counterparts in the predominantly African-American neighborhoods they canvassed in NYC and Philly, which may mean the results are applicable to other towns. In all three cities researchers found that people of color and lower-income residents cited more barriers to using bike-share programs, and cycling in general, than more affluent and white residents. Concern about traffic safety was identified as the biggest obstacle, regardless of race or income—48 percent of the total 1,885 respondents in the three cities cited this as a major issue.

But for people of color, especially lower-income residents, concerns about personal safety are also a significant barrier to using bike-share networks such as Divvy. While only 7 percent of higher-income whites cited fears of being the victim of a crime or an unfair police stop as an obstacle, 17 percent of higher-income people of color and 22 percent of lower-income residents of color expressed these concerns.

About half of lower-income residents of color cited high costs of membership and worries about liability for a lost or damaged bike as a major obstacle. (Presumably in Chicago these respondents were unfamiliar with the $5 D4E membership option.)

Lack of information or misconceptions about how bike-share programs work are also big barriers for this demographic. For 34 percent of lower-income black and Latino residents, not knowing enough about their local network was an obstacle to using it, compared to 19 percent of higher-income respondents of color, and a mere 7 percent of higher-income white residents. Common misconceptions about bike sharing included the notions that helmets are mandatory to use the bikes in these cities, and that credit cards are the only payment option (you can pay for a $5 D4E membership with cash). Surprisingly, 21 percent of respondents thought that the wheels of bike-share cycles will lock up if the rider exceeds the time limit.

Full Article:

http://chi.streetsblog.org/2017/06/27/study-concerns-about-cars-cri...