Bike share planners and advocates from across the national will gather in Philadelphia June 22-24 to discuss building equitable and replicable bike share systems

PHILADELPHIA— The City of Philadelphia today announced the agenda and speakers for the Better Bike Share Conference, the industry’s first conference focused on increasing equity and access for bike shares.

The conference will be the largest gathering of professionals working at the intersection of transportation and equity, attracting government officials, bike share operators, community-based organizations and nonprofits from across the nation.  They will come together for two days of networking, professional development, and best practice sharing from June 22-24.

Mayor Jim Kenney will welcome participants to Philadelphia and kick off the first full day of sessions on Thursday, June 23^rd. The featured speaker, Tamika Butler, is the executive director of the Los Angeles Bicycle Coalition, and an emerging voice in bicycling and transportation, with a focus on inclusion and equity being at the forefront of bike share and bike advocacy. Other nationally-recognized speakers include Department of Transportation representatives from Philadelphia, New York City, Chicago, and Washington, D.C., and partners from the following bike share cities: New York, Los Angeles, Austin, Chicago, and Boston. They are among the more than 30 speakers and presenters who will address the conference.

Speakers will share their experience and expertise on a wide range of topics including payment and pricing, marketing with an equity lens, workforce development and community partnerships. Representatives from Philadelphia’s own Indego bike share will lead discussions on developing a successful marketing and community outreach plan, and strategies for closing the gap on inequities in bike share.

“As a leading member of the Better Bike Partnership, the City of Philadelphia is not only leading the Partnership effort to integrate equity into bike share goals, but also working to help reframe the discussion around diversity and inclusion,” said Carniesha Kwashie, the grant manager with Philadelphia’s Office of Transportation and Infrastructure Systems (OTIS) and the Better Bike Share Partnership administrator.  “We understand the importance of working to build relationships within the community, and giving them a voice to make sure bike share is useful and valuable within their individual communities. We look forward to working with partners from across the nation, and giving them the tools to make a difference in their own communities.”

Conference organizers are also excited to welcome representatives from The Center for Social Inclusion, who will lead an in-depth training workshop, “Building a Culture of Bicycling: Broader Equity Conversations.” The three-hour workshop will focus on how to talk about race effectively with the mission of creating equitable outcomes for all.

For a full listing of sessions to be offered, visit www.bikeshareconference.org.

About the Better Bike Share Partnership (BBSP)
The BBSP is a collaboration funded by The JPB Foundation to build equitable and replicable bike share systems. The partners include The City of Philadelphia, Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia, the National Association of City Transportation Officials (NACTO) and PeopleForBikes.

This grant supported the launch of the City of Philadelphia’s Indego Bike Share system in April 2015 by providing funding for 20 stations and additional staff and outreach into underserved communities within Philadelphia, in coordination with the Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia. The BBSP also funds work at the national level, through best practices research and the sharing of work conducted by NACTO. In addition, BBSP funds a set of grants, storytelling work and research administered by People for Bikes.

For more information on the partnership and the conference, please visit betterbikeshare.org or contact Ms. Ryan Dawson Fuerman at ryan@betterbikeshare.org.