glass half empty?

One dimension of a persistent social problem, originally uploaded by Edu-Tourist.

Attending the first New Jersey Bike Summit last Saturday, February 27, drove home thee points for me.

1. The bicycle community is always fighting an uphill battle to gain recognition from the broader community. Solidarity is essential if we we are going to counter the predominant auto-mobility bias in contemporary transport.

2. The bicyle community can to more to recognize the physical activity needs of the disability community. The vulnerablity of disabled people, whether as pedestrians or as bike/trike riders, is vastely underrecognized. When incidents are covered, they are typically framed in the personal tragedy model. When I look at the coverage of traffic fatality "epidemic" in Toronto, Canada since January 1, 2010, I see again and again vulnerable populations, whether cane users or women with small children, getting killed.

2. I agree with bicycle activists that riding on city streets is a political act. Let's recognize our kindred, people with disabilities, who will walk or ride for enjoyment, certainly, but who are often using the streets because they have no alternative.