TRANSFORMING TRANSPORTATION

Zeitgeist is embarking on a transforming transportation journey to connect, educate, and advocate around barriers that persist in our transportation networks. Our mission is to address historic inequities in our transportation infrastructure, structures, and cultures by working creatively with diverse regional coalitions in leveraging change, and by centering those most impacted in visioning the solutions. Our aim is a regional transportation network thatโ€™s fully responsive to the needs of all our community members, connecting people to all the resources they need to thrive.

โ€œWhen people live at the intersection of multiple vectors of oppression, unfettered access to public space and unfettered mobility are not guaranteed, regardless of street design. Racism, sexism, classism, able-ism, xenophobia, homophobia, constraints imposed upon gender-non-conforming folks, and insecurity in the public space resulting from historic disenfranchisement can make it hostile to many. Yet this has seldom been the starting point for envisioning more sustainable transportation. It should be.โ€ โ€”Untokening Mobility

We Bike

The Transportation Equity We Bike series of free events, created in partnership with Continental Ski & Bike, aims to celebrate, welcome, and empower members of historically marginalized communities within cycling. Designed with low-income, BIPOC, youth, disabled, women, and gender-nonconforming people in mind, We Bike hopes to dismantle barriers to access and pave the way for a more diverse and vibrant cycling community across the Twin Ports region by providing essential bicycling education, maintenance resources, and enriching group rides.

Zeitgeist and Continental Ski & Bike share a commitment to fostering inclusivity and accessibility in cycling to support a healthier, happier, and more equitable society. Everyone should be able to bike safely and enjoyably! Join us as we pedal towards a future where we all can bike with comfort and confidence.

A surplus of abandoned bikes are gathered each month by the Duluth Transit Authority (DTA) and Duluth Police Department (DPD). At the same time, road-ready bikes are hard to come by for low-income community members who often have limited transportation options and rely on busing, biking, and walking to get around. The Bicycle Rehab Program takes secondhand bicycles and rehabilitates them for distribution to low-income community members through Zeitgeist and Continentalโ€™s We Bike events. Weโ€™re looking for:

  • A free storage facility for gathering bikes and building a community workshop space
  • Equipment donations of bicycles, helmets, u-locks, lights, car racks, bike trailers, and cargo racks
  • Volunteer mechanicsโ€”20 volunteers by April 1st!
  • Financial donationsโ€”$5,000 by May 1st!

HELP TRANSFORM TRANSPORTATION!

Learn about local transportation projects in the works along with community groups working on transportation efforts.

Help shape conversations to center historically-marginalized populations in our regionโ€™s transportation plans.

Become a champion of transportation equity in our region by getting involved in one or more grassroots efforts.

TRANSPORTATION PROJECTS

Turning a former highway into a great place for people
Adding a multimodal transportation lane to an interstate highway
Reestablishing a central artery as โ€œmain streetโ€ with attractive, safe, and walkable designs
Addressing traffic flows and adding safety improvements for all users
Re-envisioning current and future transportation needs โ€“ Learn more about potentials for reconnecting communities
Reenvisioning the street as an active corridor with multimodal treatments
Redefining an industrial corridor as a connected, safe place for all

ABOUT THE TRANSPORTATION EQUITY DOC & TALK SERIES

Follow the history of transportation in this country, from buses and bikes to super highways and self-driving cars, as we examine the barriers that persist in our transportation networks. The Transportation Equity Doc & Talk Series includes monthly screenings of transportation documentaries followed by community conversations with speakers from the Twin Ports advancing transportation equity through their work.

Need help getting to Transportation Equity events? Contact thomlin@zeitgeistarts.com or 218-336-1370.

TRANSPORTATION EQUITY BLOG

Transit Truths: A Transit Equity Day Event
On February 3rd, 2025, community members gathered at Denfeld High School for Duluthโ€™s second annual Transit Equity Day celebration. Hosted on the birthday of Rosa Parks, the holiday is hosted to commemorate Parks, and other civil rights activists, efforts toward...
Voices from BIPOC Outdoors
Voices from BIPOC Outdoors On March 28, 2024, as part of our Transportation Equity Doc & Talk screening of Emily Fordโ€™s A Voice for the Wild, Zeitgeist hosted a panel talk with organizers from BIPOC Outdoors Twin Ports and Twin Cities: Sam Armacost, Cory Maria...
I-35 (image from the Duluth Waterfront Collective)
Building at the Human Scale / Reversing Redlining
I-35 (image from the Duluth Waterfront Collective) Karl Schuettler, Duluth economic development advisor says the legacy of redlining in Duluth endures. โ€œEvery one of the neighborhoods given a description about immigrants or African-Americans in the 1930s remains...
Duluthโ€™s Mobility Justice Leaders
(paintings from left to right by Sylvia Houle and Micheal Matthews) In her new companion book to Biking While Black called Reimagine: A Roadmap to Justice and Joy (what she calls โ€œthe Green Book on steroidsโ€), filmmaker and mobility justice activist Yolanda...
A Week Without Driving: Reflections from Duluth City Councilor Gary Anderson
My Week Without Driving experience was really impactful for me. First off, the organizing around the event inspired me to do something I've said I wanted to do for at least 5 years โ€“ I got on an eBike for the very first time! And, not just one bike but I got to try...
Comments on Transportation Equity from Carl Sack
Michael Mooreโ€™s film Roger & Me shows the harsh truth about the demolition of living standards that the American working class was subjected to during the retrenchment of global capital in the 1980s and 90s. This was a time when industrial production had saturated...
Reflections from Straight Line Crazy
We kicked off our Transportation Equity Doc & Talk series in May with the filmed play Straight Line Crazy about the life and legacy of Robert Moses. During our community conversation, we asked a few questions about how issues in the film reflected those in our...

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