Bicycle-riding benefits promoted
I ride because I don’t have a car. I ride for my health. I ride to the grocery store.
The messages are told in the Community Cycling Center’s new “I Ride” campaign to promote bicycle-riding benefits with advertisements on 15 bus benches throughout north and northeast Portland.
The grass roots organization imagines a future of healthier people and more cyclists.
Based on health behavior research, the idea is that the more people see individuals like themselves engaging in healthy activities, the more likely they are to try and adopt those behaviors.
Kaiser Permanente is helping pay the expenses of the campaign. Since 2009, the Community Cycling Center has partnered with other organizations, like Hacienda and New Columbia, to bring relevant bicycling programs to housing communities and help residents overcome the barriers to bicycling.
To date, CCC has provided people and families with 262 bicycles, helmets and safety education through their Create a Commuter, Bike Club and Bikes for Kids programs.
“We want to help change perceptions about who is riding bicycles and encourage more people to ride,” noted Alison Hill Graves, executive director of the non-profit group.
“Our ‘I Ride’ campaign slogan ‘Bikes take you places’ leaves it open for people to imagine where they want to go- whether it’s riding to school or getting healthier,” Graves said.
An equity gap analysis by Portland State University students shows how bikeway networks are weakest where communities of color reside.
The CCC continues to push for more equitable investments for programs and infrastructure to benefit underserved communities, so that people of all backgrounds have access to safe and healthy transportation choices.
Area residents are invited to join the CCC on Thursday, June 16 from 5:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. for a bike ride tour of all the “I Ride” bus benches.
The ride will start at the Community Cycling Center shop at 1700 N.E. Alberta and will make a 10 miles loop through north and northeast Portland, finishing at the St. Johns Bridge.
