5 ms·

The irony is people who need better public transit are the ones more virulently against bike lanes.

by selectodude 9y ago

mulmen 9y ago
Can you substantiate this claim?
- mandelbrotwurst 9y ago
  I'm not the parent and I don't have any data, but I think he is saying that he thinks people in lower income areas tend to not be supportive of efforts to support bicycling and/or bicyclists. Just based on my personal experience, I think there may be some correlation, possibly due to the fact that bicycle commuters tend to be from higher income brackets, and that lower-income folks often see efforts to support bicycling as both a symptom and cause of gentrification that does not do anything to help them personally as they are less likely to be bicyclists themselves. Just my two cents.
  - tomjakubowski 9y ago
    > bicycle commuters tend to be from higher income brackets In the United States, the income segment with the highest rate of bicycle commuting (1.5%) is those individuals earning $10k/year or less [1]. Workers from households earning under $35k/year are 10x more likely to bike to work than workers from other households [2]. Of course, this doesn't directly imply that bicycle commuters tend to not be from higher income brackets, but if you examine the US household income distribution [3], it seems probable; as of 2014, a third of US households have an income below $35k/year. The Census Bureau provides some data tools which one could certainly use to break down bicycle commuters by income category, but their interface gives me trouble. [1] https://www.census.gov/newsroom/press-releases/2014/cb14-86.html https://www.census.gov/newsroom/press-releases/2014/cb14-86.... [2] http://bikeleague.org/sites/default/files/equity_report.pdf http://bikeleague.org/sites/default/files/equity_report.pdf [3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Household_income_in_the_United_States#Distribution_of_household_income_in_2014_according_to_US_Census_data https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Household_income_in_the_United...
- deleted 9y ago
  [deleted]
icebraining 9y ago
Is it ironic? If you live very far due to housing costs, bike lanes probably don't help you that much.

The irony is people who need better public transit are the ones more virulently against bike lanes.

mulmen 9y ago

Can you substantiate this claim?

mandelbrotwurst 9y ago
I'm not the parent and I don't have any data, but I think he is saying that he thinks people in lower income areas tend to not be supportive of efforts to support bicycling and/or bicyclists. Just based on my personal experience, I think there may be some correlation, possibly due to the fact that bicycle commuters tend to be from higher income brackets, and that lower-income folks often see efforts to support bicycling as both a symptom and cause of gentrification that does not do anything to help them personally as they are less likely to be bicyclists themselves. Just my two cents.
- tomjakubowski 9y ago
  > bicycle commuters tend to be from higher income brackets In the United States, the income segment with the highest rate of bicycle commuting (1.5%) is those individuals earning $10k/year or less [1]. Workers from households earning under $35k/year are 10x more likely to bike to work than workers from other households [2]. Of course, this doesn't directly imply that bicycle commuters tend to not be from higher income brackets, but if you examine the US household income distribution [3], it seems probable; as of 2014, a third of US households have an income below $35k/year. The Census Bureau provides some data tools which one could certainly use to break down bicycle commuters by income category, but their interface gives me trouble. [1] https://www.census.gov/newsroom/press-releases/2014/cb14-86.html https://www.census.gov/newsroom/press-releases/2014/cb14-86.... [2] http://bikeleague.org/sites/default/files/equity_report.pdf http://bikeleague.org/sites/default/files/equity_report.pdf [3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Household_income_in_the_United_States#Distribution_of_household_income_in_2014_according_to_US_Census_data https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Household_income_in_the_United...
deleted 9y ago
[deleted]

icebraining 9y ago

Is it ironic? If you live very far due to housing costs, bike lanes probably don't help you that much.