Pronto Cycle Share is on schedule to launch in September, bringing 500 public bikes into Seattle’s dense central neighborhoods and the U District. With its launch, Pronto could change the way people get around in Seattle and put city cycling within reach of far more people.

But this will not happen by accident. In this ongoing series, we will look at ways that Pronto, Seattle and King County can make sure bike share truly is a transportation tool for everyone. In part one, we’ll take a look at the bike commute gender gap.

While it’s hard to measure the exact gender gap in cycling, US Census surveys do provide a glimpse into commute data. Only looking at work trips (no errands, trips to a restaurant or park, etc), women represent only 28 percent of bike commuters in Seattle. This is a bit higher than the national average (24 percent), but is clearly not good enough.

In the Netherlands, more than half of bike trips are made by women. While it bothers me when people say women are an “indicator species” for a truly comfortable and safe cycling city (who wants to be described as a different “species”?), it is definitely true that if far more men bike in your city than women, something is wrong. After all, riding a bicycle to get around is not an inherently gendered activity, but local bike cultures can be.

Bike share may be one key part of the solution. As Josh Cohen reported recently for Crosscut, women use bike share systems in other US cities at a much higher rate than the Census survey’s commute rate. The national average is 43 percent (only counts registered pass holders, not daily users), and some cities have rates approaching 50 percent.

There are a great number of reasons why this might happen, but it’s a sign that launching bike share is a good way for Seattle to work towards closing its cycling gender gap. From Cohen: (more…)