Bicycle infrastructure in low-income areas should be a priority of Syracuse mayor
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Without proper bike lanes, residents are forced to ride on sidewalks or streets.
Summer 2018 has brought a rise in both temperatures and gas prices. And that creates a perfect opportunity for both the environmentally conscious and those seeking financial relief to dust off their bicycles and hit the streets of Syracuse.
But due to a lack of bicycle lanes on the Westside of Syracuse and low-income areas, safe bicycling isn’t an easy or accessible option for all residents.
Syracuse should focus on improving existing bicycle infrastructure in those sections of the city to address the transportation needs of underrepresented populations and improve safety on busy streets.
“There are lots of women with young kids who are without cars, and dependent on the buses for transportation,” said Arthur Paris, a professor of sociology at Syracuse University.
But bicycles can reduce Syracuse’s carbon energy footprint more so than public buses, and should be a priority of the city.
To his credit, Mayor Ben Walsh seems all-in on bicycling in Syracuse. The city announced a bicycle share program earlier this year. While it sounds beneficial, it must be executed carefully to help people who actually need the transportation.
In December 2017, a Portland State University study found that, nationally, a significant portion of the United States’ population including people of color, women and older adults were not as likely to access or use bicycle shares.
In Syracuse, which has a high rate of concentrated minority poverty, a national study such as this needs to be taken into consideration.
But there’s also issues related to safety, and improving existing bicycle infrastructure in the city could alleviate dangerous conditions any bicyclist may face when riding beside cars or trucks traveling 30 mph to 40 mph.
Building additional bicycle lanes on streets would help people feel more comfortable on the road, said Zach Rall, a cyclist and volunteer on the Adapt CNY Transit Task Force.
The City of Syracuse must focus biking infrastructure improvement not on already wealthy areas, but on areas which can actually benefit from it.
Peter Morrissey is a EEE and IMT major. His column appears bi-weekly. He can be reached at pmorriss@syr.edu.
Published on June 29, 2018 at 11:25 pm
