Cities are failing women on bikes, but we can fix it

Welcome Shifter Big Stories, sponsored by Riese & Müller, a series of videos delving into bigger, and deeper issues around urban cycling and bike commuting.

We're looking at why, in almost every city in the world, fewer women than men ride bikes for transportation, why this matters, and what we can do about it.

In addition to those who appear in the video, I also want to shout-out Karen Labree of the Cities, Health and Active Transportation Research Lab in Victoria, B.C. for her invaluable help.

0:00 Meet Sukey
0:52 Defining the problem
3:30 The bicycle's historical importance to women
5:41 Barriers facing women cycling in cities today
7:51 Why some cities have higher proportions of women riding
9:14 A potential solution: "Modalities of care."
11:22 Visiting a city that's making a difference

Sources:
Cycling for Sustainable Cities, edited by Ralph Buehler and John Pucher
How Cycling Can Save the World by Peter Walker
Revolutions: How Women Changed the World on Two Wheels by Hannah Ross
Urban Revolutions: A Woman's Guide to Two-Wheeled Transportation

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[elizabethraworth]

I am a 55 yearold grandmother that must ride my bike everywhere. For groceries 54 kms, drinking water 9 kms, post cancer treatments 110 kms. I managed 126 kms in one day on ecargo bike. I Love every minute of my adventure.

[TheStarkmojo]

One thing I think about (as a guy) is how bike infrastructure often shunts riders into dark, poorly lit out of the way areas. As a large scary looking guy they don’t bother me but i hesitate to recommend them to a woman, young person or elderly person.

[NeverTooTiredToRideTwoTyres]

Shoutout to the women I see riding ebikes, cargo bikes and road bikes in Melbourne, and those all over the world. You rock!

[kailahmann]

The share of women biking is also a good indication on the overall quality of the bike infrastructure. In your diagram at 2:53 the four major German cities (which aren't even the most bike friendly places in the country) stand out not only with an almost equal share (Berlin and Hamburg even have more women than men on bikes!), but also _far_ more cyclists overall. Because it's not "men don't care about safety". It's "of that tiny group, that doesn't care about safety, the vast majority are men".
For students those 7% of boys biking to school don't really make things any better. Hamburg recently had a study reporting *72%* of all students biking or walking to school. No, not for the city; for the whole metro area.

[Sakkura]

There's no gender gap in cycling frequency in countries with decent bike infrastructure. Just build bike lanes so women (and everyone) feel safe riding a bike.

[Checkers_or_Wreckers]

I ride my bike everyday for comuting and my wife recently started biking too and i started to notice that drivers follow her much closer and close pass her more often then they do with me. It makes her a lot more scared to ride certain routes because she worried about the drivers. I hadnt realy ever thought that it was related to her gender but now that ive seen this video im almost certain

[sockpuppetpotato]

Thank you for this video. I'm a woman bike commuter myself, so I'm living this. I started bike commuting a year ago - mostly just for 1-5 last mile distances when boosted with public transit.

I was honestly a very anxious cyclist - it didn’t help that bike infrastructure can be patchy here. But I’ve grown a lot - I joined group rides and made bike friends, and through them, I became more comfortable and realized how much I want to ride like them. They're my mentors and heroes, and I've finally submitted to n+1 - I got a new bike in hope of expanding my range beyond limited last mile transportation.

I'm still learning: I still struggle with lingering anxiety over danger/risk, being more assertive (though I've become way better at taking the lane now!), bike repair ignorance, and attempting to find the best & safest routes. But the implications on my mobility has been amazing and empowering. All my life, I've been restricted due to lack of a license or car, but now my social life, confidence, and basic ability to just get places and do things without relying on merely transit, walking, carpool, or rideshare has skyrocked.

[Escher]

Loved the video, I've seen so many more people on bikes in Victoria, especially mums with their kids on the bike with them, or following along on their own bikes. The city has made huge improvements and now over 90% of Victorians live within 500 metres of a safe, dedicated cycling route. An interesting thing I've noticed is that as the infrastructure improves, more people are riding without helmets. I think that acts as a great indicator of how safe people feel riding on these routes.
Also, shout out to Bishop's Family Cycles @ 6:54, awesome local bike shop!

[maxring]

Well maintained Public toilets on bike paths. Men are more inclined to find a tree if caught short.

[Tokoroegao]

As a German woman watching this, my immediate reflex was "that doesn't sound right", because women on bikes are EVERYWHERE. Turns out, in the graphs shown at 2:50 min, we are actually pretty equally represented on our bikes here in Germany.

Bad infrastructure here mainly leads to age gaps. Kids and elderly don't really cycle in the cities (aside from purely recreational tours).

[BartAnderson_writer]

Important subject, thank you.
My dental hygienist rides regularly to work. She said to me, "Why can't they make it easy?"
Why not, indeed?

[notlt]

Bike freedom! My brother was a person who biked to school--I biked occasionally and have always loved it. One thing that truly helps is just having a large enough critical mass of folks riding together--so the more infrastructure we get, the more people who ride, the safer it will be for women.

[SquiggleDot]

Thank you so much for the video! This topic has been on my mind recently. I learned a few weeks ago of an all women's gravel race in a neighboring state. Lots of climbs, not my fave, but the organizers are doing everything to encourage women into the sport. They are providing a mechanic if your bike has issues, they are providing a SAG car support, a food booth... basically you just bring your bike. I was so impressed that I wanted to be a part of it, climbs and all. I want this to succeed and see more events that break barriers that prevent women from participating as well as encouraging to take on challenges. Thanks again for bringing up and starting this discussion.

[amelia-rose]

I ride my bike all over, but my main fear is leaving my bike locked outside. Anyone can steal a bike in uder a minute. The other fear is dude in big lifted trucks that blow black smoke in your face.

[amorphousblob]

Been there with the intimidation. One time when I was riding into a parking lot and stopped at a stop sign, someone drove right up to me and slammed on their brakes at the last moment. I was stopped and couldn't move out of the way if they'd kept going, and it scared the hell out of me. Their vehicle was inches from my rear tire. I shook it off, kept riding, then parked my bike in the designated grocery pick-up spot. As I parked, they drove past me slowly and said, "did you get scared?". They were *laughing.*

[chelseashurmantine]

Lol I love the opening because biking is shockingly fast compared to walking

[ashleychristenson]

I have a cargo trike from Bunch. It seats 6 toddlers, or a couple of bigger kids and whatever stuff I need to haul. Its empowering, fun to ride, and makes for super fun memories with my kids. I feel plenty safe driving in our small town even without bike lanes. The country roads are a bit more concerning but that doesn't stop me in good weather during the day. There is an awesome documentary to watch that came out a few years ago called Motherload that talks all about women and bicycles. I loved it!

[bensteele]

I think part of the reason women need more protected infrastructure is that drivers are just more aggressive towards women. From my personal experience, multiple women have told me they cannot be assertive even when walking across a cross walk, because drivers will assume they are going to wait and try to get through first. As a man I almost never have this issue at the same cross walks. I often step out to force cars to yield to me, and cars generally stop and give me the right of way. My wife on multiple occasions has almost been hit in a crosswalk even when pushing a stroller, which again has never happened to me.

I can imagine constantly being in these situations when you are sharing a road with cars with only paint suggesting that drivers give you space.

[bobalinga]

In our city in UK instead of on road segregated cycle paths, they've routed cycling through woods and very isolated places. Very pretty on a weekend with families but rather isolated and a bit scary other times. After dark I'd never use the main cycle path into the city centre.

[foldedturnip]

Biking in NYC I'd be surprised if someone didn't say they were verbally or physically threatened by someone in a car regardless of gender. Obviously still in favor of modality of care biking infrastructure it will help everyone.