The truth is that the ranks of anti-bike lane Americans are diverse, probably even more so than its advocates. When I first heard that Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy pledged to rescind funding for “DEI bike lanes,” I immediately thought of the book Bike Lanes are White Lanes. The argument of the book is self-evident. Bike advocacy has long been largely the domain of white advocates pushing for bike infrastructure in largely white neighborhoods. To some, bike lanes are a symbol—and even a creator—of gentrification.
Historically, the bicycle has been many things to many people: a toy for tots, a piece of exercise equipment, a tool for commuting, a way to explore a rugged mountain, a delivery vehicle, a device on which to do tricks and to trick out. Bicycling became truly popular in the 1890s, with many hoping it would become the great equalizer, a democratizing force that would open new spaces to women and afford everyone mobility. As the 1900 U.S. census declared: “It is safe to say that few articles ever used by man have created so great a revolution in social condition as the bicycle.”
One solution was to divide traffic with separate bike lanes. Another idea was to create separate bicycle paths. The most vocal opponents were groups of cyclists. Serious cyclists wanted to be taken seriously. They thought (erroneously) the only way to do so was to have states recognize the bicycle as a vehicle and, accordingly, give it the same right to the road as every other vehicle. As they saw it, the problem was the notion that the bicycle was a plaything.
Sadly, so is biking in general. Women account for only about 30% of all bicycle trips. Bikeshare programs, including DC’s Capital Bikeshare, skew white, male, and affluent, just like America’s first cyclists. When it comes to commuting, about .6% of white people commute to work by way of bicycle. That’s compared to .3% for the Black population.
More broadly, exercise has become a luxury good. It was the Yuppies who made marathoning and high-end road bicycles so popular. Today, people are just as likely to commute by bicycle in households that have more than $200,000 in income as they are in households that bring in between $50,000 and $75,000. Many of the people commuting by bike are choosing to do so. They have alternatives.
The best way to get more cyclists is with more and smarter bike infrastructure. The primary reason people—of all types—say they don’t bike is because they feel unsafe. Bike lanes, especially protected bike lanes that are physically separated, really do work. Whether rich or poor, white or Black, hardly anyone currently bikes to work. Compared to similarly wealthy countries, it is an embarrassing reality.
There’s nothing inherently left or right, feminine or masculine, about bicycles or bike lanes. A bike is just a bike. It is a simple two-wheeled machine with universal appeal.
The government doesn’t even know if you own one.
What could be more American?
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