Sustainable Cities Students to Present Women Bike SF Research

For the past two years, the SF Bicycle Coalition has served as a community partner to students in Stanford University’s Sustainable Cities course, an urban studies service-learning program focused on understanding and improving cities.

Last year we worked with students focusing on access to Golden Gate Park; this year, we’ve been working with Ana Sophia, Katie and Mia to help inform Women Bike SF, our initiative to support women, trans* and female-identifying individuals who bike. Their findings will better enable us to inspire more women to bike, so we’re excited to announce that the three students will be sharing the results of their research at Stanford next Wednesday.

First-Hand Experience

Because riding a bike on San Francisco streets can be quite different from riding around the Stanford campus in Palo Alto, the students first biked around San Francisco with one of our Community Organizers, Janice, to get a feel of the ins and outs of SF-specific design. They learned about sharrows, how to cross Muni tracks and strategic bike routes like the Wiggle to avoid hills. With that first-hand experience, they noted a few things that could be barriers to getting more women to bike in the city:

  • Insufficient knowledge of the city/navigation skills
  • Confusion regarding bike traffic flow
  • Harassment
  • Intimidation by other cyclists
  • Generally feeling unsafe or physically vulnerable
  • Impact on hygiene/aesthetic concerns

Research & Results

Since that first visit, the students have focused their research efforts on a two key areas: surveying women who already ride and developing branding for Women Bike SF. They’ve recorded 400 Women Bike SF survey responses, and have spent time meeting directly with our members to hear their experiences of biking in San Francisco.

Ana Sophia, Katie and Mia will be presenting their findings about women and biking in San Francisco next week, and we’d love for you to join us (and we’ll be sure to share their takeaways with you if you can’t make it).

Sustainable Cities Presentation for Women Bike SF Toolkit
Wednesday, March 11 from 2-4PM
Stanford University Campus, Y2E2 Building, Room 300

We’re very thankful for all the hard work the students have put in, and we look forward to incorporating their recommendations into our work for an increasingly successful Women Bike SF program that’s already off to a great start.

For those of you looking to get more involved, the fun has only just begun. Join us for our upcoming events as part of Women’s History Month, and become a member today to support our work!

Become a member and you'll improve your commute and get discounts at shops across the city.