80% Divvy = Men. Women Bike Chicago Seeks to Change That

http://www.dnainfo.com//20151123/lakeview/80-percent-of-divvy-users...

DnaInfo story by Justin Breen

W.B.C. leaders want to see more female cyclists on city and suburban streets.


The organization, founded in 2012, revamped its website last week to add more information and details about the group, and serve as a recruitment tool for more female cyclists.

The group's highlights include an outdoor movie night featuring documentaries about women who ride, a mentoring program, group rides and an annual Day of Dialogue and Discussion, according to chairwoman, Elizabeth Adamczyk. Through those events the group has helped female riders choose commuting routes, advise them how to dress for different types of riding, enabled moms to ride with their children, and that cycling can be fun.

Safety seems to be the determining factor in the decision to ride.

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Divvy has the same issue as Citi.  Some interesting research is cited in this article: http://nymag.com/scienceofus/2015/07/why-arent-more-women-riding-ci...

In any business, if half of your potential customers have only a lukewarm response to your product, it does not bode well for its future.  You'd want to find out why they don't like it and do something to make it more appealing.

Not by advocacy groups, since rental cars aren't a public (or favored) good, but I'd be surprised if Enterprise and Hertz (or their equivalent trade association) couldn't be convinced to spend a decent amount of money by marketing consultants to figure out why they weren't attracting women renters.  

The Bikeyface blog is "a webcomic inspired by the real life experience of getting around on two wheels in a city built for four." I believe the author is a woman (though don't see her name mentioned anywhere). She might have some insights on specific issues related to women as urban cyclists.

Edit: Like this one: Fear of Sweat

http://bikeyface.com/about/

BikeyFace is written and illustrated by Bekka Wright.
Thanks. I poked an about link but all I saw was the second bit, "About Bikeyface."

Especially surprising considering that they're girls bicycles.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Step-through_frame

Technically, they are 'utility bicycles', or step through frame bikes. Unisex bicycles.

The fact that Divvy ridership numbers are similar to the numbers that show up in bike counts suggests to me that the underlying problem is infrastructure and lack of traffic enforcement. Women don't feel safe in our current traffic conditions.

We've certainly made progress in recent years with respect to infrastructure. I wish I could say the same about traffic enforcement, which has gone in the opposite direction and is sorely needed in too many locations across the city.

http://news.medill.northwestern.edu/chicago/cyclists-group-urges-mo...

Women Bike Chicago and it's chairwoman, Elizabeth Adamczyk held another event to promote, support and build upon the cycling community.

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