More Than Infrastructure Needed for Minority Bike Adoption

"In a groundbreaking survey, [Charles] Brown and James Sinclair asked New Jerseyans about their attitudes toward biking and broke down the responses by race," reports Angie Schmitt.

The question at the heart of the story, according to Schmitt: "If your local police force has a reputation for harassing people who look like you, and your neighborhood gets a new bike lane, would that infrastructure be enough to make you feel comfortable riding?"

According to the findings of the study, social and cultural issues do matter when it comes to bike adoption in minority communities: "In the survey, black and Latino respondents were more likely than white respondents to cite fear of racial profiling or crime as a deterrent to cycling." 

"The infrastructure piece gets too much attention and the social and cultural pieces are missing," Brown told Schmitt in his own words.

The article includes more insight into the research, including Brown's recommendations for how to improve the planning process with these findings in mind.