Bike-share has ‘equity problem’

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According to Eric Jaffe writing for CityLab.com, until bike-share resolves income disparities that keep it out of lower-income riders’ reach, “its development from niche amenity into legitimate form of public transit can’t be complete.”

Jaffe highlights a variety of reasons for bike-share’s “equity problem,” including credit-card requirements, lack of bicycle infrastructure, disfavorable views of cycling by lower-income residents and, perhaps most significantly, a lack of effort by bike-share systems to place stations in low-income neighborhoods.