Transportation
How Low-Income Commuters View Cycling
Three policy lessons for cities trying to achieve more transport equity.
New data from the U.S. Census Bureau offers encouraging news for cyclists: Nationally, bicycle commuting increased 61 percent between the 2000 Census and a 2008-2012 survey. But there's considerable work to do before we bike ride into the sunset. Our research shows that in some places, the people who ride are mostly wealthy and white.
Take Washington, D.C., for example. American Community Survey data show that D.C. bicycle commuting increased an astounding 208 percent between 2000 and 2012. Yet biking to work is far less common in the lower-income areas east of the Anacostia River. Despite the recent additions of substantial cycling infrastructure, many mobility challenges remain.