John Pucher, whom I interviewed for this article here, sent me a copy of a new article he co-authored: “The Bicycling Renassiance in North America,” published in Transportation Research. Although the paper cites evidence of increased cycling levels, the authors also provide a few sobering statistics about gender and age disparities in the commuter cycling world:
“Almost all the growth in cycling in the USA has been among men between 25-64 years old, while cycling rates have remained steady among women and fallen sharply for children.”
Even in Portland, a national model–of course–women comprise only 33 percent of the the city’s bike commuting population.
I asked Pucher why the gender disparity–and the decline in riding among children. Here is his response.
“We can only speculate, as it is impossible to prove the reasons for the trends we observed. But I think perceived traffic danger is the biggest reason. I think many parents discourage their kids from cycling because of the traffic dangers they perceive. And trip distances to school have also increased with school consolidations, so there is less walking and biking to school.
My guess is that women are also more deterred by traffic dangers than men.
I think we see the big increase among middle aged men cycling because it’s become quite fashionable among a certain set, and men are less deterred by cycling in traffic than women.
I wish the demographic trends in cycling were more equitable and inclusive.”
I find this study’s results hard to believe based upon what I’ve on the streets the past 10 years. What years does this include?
“seen on the streets”
Jim,
The analysis covers two decades and does make exceptions for several cities, including Portland. Here is the abstract of the paper:
“This paper reviews trends in cycling levels, safety, and policies in Canada and the USA over the past two decades. We analyze aggregate data for the two countries as well as city-specific case study data for nine large cities (Chicago, Minneapolis, Montréal, New York, Portland, San Francisco, Toronto, Vancouver, and Washington). Cycling levels have increased in both the USA and Canada, while cyclist fatalities have fallen. There is much spatial variation and socioeconomic inequality in cycling rates. The bike share of work commuters is more than twice as high in Canada as in the USA, and is higher in the western parts of both countries. Cycling is concentrated in central cities, especially near universities and in gentrified neighborhoods near the city center. Almost all the growth in cycling in the USA has been among men between 25-64 years old, while cycling rates have remained steady among women and fallen sharply for children. Cycling rates have risen much faster in the nine case study cities than in their countries as a whole, at least doubling in all the cities since 1990. They have implemented a wide range of infrastructure and programs to promote cycling and increase cycling safety: expanded and improved bike lanes and paths, traffic calming, parking, bike-transit integration, bike sharing, training programs, and promotional events. We describe the specific accomplishments of the nine case study cities, focusing on each city’s innovations and lessons for other cities trying to increase cycling. Portland’s comprehensive package of cycling policies has succeeded in raising cycling levels 6-fold and provides an example that other North American cities can follow. “
Thanks for the info, Linda. I’m assuming if Portland is an exception then San Francisco is one as well. I literally just got back from one of our Sunday Streets programs and, even though it’s a special bikey event, women were heavily represented, perhaps the majority. Tons of kids too.
It’s not entirely clear from the abstract if he’s referring to all cycling growth or only commuters, but regardless since 1990 I’ve seen an explosion of growth among female sport cyclists and, of course, commuters.
It can be argued the 9 exceptions are places where the young, smart creatives congregate and cycling is both cool and practical. Distances and culture create boundaries outside of these, in which case I can see how the growth of cycling is pushed by males primarily in the sport world and secondarily in the commute. Just looking at the number of women’s road and mountain bikes available makes me question how much of a driving force males are, though.
Is is possible to send me a copy of this study?
Linda,
From Pedaling Revolution by Jeff Mapes:
“When you get right down to it, it’s the strong and experienced vehicular cyclist who are happy with the current system. That’s because they are more worried about being forced off the main road than about attracting large new numbers of riders.
The current system primarily serves a population that is white, that already bicycles, that already is healthy. Women are generally more risk adverse and don’t want to cycle without some separation from traffic.” – Ann Lusk, Harvard University School of Public Health.
This is a a universal design issue. Protected bikeways (cycle tracks) are the only proven bicycle infrastructure that can attract a large number of women and children riders. End of story. Until we face-up to this reality we will only see minimal increases in bike ridership.
Don,
I agree absolutely. If it were up to me, I’d abandon the bike boulevards/bikeways idea and install cycle tracks on major thoroughfares such as Broadway, Sandy, Burnside….
I comment only based on my experience. I purchased a bike with 5 speeds in 1972
intending to use it for my home to work travel in the southern city of Miami, Florida.
I made certain that the streets I used in my twelve mile trek were not highly used
by automotive traffic during the times I would be using the route. All went well even during inclement weather for the months of October and November. Part of my travel was across the bridges of the Miami River. In the month of December my chill was
not a factor as action produced warmth. I was not permitted entry to my workplace
with the vehicle but expected to secure it in public. My homeward bound trip just before Christmas was lost as a thief had stolen the bike while I worked.