Our Commitment to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

October 2021

Local Motion’s mission is to make it safe, accessible, and fun for everyone to bike, walk, and roll in Vermont. In order for us to fulfill our mission, our priorities and focus must be on ensuring that biking and walking are equitable and available to all Vermonters. 

We understand that, due to historic inequity in the distribution of resources, oppression, and systemic racism, marginalized communities have been and continue to be negatively impacted by Vermont’s transportation system. This can include a lack of access to safe walking, biking, and rolling, a lack of public transportation services, and the burden of the transportation system’s negative impacts. The most important work we can do is continue to identify and reduce barriers, create opportunities, and provide resources so that every Vermonter has equitable and safe access to biking, walking, and rolling, while also being sensitive to the needs and desires of local communities.

Local Motion’s work is divided into impact areas that help us achieve our mission. Our diversity, equity, and inclusion goals are listed by impact area below. We will continually update, evaluate, and reassess these goals.

Complete Streets and Technical Assistance. Goal: To support communities in making their streets safe and equitable.

• What we are doing: 
  • We have developed a selection process for Pop-Up projects that incorporates demographic criteria to allow us to more equitably focus our work.
  • We advocate for transit infrastructure to be incorporated into projects during the planning and design phase.
  • We have increased emphasis on pedestrian infrastructure and ADA accessibility in our technical assistance work.
• What we will do: 
  • We will include a focus on diversity, equity, and inclusion in our Learning Network webinars.
  • We will engage marginalized communities in the conversation during project planning. 
  • We will develop and implement a framework that focuses our technical assistance resources in support of the communities that need them the most.

Outreach and Education. Goal: To provide resources to help people become more comfortable using a bike in everyday life.

• What we are doing:
  • We have designed school programming that allows all students to participate in activities and events, from providing adaptive bicycles and other inclusive resources to waiving Bike Smart use fees for lower income communities.
  • We work with summer programs and community organizations that serve at-risk and marginalized adults and children.
  • We host free bicycling and commuting workshops around the state to teach the benefits of affordable transportation.
• What we will do:
  • We will continue the development of educational programming that is accessible to all, including the use of new adaptive equipment for walking.
  • We will partner with more organizations that serve marginalized communities.
  • We will expand our workshop offerings in marginalized communities, and work to attract a diverse population by eliminating barriers to participation, such as childcare. 

E-Bike Lending Library. Goal: to increase everyone’s ability to make biking part of their everyday life.

• What we are doing: 
  • We provide free multi-day loans of e-bikes to individuals and families throughout Vermont.
• What we will do: 
  • We plan to identify and work directly with underserved communities to host our traveling e-bike lending library. 
  • We plan to use alternative ways to communicate and manage the e-bike reservation system to reach people who may not have access to computers or broadband.
  • We will acquire and deploy a three-wheeled electric cargo trike to increase accessibility for older Vermonters and Vermonters with disabilities.

Trailside Center Bike Rentals. Goal: to provide opportunities to get more people on bikes for recreation.

• What we are doing: 
  • We have partnered with organizations to provide bike rentals at no cost to BIPOC, low income communities, and children’s camps.
• What we will do:
  • We will partner with additional organizations, such as Vermont Adaptive, to provide recreational opportunities for people with disabilities.
  • We will continue to partner with organizations to provide affordable ways and encouragement to get more people on bikes.  
  • We will make workspace improvements for increased accessibility for our customers and staff. 

Island Line Bike Ferry. Goal: to provide a safe connection between Colchester and the Champlain Islands along the Island Line Trail.

• What we are doing: 
  • We have made access to the ferry free for all passengers, removing the financial barrier to riding the ferry.
  • We welcome bicycles for all abilities on board.
  • We have partnered with the Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources and the Lake Champlain Sea Grant program to provide free access to environmental education at the Ferry kiosk.
• What we will do:
  • We will expand our work with the Rubenstein School during the shoulder seasons (when the ferry does not provide service to the public) to offer outdoor adventure classes for groups like the YMCA and the Howard Center that may not otherwise have access to this opportunity.
  • We will increase our efforts to get more people with disabilities to have access to the Island Line Trail and the Bike Ferry by working with partners such as Vermont Adaptive.

Valet Bike Parking. Goal: to provide a safe parking option for bikes at events.

• What we are doing: 
  • We offer secure bike parking at events at no cost, removing the financial barrier for all.
  • We approach Valet Bike Parking as a universal need serving all cyclists.
  • Our welcoming, non-judgemental atmosphere creates a safe space for community members to volunteer.      
• What we will do:
  • We will continue to offer our service to the whole community of cyclists, treating each other with the respect we all deserve.
  • We will look for new opportunities to offer our free services to promote a car-free way of life. 

Communications. Goal: to communicate our programs to a wide audience.

• What we are doing:
  • We have made our website, email, and social media more accessible by including photo descriptions, adding closed captioning to our YouTube videos, and writing in plain language with a clear and concise style.
  • We stay abreast of new developments to improve communications accessibility and to make our marketing strategies more equitable. 
  • We work to ensure content is responsive for mobile, desktop and tablet. 
• What we will do:
  • We will seek to capture new content and imagery that better represent the diversity of communities with which we work.
  • We will continue to make improvements to our website, such as adding image descriptions, descriptive links and shortened links.  
  • We will refine our copywriting across all of our platforms to avoid ableist language, sticking with gender-neutral pronouns and terms, sharing diverse voices and emoji, and evaluating text for assumptions of limited points of view.

Development & Volunteering. Goal: to develop relationships to help ensure a wide range of organizational support.

• What we are doing: 
  • We build relationships with our individual donors, prospective donors, corporate sponsors, and foundation supporters and actively listen to their thoughts, concerns, and feedback with respect and gratitude.
  • We build relationships with individuals who volunteer their time and diverse talents with us.
• What we will do:
  • We will collaborate with our program teams to help ensure they have the financial resources they need to expand their work in marginalized communities.
  • We will look for new funding partnerships that support mutual diversity, equity, and inclusion goals.
  • We will identify new channels through which to attract more diversity to our volunteer corps.
  • We will work with businesses that offer workplace giving programs and workplace volunteer programs to encourage and support employee engagement in Local Motion’s work, with focused outreach to businesses that have compatible DEI goals.

Financial Management. Goal: to maintain a healthy and financially stable organization.

• What we are doing:
  • We strive to do business with financial institutions that are locally based and that share the same core values as our organization.
  • We strive to make purchases from organizations that share our core values, and support local vendors if possible, while staying within our budget.
• What we will do: 
  • We will seek out new relationships with vendors from underrepresented groups.
  • We will review our purchasing practices on a regular basis with input from our staff in an effort to diversify our vendor selection.

People Resources. Goal: To build a work environment that is inclusive and supportive.

• What we are doing: 
  • We are an equal opportunity employer, and welcome applicants with diverse cultural backgrounds. 
  • We strive for an inclusive work environment where each person feels welcomed, respected, supported, and valued as a team member.
  • We support employees to learn more about cultural and social identities to provide a more inclusive workplace.
• What we will do: 
  • We will better define what an inclusive workplace is and adapt our organization as we learn.
  • We will include equity initiatives in our strategic plan and budget.
  • We will continue to support our employees by allowing time for webinars and conversations about equity and inclusion.