Editing Cycling (section)

==Activism==
[[File:Police cyclists London Olympic Torch Relay.jpg|left|thumb|[[Metropolitan Police]] patrolling on bikes in [[London]]]]
Many broad and correlated themes run in bicycle activism: one is about [[bicycle advocacy|advocating the bicycle]] as an alternative mode of transport, and another is about the creation of conditions to permit and/or encourage bicycle use, both for utility and recreational cycling.<ref>{{cite book |title=One Less Car: Bicycling and the Politics of Automobility |url=http://www.temple.edu/tempress/titles/1899_reg.html |last=Furness |first=Zack |year=2010 |publisher=Temple University Press |location=Philadelphia |isbn=978-1-59213-613-1 |access-date=8 July 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100527225405/http://www.temple.edu/tempress/titles/1899_reg.html |archive-date=27 May 2010 |url-status=dead}}</ref> Although the first emphasizes the potential for energy and resource conservation and health benefits gained from cycling versus automobile use, is relatively undisputed, the second is the subject of much debate.

[[File:Critical Mass, San Francisco, April 29, 2005.jpg|thumb|San Francisco [[Critical Mass (cycling)|Critical Mass]], 29 April 2005|alt=Many cyclists on a road, all going in the same direction.]]

It is generally agreed that improved local and [[inter-city rail]] services and other methods of mass transportation (including greater provision for cycle carriage on such services) create conditions to encourage bicycle use. However, there are different opinions on the role of various types of [[cycling infrastructure]] in building [[bicycle-friendly]] cities and roads.

Some bicycle activists (including some traffic management advisers) seek the construction of [[bike path]]s, [[cycle track]]s and [[bike lane]]s for journeys of all lengths and point to their success in promoting [[bike safety|safety]] and encouraging more people to cycle. Some activists, especially those from the [[vehicular cycling]] tradition, view the safety, practicality, and intent of such facilities with suspicion. They favor a more holistic approach based on [[Traffic psychology#Accident prevention and improvement of traffic safety|the 4 'E's]]: ''education'' (of everyone involved), ''encouragement'' (to apply the education), ''enforcement'' (to protect the rights of others), and ''engineering'' (to facilitate travel while respecting every person's equal right to do so). Some groups offer [[Vehicular cycling#Education|training courses]] to help cyclists integrate themselves with other traffic.

[[Critical Mass (cycling)|Critical Mass]] is an event typically held on the last Friday of every month in [[city|cities]] around the world where bicyclists take to the streets ''en masse''. While the ride was founded with the idea of drawing attention to how unfriendly the city was to bicyclists, the leaderless structure of Critical Mass makes it impossible to assign it any one specific goal. In fact, the purpose of Critical Mass is not formalized beyond the [[direct action]] of meeting at a set location and time and traveling as a group through city streets.

There is a long-running [[Bicycle helmet#Opinions for and against the use of helmets|cycle helmet debate]] among activists. The most heated controversy surrounds the topic of [[Bicycle helmet#Legislation and culture|compulsory helmet use]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Robinson |first=D.L. |date=January 2007 |title=Bicycle helmet legislation: Can we reach a consensus? |url=https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0001457506001126 |journal=Accident Analysis & Prevention |language=en |volume=39 |issue=1 |pages=86–93 |doi=10.1016/j.aap.2006.06.007 |pmid=16919590}}</ref>

It is paradoxical that in many developing countries cycling is in decline as bicycles are replaced by motorbikes and cars, while in many developed countries cycling is on the rise.<ref name="ReferenceA"/>

=== Equality ===
Within western societies the demographic of those who cycle is often not representative of broader society. Research by [[Transport for London|TfL]] in London, UK, suggests that cyclists in London are typically 'white, under 40, male, with medium to high household income.'<ref>{{Cite web |date=1 November 2011 |title=What are the barriers to cycling amongst ethnic minority groups and people from deprived backgrounds? |url=http://content.tfl.gov.uk/barriers-to-cycling-for-ethnic-minorities-and-deprived-groups-summary.pdf |access-date=25 October 2022 |website=content.tfl.gov.uk |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180328201003/http://content.tfl.gov.uk/barriers-to-cycling-for-ethnic-minorities-and-deprived-groups-summary.pdf |archive-date=28 March 2018 |url-status=live}}</ref> Studies from large-scale representative data from Germany show that people with higher levels of education cycle substantially more often than those with lower levels of education.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Hudde |first=Ansgar |date=1 January 2022 |title=The unequal cycling boom in Germany |journal=Journal of Transport Geography |language=en |volume=98 |pages=103244 |doi=10.1016/j.jtrangeo.2021.103244 |s2cid=245066501 |issn=0966-6923 |doi-access=free|bibcode=2022JTGeo..9803244H }}</ref> Even for trips of the same distance and among people from the same city with the same income level, those with higher education cycle more.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Hudde |first=Ansgar |date=6 January 2022 |title=Educational Differences in Cycling: Evidence from German Cities |journal=Sociology |volume=56 |issue=5 |pages=909–929 |doi=10.1177/00380385211063366 |s2cid=245810185 |issn=0038-0385 |doi-access=free}}</ref> As a result, there are various forms of activism focused on diversifying the cycling community.<ref>{{Cite web |title=PeopleForBikes Racial Injustice |url=https://www.pfbracialinjustice.org/ |access-date=18 January 2022 |website=Racial Injustice |language=en |archive-date=18 January 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220118182831/https://www.pfbracialinjustice.org/ |url-status=dead }}</ref> Inspired by the [[Black Lives Matter]] movement are organizations such as [[Street Riders NYC]] that seek to protest while on bicycles about systemic racism and police brutality. An incidental experience for Street Riders NYC protest participants is the inequity in where safe bicycling infrastructure exists by neighbourhood, which is interpreted as a form of [[Class discrimination|classism]] within cycling and [[urbanism]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Episode 45: StreetRidersNYC final web transcript |url=https://thewaroncars.org/episode-45-streetridersnyc-final-web-transcript/ |access-date=18 January 2022 |website=The War on Cars |language=en-US}}</ref> The bicycle has acted as a means for women's liberation and thus has [[Bicycling and feminism|links to feminism]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=18 June 2015 |title=Freewheeling to equality: how cycling helped women on the road to rights |url=http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/womens-blog/2015/jun/18/freewheeling-equality-cycling-women-rights-yemen-bicycle-liberation |access-date=30 July 2021 |website=The Guardian |language=en}}</ref>