Examining Capacity and Functioning of Bicycle Coalitions: A Descriptive Study

Abstract

BackgroundBicycle coalitions represent a strong partner in creating bike-friendly communities through advocacy for physical infrastructure, encouragement for biking, or education about safety. Despite their versatility, little is known about their functioning. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to examine capacity, strengths, and weaknesses of these organizations.MethodsBicycle coalitions/advocacy groups from English-speaking countries were recruited to take part in an online survey via email invitation. The survey addressed basic information about the coalition (community demographics, location), leadership, communication strategies, coalition priorities, barriers to programming/activities, and partners.ResultsCoalitions (n = 56) from four countries completed the survey. Most coalitions operated as a non-profit (n = 44, 95.7%), 45% (n = 21) have paid staff as leaders, while 37% (n = 17) have volunteers as leaders. The following skills were represented in coalitions’ leadership: fundraising (n = 31, 53.4%), event planning (n = 31, 53.4%), urban planning (n = 26, 44%), and policy/legislation expertise (n = 26, 44.8%). Education (n = 26, 63.4%) and encouragement (n = 25, 61.6%) were viewed as top priorities and the safety of bicyclists (n = 21, 46.7%) and advocacy for infrastructure and policy (n = 22, 48.9%) is the focus of most activities. A lack of financial resources (n = 36, 81.8%) and capable personnel (n = 25, 56.8%) were significant barriers to offering programming in the community and that the availability of grants to address issues (n = 38, 86.4%) would be the top motivator for improvements.ConclusionBike coalitions represent a critical partner in creating activity-friendly environments and understanding their capacity allows for creating skill/capacity building intervention programs, development of effective toolkits and fostering strong collaborations to address physical inactivity.

Maturing Into High-Functioning Health-Care Coalitions: A Qualitative Nationwide Study of Emergency Preparedness and Response Leadership

“…The literature on best practices of effective coalitions, identifies the logics of an effective coalition as: sources of partner engagement, governance structures, and sustainability as supported by themes and quotes in Table 1. [6][7][8][9]12,17,31,32 With regard to partner engagement, it is key to have trust in place to successfully gain buy-in from stakeholders. [4][5][6][7][8]12,13,[15][16][17]19,25,[33][34][35][36][37][38][39][40] Leaders will use symbols, ceremonial activities, systems of beliefs, and stories or rational myths to gain the trust from their communities.…”

“…The literature on effective coalitions and the analysis of findings led to identifying the 3 institutional logics as: Sources of Governance, Sources of Partner Engagement, and Sources of Sustainability. [6][7][8][9]12,17,31,32 Each logic was explored through 3 institutional orders and their unique internal and external factors (eg, culture, value systems, etc. ), which impacted the influence of the logic on the organization's state of operations.…”

Bicycle coalitions and universities prioritization of equity: why and why not? A shift towards more equitable opportunities

“…These five elements, or "E's", engineering, education, encouragement, equity, and evaluation, are consistent in making communities ideal places for bicycling for everyone (League of American Bicyclists, 2021b). Coalitions typically operate as non-profit organizations that work towards establishing equal bicycle access for all populations and improving the safety of communities' infrastructure (Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia, 2021;Bopp et al, 2017). Members and leaders of the coalitions help advocate for policies, educate the community about bicycling, and support various other advocates to increase bicycling in their local communities (New York Bicycling Coalition [NYBC], 2021).…”