How e-bikes are impacting the accessibility of our pavements, eco-ableism, and why we should listen to the communities being left behind by the climate movement. Words by Rhys James.
It is fair to say that the e-bike industry is booming. Lime, Tier, Voi. To name a few of the dockless electric bike and scooter providers propping up all over the UK’s bustling capital city. But don’t just take my word for it. Go to any street corner, any tube station, any outside public space, and you’ll be witness to the hordes of these ‘greener alternatives’ stalking London’s infrastructure.
It comes as no surprise either, with these alternatives not only promoting a healthier lifestyle but one that also feels less complicit in the warming of our planet (being as e-bikes are classed as zero-emissions vehicles). These companies are seemingly adhering to a generation of people who generally want to be fitter and who want to ‘do their bit’ in the fight against climate change.
Despite these good intentions, I am left bothered by the unbashful presence that these bikes possess, or much rather, the amount of excess space they seem to take up.
It is amid that line of thought that I register my own privilege. To a predominately able-bodied person like myself, these kinds of blockages are a mere annoyance, a nuisance I can quite easily scoot around (or on the rare occasion physically move out of the way), and a minor disruption I will sooner forget.
For a physically impaired person, however, they are not afforded the same privilege. A lot of things occur when accessibility is disrupted. Not only does it drastically impact the routines of people with disabilities, but it strips them of their independence, leading to weakened self-esteem and an increased probability of poor mental health. Another way in which society disables people with impairments.
we are the socially different, broken people
Flick Williams
Disability only exists when people’s needs are ignored – and this is exactly what happens when accessibility is ignored, an experience Flick Williams knows all too well. “As a visually impaired wheelchair user, my path is often blocked by e-bikes and particularly so after big events when they are dumped anywhere and everywhere”.
During our talk Flick describes how she feels othered by these experiences – “we are the socially different, broken people” and access for people like herself being an “afterthought by non-disabled planners”. This is a particularly pressing issue on the dense and crowded streets of a city like London.
Although London is well known for cycling, how have e-bikes come to disrupt accessibility on our pavements? A crucial factor is the dockless nature of rental e-bikes, which coincidentally avoids the construction and maintenance expenses of regulated docking stations.
However, that’s not to say it can’t be done. Santander Cycles (or, if you’re old enough, Boris Bikes) is a great example of a similar service being implemented into London’s infrastructure without disrupting accessibility. And docking stations are credited to this. Despite this, providers like Lime show no intention of implementing docking stations like this any time soon.
It is upon studying Lime’s website, that I am met with a marketing scheme catered to the ‘eco-conscious’ individual. Their slogan “Ride Green” brands themselves rather quickly as a company designed to combat climate change, yet one can’t help but feel the ironic kick in the teeth when reading one of their core principles – “mobility to all”. This is significantly bitter when we take into account their role in the disabling of a community, a clear weak attempt at inclusivity.
All the exclusions we see come from our leadership not being affirmed, valued and funded.
Áine Kelly-Costello
The hypocrisy demonstrated here via corporate greenwashing speaks to the larger issue of eco-ableism, a form of ableism that finds itself amidst the climate action movement in which activism ignores the needs and voices of individuals with disabilities. This is transparent in the green city planning of cycle lanes that disregard the space and safety precautions needed for people with physical impairments.
Examples of this also highlight why people with impairments must be included in discussions surrounding climate action, a topic I touched on while interviewing Áine Kelly-Costello, a disabled advocate and regular editor of Disability Debrief.
“All the exclusions we see come from our leadership not being affirmed, valued and funded. The sorts of exclusions I mean place disabled people in precarious or life-endangering situations due to negligent disaster response from governments, through to city planning which is supposedly for everyone but hasn’t taken into account the breadth of disabled people’s transport needs.”
It is clear that the lived experiences of people with disabilities are a perspective needed for activism to be inclusive, and in other words, successful. Communities like such are well-acquainted with finding innovative and creative solutions to pressing problems, and it’s an injustice that this very community is often excluded from action-focused discussions.
It’s about finding interventions so that activists firstly start recognising when eco-ableism is showing up
Áine Kelly-Costello
All this echoes Áine’s own Climate Crisis work for Disability Debrief, in which they examine the intersection of climate action and disability activism. Naturally, eco-ableism is a noticeable focus of this work and Áine is very keen to highlight how climate activists can combat ableism within their work.
“Reading, listening to, following disabled climate activists is a good start. It’s about finding interventions so that activists firstly start recognising when eco-ableism is showing up and figuring out what actions to take to counter that.”
Áine is also not afraid to point out their own privilege, “ I’m disabled and non-binary but I can pass as a woman, I have white privilege and currently have financial security”.
It is the point of privilege that I find most paramount. As Áine and Flick both stress, when we acknowledge our privileges, we can start the process of listening to those excluded by our blind spots.
It is important to remember that disability and climate activists are not at odds with each other. There is, as there always is, an intersectionality to these movements. If climate change impacts everyone and accessibility is a right we all deserve, discussions around these topics should reflect that. In recent years, climate activism has emphasised the power behind individual action en masse, and perhaps this very notion can be applied to disability advocacy. However, able-bodied climate activists still have a lot to learn from the disabled community, and it’s this very ignorance that keeps the climate movement at a backpedal in terms of real change.