Encountering Bigotry in Bikeshare

by Alex Semidey

In response to this article published in Streetsblog USA

The recent events at Starbucks have brought much-needed attention to how implicit bias impacts the lives of people of color every day (I worked at that Starbucks! More on that next month…). In bike share, our customer service team from the beginning has recognized this issue from customer calls and explicitly will not feed the flames of implicit bias from the public.

Subtle overtones of bias related to bike share have been there from the beginning in the US. There are many, many examples of affluent neighborhoods in different cities (New York’s “finest neighborhoods are begrimed by these bikes, ” Washington DC’s Lincoln Park) not wanting bike share stations with implications that it will attract people not wanted there – crime, vandalism, noise.

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Welcome to the BOOST Blog!

by Alison Cohen

I’m excited to introduce the new BOOST blog to Bike Transit. It is geared to be a place where voices that have not normally been elevated have an opportunity to speak, and educate others in Bike Transit with their experience.

And, although as the CEO, my voice is naturally elevated, I wanted to take the opportunity to briefly write about my lived experience, and then I’ll vanish into the background, excited to listen and learn about others.

First grade was when I punched a girl in the stomach and knocked the wind out of her because she said I looked like a boy. The mom of my best friend in elementary school used to say: there are the girls, the boys, and Ali. I was always the most at home playing sports with the boys.

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