Advancing Equity and Opportunity Within Micromobility

by Kiran Herbert, Communications Manager

May 21, 2021

The Bedford Stuyvesant Restoration Corporation’s latest report details its progress in transforming public transportation in communities of color.

Photo courtesy of Lyft.

In 2015, the Bedford Stuyvesant Restoration Corporation (Restoration), the nation’s oldest community development organization, became one of the Better Bike Share Partnership’s inaugural grantees. Capitalizing on the addition of 26 Citi Bike stations in its neighborhood, Restoration used grant funding to increase use through tailored community outreach, educational programming, membership promotion campaigns and integration with other community services.

“Our grants to the Bedford Stuyvesant Restoration Corporation in 2015 and 2016 were just the start of a collaboration that has grown well past those modest roots,” says Zoe Kircos, who manages the BBSP program through PeopleForBikes.

Over the past six years, Restoration has built and enacted an equity framework to increase equitable access to bike share and economic opportunities within the sector. On May 19, the organization released Cementing an Equity Framework for Micromobility, the second report on its framework, milestones and next steps for Restoration’s NYC Better Bike Share Partnership (check out its first report, Bringing Equitable Bike Share to Bed-Stuy).

The report’s key findings indicate that since 2017, the Restoration-led NYC Better Bike Share Partnership has contributed to the following:

👉🏾 Transforming common negative perceptions of Citi Bike and increasing ridership dramatically.

👉🏾 The development of a blueprint of equity principles and policy goals for institutional change in shared micromobility in NYC.

👉🏾 The creation of the Reduced Fare Bike Share program and scaling its eligibility to provide 1.6 million more low-income New Yorkers with affordable access to bike share.

👉🏾 A model framework for other local cycling initiatives, including El Barrio Bikes in East Harlem..

👉🏾 Numerous community bike rides and ridership events, co-led by Restoration and NYC DOT, with a cumulative attendance of more than one thousand residents.

👉🏾 Shifting the conversation to position Citi Bike as a viable, valuable and accessible transportation option in all New York City neighborhoods, especially in low-income communities and communities of color.

“The focus of Restoration’s work is disrupting the racial wealth gap,” says Tracey Capers, Restoration’s executive vice president and chief program officer. “With that in mind, we have sought to push the boundaries of our work, helping to usher in policy change, advocating for expansion, but most importantly evolving our equity work to ensure that these systems serve and support underserved communities.”

Capers emphasizes that Restoration focuses not just on accessibility to bike share but also connections to economic opportunities and the safety of the residents it serves. Working to increase economic opportunities for, and representation of, people of color in the micromobility and transportation industries is thus a key priority going forward. Likewise, increasing the number of sale places to ride while reducing the policing of Black and brown bike riders is another primary objective.

As Citi Bike continues to expand in the Bronx, Queens and Brooklyn, Restoration’s work will help ensure equity is centered, creating a more sustainable transportation network that doesn’t leave anyone behind.