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Women often make more of a household’s trips, yet women make half the number of bicycle trips that men do. Women are often referred to as the ‘indicator species’ when it comes to determining how accessible bicycle is in a community. How to get more women biking, enjoying it and feeling safe and confident? Marketing and campaigns directed specifically at women can help. Effective programs and marketing engage people and lead people to make different transportation choices. They can provide a huge ‘bang for the buck,’ if done well and can lead to lasting change. But it’s not easy to shift public perception or change habits. What is the secret? What can programs, marketing and campaigns for active transportation learn from recent research and commercial marketing to be more effective? How do you avoid preaching to the choir and reach diverse audiences in meaningful ways? Do programs and marketing that target specific audiences, such as women and women of color have better results? Walk away from this session knowing the top 5 things needed for effective programs and marketing and a solid return on investment argument for funding programs and marketing, and a toolkit.
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Women on bikes: it’s not just fun and games – targeting specific audiences
for effective marketing
Lake Strongheart McTighe, Janis McDonald, Marne Duke & Elizabeth Williams
How Can You Tell If Your City is Bikeable? Hint: Count the Women.
69.70%
64.70%
30.30%
35.30%
1994 2011
Bicycle Mode Share by Gender, Portland metro area, 1994 and 2011
Male Female
In many places women make much fewer trips by bicycle than men
the reasons many women do not bike are complex
1. Make champions of all women on bikes - not just Olympians. The best way to get women cycling is to show them women cycling.
2. Mother and child on two wheels? It can be done. We can encourage mothers to cycle with their children by making the necessary bike kit affordable and easily available. We can also drop the judgment. If a woman chooses to cycle whilst pregnant or with her child, chances are she’s thought through all the pros and cons extremely carefully and arrived at a reasoned conclusion.
3. The cycling industry needs to properly embrace women. Check out Elly Blue’s 5 tips for the Bike industry (tip #1: not all women are alike!)
4. Figure out how cycling can fit in. Many women do not cycle because they don’t really see how it can fit into their everyday lives. Listen to what women need, what their concerns are.
Lake Strongheart McTighe, Project Manager Active Transportation Program, Metro Tel: 503-797-1660 [email protected] www.oregonmetro.gov/activetransport
