Transportation Justice Learning Series: WTF Cycling Industry Pledge

BikePGH Signed the WTF Cycling Industry Pledge

We know that cycling is a male-dominated industry. We know that organizations are often catering to male cyclist. We also know there’s a lack of representation for diverse riders. These are all barriers to accessing bicycling for many people.

We can change that dynamic, here in our own community by supporting efforts such as the WTF Bikexploreers Cycling Industry Pledge. Holding our local bike community to these standards, pushing ourselves to expand who we serve, and improve representation will build community! And in a city like Pittsburgh with consistent public tension around bike lanes and cyclists in general, we need more people to feel that they belong in this greater community.

As of September 7, 2020, there are 244 companies, bike shops, events, and nonprofits that have signed the Cycling Industry Pledge. Check out who is in the CIP Network and let their commitment to equitable change guide who you support.

“Signing the Cycling Industry Pledge means being a part of a conscious collective dedicated to positive social change in the cycling community. When you join the CIP Network, you are holding yourself accountable, and asking the cycling community to help you hold yourself to a higher standard of inclusion. The CIP Network aims to foster empathy, understanding, and eagerness for the growth necessary to make progress toward true equity in cycling spaces. By signing CIP, your shop or organization is taking an active role in that progress.”
-WTF Bikexplorers

The Cycling Industry Pledge

“As leaders in the cycling industry, we are responsible for making our workplaces, communities, and world genuinely inclusive. The Cycling Industry Pledge (CIP) holds companies accountable to advance diversity, equity, and inclusion in the cycling community and includes the WTF Guiding Principles for any individual to take.”

The Pledge includes:

Practice upholding the WTF Bikexplorers Guiding Principles
These ten guiding principles are designed to help facilitate safer spaces for learning and exploration with care, respect, and intention.
Advocate to hire a diverse workforce and executive leadership
Visibly engage in supporting broadly representative cycling teams, events, athletes, and ambassadors
Share the Pledge with other companies in the cycling industry

As a leading non-profit in Pittsburgh advocating for safe streets for everyone, it is important to sign onto this pledge not only to show support to the ideas outlined but to encourage others in the cycling community to hold us accountable.

As the creators of the pledge outline:

“Advancing diversity, equity, and inclusion effectively engages and supports all underrepresented groups. To do this, they must address honestly and head-on the concerns and needs of their diverse employees to increase equity for all. Gender, racial, and ethnic diversity does not stand alone: it intersects with age, sexual orientation, religion, disability, socioeconomic status, and other categories of identity. We are committed to empowering people who are underrepresented in groups such as those above. We support ongoing advocacy efforts for body-positive culture, women, indigenous rights, LGBTQIA+ equality, and differently-abled cyclist enthusiasts.”

Learn more about WTF Bikexplorers

“WTF Bikexplorers was founded in the fall of 2017 when six friends were inspired to collaborate on a movement toward more connection, gender inclusivity, and racial equality within the bicycle adventure community. Our collective mission is to support, celebrate, and connect communities who identify as women, transgender, femme, and/or non-binary who use their bicycles to explore (be it the outdoors, themselves, each other, etc.)”

BikePGH’s WMNBikePGH program was inspired and influenced by WTF Bikexplorers. Their resources and visibility have guided the WMNBikePGH program on how to expand inclusivity to meet the needs of trans and cis women, intersex people, non-binary, genderqueer, agender and gender variant folks, as well as those whose gender identity falls outside of the dominant conceptions of gender.

Pass it on

If you work in the cycling industry in Pittsburgh, we encourage you to bring this pledge to your co-workers and the leaders of your bike shop, organization, or team and to sign on. Show your support for a more inclusive cycling experience for Pittsburgh by committing to the Cycling Industry Pledge.