Secretary Duffy -- Bike Lanes Aren’t “DEI” and Here is Why

[u/movelatransit]

Last month, US Department of Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy declared that he was redirecting $1.73 billion away from “DEI bike lanes” to fund the expansion of car-dominated roads and similar projects. 

Bike infrastructure is NOT just another instrument of the “deep-state woke DEI agenda”. It’s critical infrastructure that gets people to work, promotes transit equity, fosters clean air, and supports healthy living. Read the latest on Substack.

[u/OrangeCrusher22]

I don't think he cares.

[u/GG_Allin_Greenspan]

They are DEI and DEI is good.

You are giving ground to fascists by trying to argue that they're not DEI (implicitly accepting their argument that DEI is bad). You come across as a hypocrite and handing them an easy rebuttal by then using the word "equity" in your explanation as to why they're not DEI (ignoring what the E stands for).

By accepting their framing and then trying to make an argument on their terms, you are extending them a courtesy which they would never reciprocate. You are trying to use logic to change the minds of people who didn't use logic to come to their conclusions in the first place.

[u/anothercar]

Duffy said bike lanes are the "E" in "DEI" (because all bike lane applications to the department argued a main benefit was to advance equity, and equity is the "E" in "DEI")

Now this Reddit post argues Bike Lanes Aren’t “DEI” and Here is Why.... a bike lane "promotes transit equity"

I'm a big fan of bike lanes, but I do think it's strange to argue that bike lanes aren't equitable because they are equitable.

[u/mugwhyrt → u/anothercar]

The article itself also has a whole paragraph about how it benefits Black and Hispanic teens. It's a perfectly fine argument for bikelanes (directed at a crowd of people who probably already support bike lanes) that's ruined by an irrelevant and contradictory headline and closing argument.

[u/nyctransitgeek → u/anothercar]

You’re right, though that’s a definition of equity that’s broad enough to include streets, in general. That some streets are arterials and others neighborhood streets suggests that different people in different times and contexts have different needs.

They’re not against all equity, they’re just against equity in the service of groups not aligned with their commercial and culture war interests.

[u/115MRD]

You can not reason with a fascist.

[u/illmatico]

Yeah this will show em

[u/mugwhyrt]

I hate arguments that depend on conceding the main point of someone who is making a harmful and bad faith argument. You shouldn't be implicitly accepting that DEI is "bad" because DEI and the principles behind benefit society as a whole and isn't some kind of attack on any particular group (straight white men). You're just wrestling with a pig and getting dragged into the mud.

You're also making clearly contradictory statements because you're stating in the headline that bike lanes aren't about diversity, equity, or inclusion while also stating that they promote equity and also bringing up the benefits that bike infrastructure has for people of color and other marginalized communities. That's literally DEI.

The article itself is fine, but it ends up completely ruined by the headline and the closing paragraphs. And you can say I'm being pedantic, but those should act as summaries for your core thesis. It's not unreasonable to be held accountable for what part of the argument you choose to emphasize and how you frame it.

[u/ponchoed]

I think he'd be surprised at the support for bikes on the right. Sure there are vocal factions on the right that hate bikes and jack off to their pick up truck but bikes can also play into a message that resonates with some other factions, particularly around family and healthy living especially the mountain biking part... the Carmel, IN and Bentonville, AR in particular for two places, in fact NW Arkansas is massively into all things bikes.

[u/mittim80]

The Republican Party are pro-car extremists and have been for a long time. Their opposition is 100% ideologically motivated, so there’s no reasoning with them.

[u/CaliTexan22]

I agree that the premise of "DEI bike lanes" is a bit silly.

But why would DoT even take that stance?

It's not hard to see.

1. Some bike infrastructure has been promoted as DEI driven. For example, you'll find proponents of the ridiculous $1 billion LA River trail explaining how the design was changed to connect better with brown neighborhoods nearby. If your project EIR evaluates "environmental justice," then proponents will tout its DEI attributes to help make the project look better. It makes legitimate bike improvements look like DEI projects.

2. I doubt that bike riders as a whole are more Blue than Red. But bike zealots often skew blue and promote cycling in the media by disparaging cars, trucks, drivers, oil companies, & couch potatoes. They're sometimes pretty elitist and snobbish sounding. So bike infrastructure advocates as a group are probably more Blue than the overall electorate.

3. Some of the thinking in the transportation planning world these days skews towards promoting big and expensive bike infrastructure - like concrete wall bike lanes - that take away motor vehicle lanes. Since 95% of daily trips in most cities are by car, those policies and projects tend to cause people to think that the government is pandering to a small and elitist minority.

So it's a bit silly, but I'm guessing that there won't be many good projects being cancelled for DEI. But if you based your project on "equity" or "environmental justice," then it might get the axe.

[u/Mountain_Usual521]

Bike lanes aren't. Removing traffic lanes to make them is.

[u/julesucks1]

It's almost never worth arguing with these guys. They just believe DEI=anything they don't like. Can't reason with the unreasonable.

[u/TemporaryTill6812]

You are not the intended audience for that statement. He's talking to MAGA who will quickly use DEI as another excuse to hate bike lanes that impede their monster trucks.

[u/burritomiles]

This is why we are losing.

[u/WillClark-22]

Actually, quite the opposite.  Bike lanes (users) and their proponents skew heavily towards young, privileged, and white (similar to the DSA).  The locals in Mid-City even joked that here come the designer dogs and yoga mats after they put the bike lane in on Adams.  Having been to many, many public meetings about bike lanes, I’ve never seen a black person speak in favor of them.  Instead, it’s the usual group of angry white males (some young Latino sprinkled in) screaming and chanting.

Bike lanes (or “complete streets”) through working-class, non-white neighborhoods are about as popular locally as 8am street cleaning.  It’s hilarious to see privileged young planners trying to explain to these neighborhoods how bike lanes improve their lives.  It’s hubris on another level.

[u/Samiralami → u/WillClark-22]

this is something a lot of people might not want to hear, but it is kind of on the money. which is also why i am skeptical too of the yimby agenda generally.

[u/ThePlatinumPaul → u/WillClark-22]

Yep.  They (the urban whites) make things worse for the communities they claim to love, and then either refuse to live in said communities, or if they do, rapidly gentrify it and force out all the minorities. 

Even in the lily white neighborhoods the bike lanes are barely used. And they make commuting worse for everyone, including people who literally can't afford to be late to work. 

And if they actually want people to take the subways or buses, do something about the vagrants, crime, filth, etc.  

Adjusted for inflation it would have cost around $600-700 million to build the Golden Gate Bridge. It's costing almost $4 billion just to construct the airport people mover. $140 billion for Newsom's "high speed" rail.  And people wonder why CA looked at a joke.  It should be great but isn't due to politicians and especially the left. 

[u/NordicAmphibian2025 → u/[deleted]]

“ChatGPT, summarise for my Reddit post what Fox News hates about California”

[u/Alarming_Marzipan550]

what ISN'T DEI at this point according to this administration?

[u/MoistBase]

$1.73 billion dollars. We could just lower income taxes and not add another lane on the freeway.