(Photo © J. Maus)
The Community Cycling Center is taking their “I ride” campaign to new places. The non-profit that sees bicycles as “vehicles for social change” announced today they have purchased bus bench advertisements at 15 locations in north and northeast Portland.
I spotted one of the ads yesterday on NE Prescott Street, right across the street from Harvey Scott School.
The CCC says the ads are meant to initiate change “on multiple levels.” “Health behavior research shows that the more people see individuals like themselves engaging in healthy activities, the more likely they are to try and adopt those behaviors,” says the CCC via a press release.
Here’s more from CCC Executive Director Alison Hill Graves,
“We want to help change perceptions about who is riding bicycles and encourage more people to ride. Our ‘I ride’ campaign slogan ‘Bikes take you places’ leaves it open for people to imagine where they want to go – whether it’s riding to school or getting healthier.”
The location of the ads is no accident. Studies show that where Portland’s bike network is weakest also happens to be in areas with higher percentages of minority residents. The CCC has taken this “equity gap” up as one of their top priorities.
The CCC received a grant from Kaiser Permanente’s Special Initiative Fund to pay for the campaign and the ads are expected to run through October.
You can join a bike ride to visit all the “I ride” bus bench ad locations on June 16th. The ride leaves from the CCC’s bike shop at NE 17th and Alberta at 5:30 pm.