By Charles Pekow — More Latinos and fewer Blacks and other people of color are cycling these days than in 2013. At least that’s the conclusion of a study on changing demographics of bike riders in the United States by the League of American Bicyclists. The League recently released a report called Reconnecting to the New Majority, an update to a report done in 2013 on demographics of American cyclists.
The downside to diversifying the cycling community: “We have seen significant increases in bicyclist deaths due to drivers of motor vehicles between 2013 and 2019 — and as documented in 2013, the people who are experiencing traffic violence continue to be disproportionately people of color,” the report notes.
The League states that since its earlier report “while bicycling continues to have changing demographics, there are significant differences in the adoption of bicycling by a diversifying America. Notably, Black Americans experienced a decrease in their share of bicycling trips from 2009 to 2017 and other data that is available on bicycle use, such as data on bike commuting, shows a persistently low rate of bicycle use among Black Americans.”
A higher unemployment rate among Blacks may partially explain the situation. The league based its findings on nationwide surveys.
Find the report at https://www.bikeleague.org/content/reconnecting-new-majority.
