photo of a female cyclist.
Less than one week ago, the Oregonian surprised local bike advocates when they published a forceful editorial in support of stiffer penalties for motor vehicle operators who hit bicyclists.
Today, they continue to show their support for two-wheeled transportation with an editorial that reads like it could have been written by PDOT themselves.
With the headline “Cycling’s Gender Gap,” this time the subject is the importance of getting more women on bikes.
For more information on Portland’s biking gender gap, take a look at the poster below (I snapped this photo at one of the Bicycle Master Plan open houses) :
The editorial cites the city’s data on the split between male and female ridership numbers and how that correlates to the quality and perceived safety of the bikeway network. The O draws a line between the city’s many cycling “danger zones” and says the “majority of women” think riding is these areas is worth the risk.
PDOT planners have long gawked at numbers from cities like Amsterdam and the Netherlands where the ridership split between males and females is an even 50/50.
Getting more women on bikes is a major part of PDOT’s Platinum Bicycle Master Plan update effort and they’ve created a Women on Bikes program to encourage more ridership.
I’m all for improving danger zones. We all know that it’s not just women who want want safe places to ride, they just might be more willing to admit it.