Project: Boosting Bike Equity

One of the many Bicycling Monterey projects is devoting time and resources toward what many bike advocates refer to as bike equity.

Dr. Adonia Lugo, manager of the Bike Equity Network, wrote to Bicycling Monterey’s founder: “You put your region’s diversity front and center in your work.” Bicycling Monterey’s equity efforts since 2009 have included—but are not limited to—the following:

1. Provide bicycling education and community service opportunity for youth referred by court as an alternative to paying a fine for a bike-related citation. Details: https://bikemonterey.org/bike-equity-project-alternative-to-fine-for-traffic-citations.html
2. Advocate with public agencies and others to encourage their outreach to and consideration of people who are often left out of transportation planning and related activities and decision making.
3. Encourage recognition that everyone who bikes is part of the bike community, regardless of age, economic circumstances, physical abilities or fitness level, race, sex, or other factors. Among many different ways this is done, memorials aim to remember and honor the wide range of people who bike, including those who died as a result of violence.
4. Advocate in support of low-income and other people not online. Help fill in such gaps with outreach, including direct outreach by bike, in the Alisal, in North County, South County, Seaside, and elsewhere.
5. Help connect people who have extra bicycles and accessories to share with low-income people unable to purchase their own— from high school students desiring to be on bike teams to youth and adults needing bicycles for transportation to school, work, or other destinations.
6. When there are deaths or injuries of people who bike, research circumstances and advocate with municipal officials and others, as appropriate. Encourage and support actions to honor the lives of fallen riders (click here and here for examples).
7. When people who bike may be affected by new legislation (click here for example), or if they receive law enforcement citations (for example, click here, then scroll to police log reference), research circumstances and advocate with law enforcement professionals and others, as appropriate.
8. Mentored youth from underrepresented majority minority populace in learning ways to advocate for people who bike. Facilitated application and appointment to transportation committee, and provided additional mentoring through successful completion of two-year term of office.
9. Created a Spanish resources compilation in 2010, which is regularly updated. This compilation was the first of its kind in the U.S. and continues to be used by bike advocates and others nationwide and beyond.
10. Include some Spanish translations on the Bicycling Monterey website.
11. Compiled a list of Monterey County bike shops with bilingual Spanish/English-speaking staff.
12. Reach out to Spanish speakers on social media and through traditional media, e.g., as an interviewee on Radio Bilingüe – Alza Tu Voz / Speak Out.
13. Outreach to Triqui, Mixteco, Zapoteco, and Chatino speakers in Monterey County through Indigenous Interpreting +: facilitated donation of two bicycles from Gears 4 Good for low-income indigenous speakers who can share bike laws, skills, and safety info through direct outreach by bike.

When people think of Monterey County, many think of affluence, e.g., in Carmel and Pebble Beach. As described in “Salinas Valley, Salad Bowl of the Nation — Who could be hungry,” there is also much poverty here.

If you find the Bicycling Monterey website and projects of value, please make a contribution in any amount to support this work. Thank you.

"Equality," a core U.S. value, is not "Equity." That difference can mean years off your life. pic.twitter.com/7fv35jXCY1

— Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (@RWJF) June 1, 2018

“Thanks go to Mari of Bicycling Monterey for connecting me with him.”

Photo and text below by Steve Benes, Gears4Good.org – http://instagram.com/gears4good

Short link to this page: http://bit.ly/BikeEquity