ABSTRACT
This chapter uses the Center for Economic Opportunity Poverty Measure to explore demographic characteristics and incomes of bicycle commuters below 150 percent of the poverty threshold in New York City between 2005 and 2011. It compares the locations of neighborhoods where low-income bicycle commuters live and work to the existing bicycle infrastructure, which the New York City Department of Transportation (NYCDOT) has expanded by over 100 percent in the past five years. The NYCDOT has an ambitious goal of tripling the number of bicycle commuters by 2020; understanding more about low-income New York bicycle commuters may help them and future low-income bicycle commuters benefit economically from NYCDOT investments. A recent report by the Mineta Transportation Institute indicates that low-income households are concerned with their transportation costs and make transportation decisions based on the cost of each mode of travel.
