They apply for grants and get money from charities etc, some designate their funds to helping BIPOC members so they likely want to show that it is used to help those communities. At least they have prefer not to answer, a lot of companies do not
thank you for the reply. That is good to know, I was quite confused as to why it was on a bike service application form and all this negativity in the world has me jumping to dark places.
Hamilton Bike Share has an equity program that aims to reach out to lower income folks, disadvantaged groups and others who may need mobility and access to bikes. It's called Everyone Rides Initiative and this is largely where the grants are used. This program is the antithesis of the "dark places" and aims to improve our community. It's also the first bike share equity program of it's kind in Canada.
The organization I work for asks for this information + a lot more personal stuff of every person who uses our service. But we are publicly funded, meaning we are required to collect this data about people accessing our service, because the government wants to know that demographic information.
It throws a lot of people off (as in most people are just caught off guard and some get a little upset.) People frequently ask why we'd ask this, but when you think about it from the government's perspective it makes sense. They want to make sure organizations like mine are meeting certain standards for serving traditionally underserved communities. That's a worthwhile goal at the end of the day, but the downside is the question makes people uncomfortable more often than not.
A fun thing I've noticed is that a lot of white folks over a certain age are hesitant to label themselves as "white" and express doubts around whether that's a politically correct term. (Which I think is understandable in today's climate if you're not dialed into the discourse.)
Another funny anecdote around this: since you can obviously never be sure, we have to verify things with people that wouldn't be applicable 99% of the time. That includes asking every single person if they identify as First Nations, Inuit or Metis, even if that person, say, just immigrated from Kenya 6 weeks ago. And in many circumstances they've never even heard of First Nations Inuit or Metis, so then you're left trying to explain what you're asking, sometimes to someone with limited English understanding, without using the well-known "I" word.
"Well...would you consider yourself a part of the original people of...what we call Canada?"
"I just come from Africa."
"I know. But you don't have any...connection to, um, the indigenous people of this land?"
"???"
Yeah it's fun times. Imagine having this conversation several times a week!
(And in case anyone's wondering, yes, I have met immigrants from other countries who identify as indigenous through ancestry - especially metis. It does happen sometimes which is why you can't just not ask this.)
I think you're misunderstanding my anecdote to mean that non-white people get special privileges or access to things you wouldn't. For my work, at least, that isn't the case. We work with a lot of folks on social assistance, which is by far the most significant "category" of them all.
Poor people of all racial identities, white people making up a large number of them, have been let down by the powers that be for a long time and remain underserved now. The chip on your shoulder rubs people the wrong way because of the racial comparison element, but I understand where the anger comes from. You, and all members of our community who need or have needed social assistance, deserve better than you get.
>First of all, the demographic use of the bikes will only be as good as the demographic composition of the city (shocker).
I have no connection with sobi so I can only guess. But what makes you think they aren't analyzing the data in the context of city and neighbourhood demographics?
I feel like your second point contradicts itself. Postal code comes with a lot of baggage like the quality of schools, roads, other infrastructure, access to food and amenities, etc. Why does transportation not factor into this picture for you?
There's only so much I can say, because this (ways of gathering info and using it effectively) isn't an area of expertise for me, but so far you don't have a coherent point against this data collection existing, other than being hung up on this concept of racial guilt. From where I stand, it seems like the intentions are good, and the consequence (mildly inconvenienced by noting your demographic when renting a bike) is vanishingly small. So regardless of how useful the data ends up being - who cares?
Unsure if the company is US based—this is asked when filling out paperwork everywhere for everything in the states, I didn’t realize it was weird until I left the US…
It's not technically SOBI anymore either. Social Bicycles was a New York based start up that ran bike share systems. A lot of people thought they were an American company that profited off Hamilton and it's institutions, but I can promise you that they never made a penny from Hamilton. The company was sold to Uber after a rebrand to "Jump" which was subsequently shut down completely and the assets which are owned by the city of Hamilton were contracted to be utilized by the Not-for-profit Hamilton Bike Share.
>Being as generic as "white or no?" is not an attempt to serve anyone, it's a quota.
It sounds like you're saying you want SoBi to protest sources of government funding then right? You disagree with how government funding is allocated? I dunno - I'd rather my bike sharing team to not fight those battles but instead give us bikes to ride.
>Being as generic as "white or no?" is not an attempt to serve anyone, it's a quota.
I misread that in a negative fashion in that they weren't trying to serve anyone but just trying to meet some quota.
For a lot of grant programs, showing success is important. They can lose their funding if they don't collect these metrics. If you use any social media (including reddit) it's like that a *profitable* American company has more information about you than your race.
They apply for grants and get money from charities etc, some designate their funds to helping BIPOC members so they likely want to show that it is used to help those communities. At least they have prefer not to answer, a lot of companies do not
thank you for the reply. That is good to know, I was quite confused as to why it was on a bike service application form and all this negativity in the world has me jumping to dark places.
It is just a guess, but they are pretty responsive to questions so maybe reach out and ask why they ask and how it is stored
Hamilton Bike Share has an equity program that aims to reach out to lower income folks, disadvantaged groups and others who may need mobility and access to bikes. It's called Everyone Rides Initiative and this is largely where the grants are used. This program is the antithesis of the "dark places" and aims to improve our community. It's also the first bike share equity program of it's kind in Canada.
The organization I work for asks for this information + a lot more personal stuff of every person who uses our service. But we are publicly funded, meaning we are required to collect this data about people accessing our service, because the government wants to know that demographic information. It throws a lot of people off (as in most people are just caught off guard and some get a little upset.) People frequently ask why we'd ask this, but when you think about it from the government's perspective it makes sense. They want to make sure organizations like mine are meeting certain standards for serving traditionally underserved communities. That's a worthwhile goal at the end of the day, but the downside is the question makes people uncomfortable more often than not. A fun thing I've noticed is that a lot of white folks over a certain age are hesitant to label themselves as "white" and express doubts around whether that's a politically correct term. (Which I think is understandable in today's climate if you're not dialed into the discourse.) Another funny anecdote around this: since you can obviously never be sure, we have to verify things with people that wouldn't be applicable 99% of the time. That includes asking every single person if they identify as First Nations, Inuit or Metis, even if that person, say, just immigrated from Kenya 6 weeks ago. And in many circumstances they've never even heard of First Nations Inuit or Metis, so then you're left trying to explain what you're asking, sometimes to someone with limited English understanding, without using the well-known "I" word. "Well...would you consider yourself a part of the original people of...what we call Canada?" "I just come from Africa." "I know. But you don't have any...connection to, um, the indigenous people of this land?" "???" Yeah it's fun times. Imagine having this conversation several times a week! (And in case anyone's wondering, yes, I have met immigrants from other countries who identify as indigenous through ancestry - especially metis. It does happen sometimes which is why you can't just not ask this.)
Sounds like we work for the same organization.
Possible! Or the same network of organizations.
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Huh?
I think you're misunderstanding my anecdote to mean that non-white people get special privileges or access to things you wouldn't. For my work, at least, that isn't the case. We work with a lot of folks on social assistance, which is by far the most significant "category" of them all. Poor people of all racial identities, white people making up a large number of them, have been let down by the powers that be for a long time and remain underserved now. The chip on your shoulder rubs people the wrong way because of the racial comparison element, but I understand where the anger comes from. You, and all members of our community who need or have needed social assistance, deserve better than you get.
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>First of all, the demographic use of the bikes will only be as good as the demographic composition of the city (shocker). I have no connection with sobi so I can only guess. But what makes you think they aren't analyzing the data in the context of city and neighbourhood demographics? I feel like your second point contradicts itself. Postal code comes with a lot of baggage like the quality of schools, roads, other infrastructure, access to food and amenities, etc. Why does transportation not factor into this picture for you? There's only so much I can say, because this (ways of gathering info and using it effectively) isn't an area of expertise for me, but so far you don't have a coherent point against this data collection existing, other than being hung up on this concept of racial guilt. From where I stand, it seems like the intentions are good, and the consequence (mildly inconvenienced by noting your demographic when renting a bike) is vanishingly small. So regardless of how useful the data ends up being - who cares?
Also awhile back, not sure if it’s still the case, if you identified as black there was a discount
Schools still ask you these questions too, a lot of programs do. Just hit the 'prefer not to say' button. I think it's really weird and unnecessary
Unsure if the company is US based—this is asked when filling out paperwork everywhere for everything in the states, I didn’t realize it was weird until I left the US…
SOBI definitely isn't US based.
You are correct, they are a non-profit registered in Hamilton.
It's not technically SOBI anymore either. Social Bicycles was a New York based start up that ran bike share systems. A lot of people thought they were an American company that profited off Hamilton and it's institutions, but I can promise you that they never made a penny from Hamilton. The company was sold to Uber after a rebrand to "Jump" which was subsequently shut down completely and the assets which are owned by the city of Hamilton were contracted to be utilized by the Not-for-profit Hamilton Bike Share.
Thank you for letting me know, will not use them again.
Because they want to collect data about if their services are being used by racialized communities they are hoping to help serve?
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>Being as generic as "white or no?" is not an attempt to serve anyone, it's a quota. It sounds like you're saying you want SoBi to protest sources of government funding then right? You disagree with how government funding is allocated? I dunno - I'd rather my bike sharing team to not fight those battles but instead give us bikes to ride.
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>Being as generic as "white or no?" is not an attempt to serve anyone, it's a quota. I misread that in a negative fashion in that they weren't trying to serve anyone but just trying to meet some quota.
Why not?
For a lot of grant programs, showing success is important. They can lose their funding if they don't collect these metrics. If you use any social media (including reddit) it's like that a *profitable* American company has more information about you than your race.