Bicyclists are social indicators. The number of people riding and commuting by bicycle can tell us something about the communities in which we live in.
There isn’t really a large portion of people commuting by bicycle in central Missouri anyway but the numbers are on the rise. I have been noticing riders, often in pairs, crossing very busy intersections that I avoid when I commute on my single speed. I’m noticing more and more bicycles chained up behind business and not just the Mexican or Chinese restaurants. I’ve been consistently meeting more and more people on my training rides farther and farther out of town.
As gas prices have increased there has also been an increase in bicycle use among the middle class in the area. The increases in gas prices have put the squeeze on everyone. With more and more people unable and/or unwilling to pay the increasing expenses of driving a car some of those people are choosing to ride bicycles instead. I think this is significant for two reasons. Bicycling is often seen as either an elitist sport reserved for the well to do, or for the poor and those that can’t drive because of DUIs or terrible driving records. That is why the middle class population is the best indicator of change based on numbers of cyclists among that group.
Most of us are trying to better our lives and many people are trying to make their financial situations look better than they are. Like having a second mortgage on your house and paying your Hummer payment with a credit card. These people are not going to ride a bicycle to work because it doesn’t keep up with the Jones’ very well. The upper crust of society only cycle as recreation because they do not need to ride a bike because they can afford not to and the poor have to ride a bike because they are forced to due to financial limitations.
If more of the middle class are choosing a bicycle instead of a car for transportation that says something. It says things are changing. It says society is moving away from fossil fuels. It says people are becoming more environmentally conscious. It’s slow but its happening and it’s good. The middle class is also the voting majority so better laws favoring cyclists could become viable soon giving cyclists more benefits like tax incentives for riding a bike to work instead of a car everyday.
I am very interested in what you have to say about this as well so by all means leave a comment.
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