Gender - Greater Greater Washington

"Roll models" help women bike

Wed, 08 May 2013 08:50:00 EDT

WABA's program to help more women bicycle is starting to get results. They've picked 10 women "roll models" who can help friends and acquaintances overcome obstacles, like what gear they need. (Post)

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How's the gender gap?

Thu, 11 Apr 2013 08:48:00 EDT

by Peter James

The gap between women's pay and men's in the DC region is much less than the national average, perhaps largely thanks to the federal government. However, the region has the 3rd largest pay gap for minority women. (Post)

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WABA looks to close gender gap

Mon, 07 Jan 2013 08:51:00 EDT

by Steven Yates

WABA raised $11,000 to encourage women to bike. The group plans to use that money for dinners and group rides that will hopefully allay some fears about bicycle safety and cost. (Examiner)

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WABA reports progress with MPD (Oct 30, 2008)
What will encourage more women to bike? (Mar 22, 2012)
Women: How comfortable do you feel biking? (Mar 30, 2011)
"Bike Rack Raising" 11 am at DC USA (Mar 13, 2008)

More are biking

Mon, 10 Dec 2012 08:31:00 EDT

by Steven Yates

DC bicycle counts show that peak ridership is up 175% since 2004. Cyclists are about 77% male, 75% wear helmets, and CaBi makes up 1-12% of bikes depending on location. (d.ish)

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Biking on sidewalks is legal in DC (May 29, 2008)
Do DC's cycletracks work well? DDOT has some conclusions (Apr 19, 2012)
NH Ave bike sting continues (Aug 21, 2008)
DDOT tweaks L Street bike lane plan (May 7, 2012)
Help Arlington bike/ped planners gather data (Feb 4, 2010)

What will encourage more women to bike?

Thu, 22 Mar 2012 10:35:00 EDT

by Jenifer Joy Madden

More women will bike if it's safe, communal, and inclusive. The bike industry should also stop focusing on "mamils," or "middle-aged men in lycra." Those were some conclusions from the first-ever National Women Cycling Forum, held on Tuesday in conjunction with the National Bike Summit.

Photo by born1945 on Flickr.

The forum assembled the best minds in women's cycling, including panelists Cornelia Neal of the Royal Netherlands Embassy; Elysa Walk, General Manager of Giant Bicycles; Veronica Davis of Black Women Bike DC; and keynote speaker Sue Macy, an author and historian.

Macy shared fascinating facts and photos from her book, Wheels of Change, which details how cycling shaped the history of American women. Historically, bicycling offered women autonomy and self-reliance. As Susan B. Anthony put it, cycling "changed women."

The Netherlands' Neal said that encouraging women to cycle starts with safety: "If bicycling is safe, people will get on their bike." She reminded the crowd that her country hasn't always been the pinnacle of bike mobility. In fact, the Netherlands was once as car-oriented as the US is today. Only after the oil crisis hit in the 1970s did the country change policies to make bicycle travel a top priority.

Veronica Davis, a Greater Greater Washington contributor, said a "Complete Streets" policy encourages planning for all modes of travel and travelers of all abilities. Next month, the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments expects to issue a Complete Streets template local jurisdictions can use to develop their own policies.

"Women-only groups are critical to generating momentum for women" said Davis, who co-founded Black Women Bike, a DC-based women's cycling group that has grown phenomenally in less than a year. Women are often more "communal" than men, so groups such as Black Women Bike, or Birmingham, Alabama-based Magic City Cycle Chix can encourage and attract women to talk about and ride bikes.

In this video, Davis talks about why she started Black Women Bike, and what the group does:

Speakers said the bicycle industry needs to focus less on "mamils," or "middle-aged men in lycra." Advertisers should depict more women, more bikes need to be designed to female tastes, and bike shops should cater more to women's needs. One panelist said shops could start by "keeping the bathrooms cleaner."

"To get women to bike, you can't operate in a vacuum," added Davis, saying women need to be involved in advocacy, planning, and government offices from public health to land use planning. Says Davis: "You don't have people biking to school because half the time schools are all the way across the city." Panelists noted that more girls are also needed in engineering, pointing to Fionnuala Quinn, a local DC bike advocate and engineer who helped plan the forum.

The Forum's sendoff message was simple: the state of bicycling as a transportation mode depends on getting more women on two wheels. In order to get people to take bike transportation seriously, it's important for everyone, women included, to "bike as much as possible."

66 comments

Women: How comfortable do you feel biking? (Mar 30, 2011)
Weekend video: How bike shops encourage bicycling (Jul 31, 2011)
Bike/bus and bike/stroller merge bicycling and kids' travel (Feb 20, 2012)
What's the best bike for CaBi lovers? (Jun 15, 2011)
What's green and fun in the spring? A Greenbelt bike tour, a Dupont green festival, and bike fundraisers (Apr 6, 2010)

How to continue the rise of bikes

Thu, 22 Mar 2012 08:29:00 EDT

by Steven Yates

The best way to encourage female bikers as well as biking in general may be to encourage biking as transportation, as opposed to biking as sport or recreation, with associated services for bikes similar like those for cars. (RPUS)

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Women's rights take step backward

Sat, 18 Feb 2012 14:37:00 EDT

by David Alpert

Virginia will require an intrusive and medically unnecessary procedure to try to deter women who want or need legal abortions. (Slate)

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And...

Thu, 16 Feb 2012 08:14:00 EDT

by David Alpert

Ladies, is wearing a bike helmet incompatible with your 'do? Here are some solutions! (goDCgo) ... Dr. Gridlock wishes the WMATA trip planner accounted for track work. ... Alexandria waterfront plans put on hold due to an appeal. (WAMU) ... Cleveland hires Charlize Theron to ride transit and boost its image. (The Onion; not really)

Comment

Women: How comfortable do you feel biking? (Mar 30, 2011)
Weekend video: Buses and bike racks (Feb 19, 2011)
Feet in the Street Saturday in Fort Dupont (Aug 28, 2009)
More fun with graphs (Sep 30, 2008)
Join GGW, Gabe Klein and others next Tuesday for a holiday bike ride and happy hour (Dec 14, 2010)

Anti sentiment varies by gender

Mon, 17 Oct 2011 08:48:00 EDT

by David Alpert

Women are much more likely than men to fight proposals to build power plants, malls and big box stores, while men are more likely to oppose apartments and condos. Why? There's not a clear answer. (NYT via RPUS)

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Black women talk about biking

Mon, 08 Aug 2011 08:23:00 EDT

by David Alpert

Veronica Davis talks about the numbers of black women bicycling and the "Mary Poppins effect," where she encounters more driver courtesy when biking in a dress and her bright pink helmet. (Kate Ryan Reports)

Comment

Women: How comfortable do you feel biking? (Mar 30, 2011)
Two views on road safety from east of the river (Feb 7, 2011)
Driver vs. pedestrian perspective (Jan 10, 2008)
Pardon our dust (Feb 1, 2010)
On the calendar: Biking west, retail/zoning north, buses east (Mar 2, 2011)

And...

Wed, 03 Aug 2011 08:59:00 EDT

by David Alpert

WMATA is looking for a pedestrian/bicycle project manager. (PlanItMetro, Bossi) ... Where Arlingtonians most want CaBi stations. (BikeArlington) ... An iPhone app communicates the gender ratio at area bars. (Examiner)

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Arlington wants your help counting bikes and pedestrians (Apr 29, 2009)
Use your phone to find CaBi (Sep 27, 2010)
CaBi Tracker latest to use open data to help the public (May 10, 2011)
Readers finding success bridging Metro gap with CaBi (Oct 10, 2010)
Metro trying new technology, communication with parking (Jan 24, 2011)

And...

Fri, 29 Jul 2011 08:46:00 EDT

by Eric Fidler

Women in the House finally get their own restroom. (Post) ... Some MARC commuters are partying hard on the ride home. (TBD) ... You might recognize a few of Zipcar's low-car diet participants. ... Walk in Arlington? take this survey. ... The Onion deftly mocks our country's poor infrastructure spending.

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Cycletracks cut the gender gap

Fri, 22 Jul 2011 08:19:00 EDT

by David Alpert

Research in New York suggests that cycletracks and other infrastructure separating bikes from cars reduce the gender gap. More cyclists used these facilities overall, and women did in greater proportions. (Streetsblog)

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Policies impact pregnant, breastfeeding first responders

Mon, 27 Jun 2011 08:42:00 EDT

by David Alpert

The police union is concerned that MPD is forcing breastfeeding officers to work the street. Some officers want the option to work desk jobs while breastfeeding. (Examiner) And recent fire department changes have limited part-time duty options for pregnant firefighters. (Post)

Comment

Arlington PD follows up personally with cyclist (Feb 17, 2011)
To reduce enforcement errors, MPD wants traffic division (Mar 17, 2011)
Police catch Met Branch Trail attackers, but dispatch problems remain (Jun 6, 2011)
Crime remains high, police understaffed east of the river (Feb 3, 2011)
911 dispatchers not aware of Metropolitan Branch Trail (Jun 16, 2010)

Women biking = the economy?

Thu, 23 Jun 2011 16:41:00 EDT

by David Alpert

Why don't more women bike? Commonly cited reasons are "fear and fashion," but maybe it's really the economy (which could also partly explain why more women bike in DC than most places). (Grist)

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Women: How comfortable do you feel biking? (Mar 30, 2011)

On the sidewalk

Thu, 16 Jun 2011 09:11:00 EDT

by David Alpert

Construction has closed both sidewalks on one block of New York Avenue, leaving pedestrians no safe option. (Life in MVS) ... Please let women in heels walk between grates. (Penn Quarter Living)

Comment

Blank wall of the day (Mar 16, 2008)
How great are tree grates? (Jun 15, 2010)
DD'ohT! Streetcar grates pose unnecessary danger (May 18, 2010)

It's a man's world

Sat, 04 Jun 2011 12:35:01 EDT

by Eric Fidler

Among DC's 20- to 39-year-olds, there were 6,000 more women than men a decade ago. Now that number is 13,700. This strong imbalance gives heterosexual men less competition. (Bloomberg)

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CaBi clips

Fri, 06 May 2011 08:46:00 EDT

by David Alpert

Women bought nearly half of the Living Social CaBi coupons. (Cycling Examiner) ... CaBi is also releasing new data soon, as bike share apps become more robust. There have also been very few incidents of vandalism. (WashCycle)

Comment

GGW debates: Is CaBi getting a good deal on Living Social? (Apr 12, 2011)
Use your phone to find CaBi (Sep 27, 2010)
DDOT will place CaBi station on NE corner of Lincoln Park (Oct 23, 2010)
Readers finding success bridging Metro gap with CaBi (Oct 10, 2010)
Lincoln Park CaBi station decision imminent (Oct 19, 2010)

New stations, members come to CaBi

Tue, 12 Apr 2011 08:47:00 EDT

by Erik Weber

Capital Bikeshare will open four new stations in Rosslyn and Courthouse this week, the first in the Rosslyn-Ballston corridor. (ARLnow) ... The weekend's LivingSocial deal will surely add new members, but WashCycle isn't worried about capacity. ... Adam Voiland hopes the new members include many women.

Comment

DC, Arlington to add 36 Capital Bikeshare stations (Dec 23, 2010)
Buy a CaBi membership, donate to WABA (Apr 8, 2011)
Take CaBi during this weekend's Metro trackwork (Oct 8, 2010)
Capital Bikeshare, launching today, will change everything (Sep 20, 2010)
Bike sharing maps multiply (Jul 21, 2010)

Women: How comfortable do you feel biking?

Wed, 30 Mar 2011 14:39:00 EDT

by David Alpert

Of all American cities, DC has one of the highest percentages of its bike commuters who are women, an important sign of bike-friendliness for all genders in any city.

Photo by M.V. Jantzen on Flickr.

Bike infrastructure can make a difference in enticing commuters to cycle, as can driver behavior and the availability of showers. Some stories suggest drivers may also treat women on bikes better if they're wearing street clothes, feminine helmets, and skirts.

University of Oregon masters student Kory Northrup created this terrific infographic showing statistics about bicycling in various states and major cities:

Image by Kory Northrop via League of American Bicyclists and Streetsblog.

The graphic breaks down the cycling rate between men and women. Tanya Snyder wrote,

The male-female ratio is no trivial factoid. Women are considered an "indicator species" for cycling. When the conditions are right, female cyclists multiply. When urban biking feels like a game of Pole Position, the ladies tend to find other modes.

DC comes out well on gender equality. It has the 8th highest rate of bike commuting overall, but is 3rd best in the percentage of bike commuters who are women, with 38%, just barely edging out Boston. Minneapolis is the most equal, with 45.4% of its bike commuters women, and Portland, the #1 city for biking overall, is second with 39.1%.

What else affects women's comfort level riding? Chicago cyclist Dottie wrote about her experience with the "Mary Poppins Effect." Basically, drivers seem to be more deferential to people riding bikes if they're women, riding upright, and wearing street clothes.

Dottie also observed that an important element for getting this deference is either not wearing a helmet or wearing a brightly colored feminine-looking helmet with hearts or flowers. Most fascinatingly, her experience is that one of the biggest factors is whether the rider is wearing a skirt:

Typically I wear a dress or skirt, but today I wore a navy pinstripe pantsuit with a ankle strap on my left leg. Everything else was the same: I rode an upright Danish bike, wore a helmet covered with red hearts and rode with my typical calm assertiveness, but luxury SUV after luxury SUV after car passed me too closely. The effect was decidedly non-Mary Poppins.

This would be a great topic for a more scientific study. Meanwhile, it would be best if drivers treated all cyclists with respect and care, both men and women, regardless of how much leg is visible.

If you're a woman who bikes, have you noticed more deference from drivers at some times versus others? What are the biggest obstacles to more women (and men) feeling comfortable biking?

74 comments

Study says bike lanes really work (Oct 20, 2008)
Should DC limit sidewalk cycling in commercial areas? (Feb 28, 2011)
Useful statistics of the day (Jul 24, 2008)
Why don't people obey the rules when they ride a bike? (Jan 26, 2011)
Bicycling growing in the Eternal City (Dec 2, 2009)

Women showing skin reason to oppose a gym?

Mon, 18 Oct 2010 08:45:00 EDT

by David Alpert

A few Mount Vernon Square residents spoke up against a gym in their neighborhood because women in "skimpy clothing" run around in the neighborhood. ANC 6C, however, decided to base its decision on other factors. (RPUS, Eric Fidler)

Comment

Mount Vernon Square, 1887 (Aug 14, 2009)
Ask the Ward 2 Council candidates (Jul 8, 2008)
Plans envision multimodal "crossroads" at Mt. Vernon Square (Dec 10, 2009)
Small lots to parking lots to big buildings: The evolution of Mt. Vernon Square (Nov 23, 2009)
Capitol Hill may get a town square (Jul 30, 2008)

Women, ride your bikes

Wed, 29 Sep 2010 15:16:00 EDT

by David Alpert

Revolution Cycles wants to get more women riding bikes, and is having a "ladies' night" in Clarendon tonight. Only 20% of DC cyclists are female. (TBD)

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Women lead surge in urban biking

Mon, 13 Sep 2010 09:15:00 EDT

by Erik Weber

As city cycling shifts from a niche sport to an accepted mode of travel, woman lead the trend. (Daily Beast, Rob Pitingolo)

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Women: take this cycling survey

Fri, 19 Mar 2010 09:55:00 EDT

by David Alpert

Are you a woman? Do you ride a bicycle? Do you NOT ride a bicycle? Do you sometimes ride a bicycle? The Association of Pedestrian and Bicycle Professionals is doing a Web survey to try to collect data on how to make cycling more accessible to women and girls.

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What women want (in bike infrastructure)

Wed, 07 Oct 2009 08:17:00 EDT

by David Alpert

Women represent a small minority of bike commuters, but use off-street bike paths at much higher rates. Researchers are looking at this and other disparities to identify ways to help more people bicycle. (Scientific American, Gavin Baker)

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Why don't more people bike?

Tue, 18 Aug 2009 04:07:00 EDT

by David Alpert

Tom Vanderbilt says lack of bike parking is the biggest problem. (Slate) ... Lack of decent shower and changing facilities, too, are a major impediment, possibly even more so for women? (DC Bicycle Examiner)

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Korea has "women-only" parking spaces

Sun, 19 Apr 2009 10:20:00 EDT

The parking spaces are wider "offering aid to women drivers unskilled at parking." No commentary seems appropriate. (Sociological Images via How We Drive)

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