Equity, Mobility, and Sustainability: Analyzing Geographic and Demographic Disparities in Urban Bikeability

Abstract

Cities currently produce 70% of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions, and the transportation sector accounts for a third of emissions from major cities. Consequently, improving urban infrastructure to support low-carbon methods of transportation such as cycling can play a critical role in emissions reductions. Improving bikeability also provides an affordable means of mobility and can present health and wellbeing benefits. Efforts to improve city bike infrastructure, however, have historically targeted privileged communities while overlooking underserved populations, such as low-income residents, people of color, and people with disabilities. To ensure urban bike networks serve all residents, it is important to evaluate where disparities in bikeability occur and who they impact. Building upon a multi-objective, network-based approach of quantifying bikeability, we analyze the geographic and demographic equity of cycling in three U.S. case study cities. We find that the network-wide bikeability of a city is not necessarily indicative of its equity level, as significant disparities in bikeability can exist even in a city that is highly bike-friendly overall. These disparities are observed when stratifying by socioeconomic status and when accounting for the accessibility needs of vulnerable cyclist populations, such as youth, seniors, women, and people with disabilities. Using this framework, future equity analyses can help inform urban planning decisions to provide sustainable transportation options that are more equitable and accessible for all.