One Street News

June-July 2018

Vol. 11, Issue 4

1. Rio de Janeiro Impressions and Connections
2. Resources - Seeking Cargo Bike Cultures: Rio and Beyond
3. Hot Topics – The Danger of a Single Story

Rio de Janeiro Impressions and Connections

By: Sue Knaup, Executive Director

In June, I spent a week in Rio de Janeiro to attend the Velo-city conference with a few extra days to look around. This was my first time in South America and Rio was an excellent initiation. The city is making important progress away from their previous car-centric developments including some bikeways especially along the waterfront.

Even more impressive was a section of the waterfront near downtown where they had torn down a freeway and turned the area into a long car-free area of parks, paths, public art, and cafés with a quiet tram running along it. While the reason for this dramatic change was the 2016 Olympics, we can hope that the city government sees the benefits and continues the trend. Freeway removal is helping many cities around the world, as we note on our Traffic Evaporation page.

Rio’s efforts toward human-scale streetscapes set in the sheer beauty of the surrounding water and mountains endeared me to the city. But the city’s cargo bike culture impressed me even more. Read more about this in the next section.

At the conference, I connected with new colleagues from the region. I’m looking forward to working with some of Brazil’s best bicycle and active transportation organizations. One of my favorite things about this conference (this was my tenth Velo-city) did not disappoint this year – reconnecting with my long-time bicycle advocacy colleagues from around the world. Next year, the conference is in Dublin, Ireland and it is already on my calendar.

Resources - Seeking Cargo Bike Cultures: Rio and Beyond

The cargo bike culture of Rio de Janeiro weaves a tapestry of bikes, craftspeople, businesses, and route systems throughout the city. And yet very little is known about this tightknit group outside of their own circles.

We are seeking anything that captures the lifestyle and culture of working cyclists and the people who make and care for cargo bikes, not just in Rio, but in other cities around the world. Please read this recent blog post and let us know if you have any leads.

Hot Topics – The Danger of a Single Story

At One Street, we work with bicycle advocates from all areas of the world. Bicycle advocacy is their common thread, but even within bicycle advocacy there are many variations and unique situations that we need to listen to in order to offer appropriate recommendations. So it is upsetting to us when we hear generalized and demeaning comments about our colleagues, comments that come from a single story likely heard from misguided charity organizations.

This TED talk is not recent, but unfortunately her concern rings all too true today. She shows that we are all susceptible to it. Please take the fifteen minutes to learn from her about the danger of a single story. Then, the next time you are tempted to tell a single story or someone tells you a single story about anyone, you will have the tools to make the correction.