The diversity gap between the population of Washington, D.C. and the membership of its model bikeshare system is well established, but it's also getting worse.
"A new survey suggests that an increasing number of Washington area residents are dumping their cars and Metro and hopping on bikes to get to and from work," reports Luz Lazo.
Although membership rose from 24,800 to 31,500 last year, the survey also noted a disappointing trend in the diversity of the system's users. Lazo explains:
"Bikeshare users tend to be are young, professional, and the vast majority of them are white. What’s more troubling in this latest set of data is that the percentage of white users has widened since the system started in 2010..."
The numbers to back up that statement:
"About 85 percent of users are white; 5 percent of survey respondents identified themselves as Hispanic and 3 percent African American. In 2012, 80 percent of users were white."
Lazo goes on to cite more data from the survey suggesting other trend toward affluent, white males and away from everyone else.
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UCLA Lewis Center for Regional Policy Studies
Mpact (formerly Rail~Volution)
Chaddick Institute at DePaul University
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Great Falls Development Authority, Inc.
HUDs Office of Policy Development and Research