Yet More Evidence Bike-Share Isn't Reaching the Poor

[ORMojo]

http://www.citylab.com/politics/2016/01/bike-share-poor-equity-transit/424656/

[fiamme red]

Most poor people don't have credit cards, therefore they can't use bike share. You can buy a cheap bike and lock for cash.

[ORMojo]

Most poor people don't have credit cards, therefore they can't use bike share. You can buy a cheap bike and lock for cash.

While that may be true, the study emphasized disproportionate access to bike share systems, citing both system design (credit cards?) and station location (more high income households with a station near by).

[fiamme red]

While that may be true, the study emphasized disproportionate access to bike share systems, citing both system design (credit cards?) and station location (more high income households with a station near by).Another consideration is that poorer neighborhoods generally have more crime, hence more bike thefts.

http://nypost.com/2015/12/21/nypd-wants-to-fix-stats-on-stolen-citi-bikes/

"There are so many Citi Bikes being stolen that the NYPD and the company that provides the vehicles are trying to figure out how to lower their value so that the thefts would be downgraded from felonies to misdemeanors, sources tell The Post..."

[pavel]

Most poor people don't have credit cards

Really? I'm pretty certain 80% of US economy is dependent on poor people having credit cards.

[Ronsonic]

Really? I'm pretty certain 80% of US economy is dependent on poor people having credit cards.

Not credit, EBT.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NzspsovNvII

[PFSLABD]

The comments below the article sum up a lot on why the poor aren't taking advantage of the program. A lot of the poor probably don't even have a job to ride to and are existing on a welfare check that comes in the mail or is deposited to their bank account if they happen to have one.

[flydhest]

I am not sure that bike share is targeted at the poorest. Is it? The criticism seems tantamount to saying that few men are taking advantage of prenatal care.

[Dead Man]

Not credit, EBT.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NzspsovNvII

Are you posting to be funny, or do you think that racist bull···· is accurate?

[smontanaro]

A lot of the poor probably don't even have a job to ride to and are existing on a welfare...

Not sure where you get this claim. I believe most poor are actually working poor. Here's one reference on the topic:

6 welfare myths we all need to stop believing (http://mashable.com/2015/07/27/welfare-myths-debunked/#sWuza1FFCEq3)

Of course, this has nothing to do with bikes, but I felt your comment needed a counterpoint.

[PFSLABD]

Not sure where you get this claim. I believe most poor are actually working poor. Here's one reference on the topic:

6 welfare myths we all need to stop believing (http://mashable.com/2015/07/27/welfare-myths-debunked/#sWuza1FFCEq3)

Of course, this has nothing to do with bikes, but I felt your comment needed a counterpoint.

I live where I see it in action, every day. Yes, there are poor, who have jobs, but many live within walking distance to their jobs. A lot of poor don't have the funds to move across town so they live where the jobs are. Hence, they don't need bikes. On the other hand, there are also other poor, who ride old bike cruisers so since they have these old bikes, they don't need the ride share program. Fxed it so you could understand it better.

[bcroslin]

I live where I see it in action, every day. Yes, there are poor, who have jobs, but many live within walking distance to their jobs. A lot of poor don't have the funds to move across town so they live where the jobs are. Hence, they don't need bikes. On the other hand, there are also other poor, who ride old bike cruisers so since they have these old bikes, they don't need the ride share program. Fxed it so you could understand it better.

Wait, your previous comment said the poor don't have jobs but then you give us this eyewitness account of the poor walking to jobs. So which is it?

I love reading comments from a bunch affluent dudes who can afford $5k rides about the poors.

[livingminimal]

I love reading comments from a bunch affluent dudes who can afford $5k rides about the poors.

This, I have to agree with.

I work with the homeless for a living. It never ceases to amaze me the amount of decision making or commentary that goes on on their behalf without ever having an effing clue what it's like to be homeless, either from talking to the homeless or experiencing it themselves.

[rnhood]

I live where I see it in action, every day. Yes, there are poor, who have jobs, but many live within walking distance to their jobs. A lot of poor don't have the funds to move across town so they live where the jobs are. Hence, they don't need bikes. On the other hand, there are also other poor, who ride old bike cruisers so since they have these old bikes, they don't need the ride share program. Fxed it so you could understand it better.

I tend to agree with this, at least in many urban localities. I would think it best to locate the bike-share stations where they have the highest potential of being used, thereby increasing the program's effectivity.

[PFSLABD]

Wait, your previous comment said the poor don't have jobs but then you give us this eyewitness account of the poor asking to jobs. So which is it?

I love reading comments from a bunch affluent dudes who can afford $5k rides about the poors.

Do you mean a $5,000 bike? Maybe you can afford one, but I can't even afford a $500 Garmin GPS, not that I'd want one, anyway. Road maps work for me and helped me drive across this great country, where I first found homeless people living under overpasses in Portland, Oregon. I went out and bought one guy groceries, but he didn't want any groceries, he wanted money, instead. I took the groceries back to my Extended Stay hotel and fixed my own food for the next week.

So are you one of those poor folks you describe, or a young well-off yuppie doo gooder? Which are you?

[bcroslin]

Do you mean a $5,000 bike? Maybe you can afford one, but I can't even afford a $500 Garmin GPS, not that I'd want one, anyway. Road maps work for me and helped me drive across this great country, where I first found homeless people living under overpasses in Portland, Oregon. I went out and bought one guy groceries, but he didn't want any groceries, he wanted money, instead. I took the groceries back to my Extended Stay hotel and fixed my own food for the next week.

So are you one of those poor folks you describe, or a young well-off yuppie doo gooder? Which are you?

dude, just stop. you're not doing yourself any favors.

[Joachim]

Do you mean a $5,000 bike? Maybe you can afford one, but I can't even afford a $500 Garmin GPS, not that I'd want one, anyway. Road maps work for me and helped me drive across this great country, where I first found homeless people living under overpasses in Portland, Oregon. I went out and bought one guy groceries, but he didn't want any groceries, he wanted money, instead. I took the groceries back to my Extended Stay hotel and fixed my own food for the next week.

So are you one of those poor folks you describe, or a young well-off yuppie doo gooder? Which are you?

Wow.

[R3awak3n]

I know that in NYC at least getting a bike share pass is still pretty pricey. Was $100 now I think its more like $140. Also was interesting to see that they put the bikes in places where lower income people don't live. Manhattan and some parts of brooklyn. Only now they are spreading out the bike share program to other areas. I still don't know if people will use them but maybe its just something people have to get used to.

[ORMojo]

I am not sure that bike share is targeted at the poorest. Is it? The criticism seems tantamount to saying that few men are taking advantage of prenatal care.

While it may not currently be targeted at the poorest, or if it is supposed to, in some portion, be, it is apparently failing at that. But one of the central points of the article is that the U.S. Congress is likely to pass legislation (Bikeshare Transit Act) that will clarify that bike share systems are public transportation (equivalent to public bus, light rail, etc.) and thus eligible for the same sources of federal funding. However, as the article states, "the designation raises some flags from an equity standpoint, because to date bike-share systems have done a pretty awful job helping the very populations that rely on transit most: the urban poor."

Now, you are welcome to still question the intent of bike share systems, and of the legislation itself, especially since it was introduced by Oregon Senator Blumenauer just as Oregon's two largest cities are about to construct their first bike share systems.

As an aside, if you haven't heard, Portland's bike share system just landed a sponsor - $10 million for 5 years from Nike to brand the Portland bike share system "BikeTown" . . . as long as you pronounce it BaikiTown!

[Ronsonic]

I fully expect municipal bike sharing systems to fail the way most public transportation modes have. They'll be subsidized on the basis that they help low income residents and then be run for the convenience of the well-to-do. The city I'm in has an embryonic bike-share program. They are unused. The share bikes are nowhere near where they might help poor people.

What has made a difference are bike racks on the buses. Those get used and make public transit more plausible for working poor for a number of reasons.

[earlfoss]

Put those bikes in a poor neighborhood, turn your back and count to 10. Turn back around and see how many were stolen or vandalized. Probably none. Maybe wait longer, like a day or two.

:bike:

[fiamme red]

But one of the central points of the article is that the U.S. Congress is likely to pass legislation (Bikeshare Transit Act) that will clarify that bike share systems are public transportation (equivalent to public bus, light rail, etc.) and thus eligible for the same sources of federal funding.In NYC, bike share is owned by the biggest real estate developer in the city, Related Companies. So bike share isn't "public" in the sense that it's owned by the city. In what other sense can bike share be called "public transportation" or "mass transit"? It's no more mass transit than taxis, car services, or Uber.