TRANSFORMING TRANSPORTATION

Zeitgeist has embarked 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 that’s fully responsive to the needs of all our community members, connecting people to all the resources they need to thrive.

“When 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.” —Untokening Mobility

We Bike

The Transportation Equity We Bike series of free events, aims 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.

Join us as we pedal towards a future where we all can bike with comfort and confidence!

DONATE TO SUPPORT WE BIKE

EVENTS HAPPENING IN THE COMMUNITY

Duluthish Bike Party

Held at the Valley Youth Center’s Teen Center (5808 Grand Ave, Duluth) Every Fourth Friday, May-September, 4-7pm

A free all-ages event to practice riding your bike, get a tune-up, and build community. Come pick up fresh food from the Mobile Market, paint your own high visibility vest, fill up your tires, pick up a free helmet, and more! With Duluthish, Valley Youth Centers, Zeitgeist Center for Arts & Community, Community Action Duluth, Duluth Public Library, and COGGS.

Learn-to-Ride Instructor Training

Held at the Valley Youth Center’s Teen Center (5808 Grand Ave, Duluth) Friday, June 27, 5:30-6:30pm

This free training equips community members to lead Learn-to-Ride classes that provide hands-on instruction for adults and youth who are just learning or re-learning how to bike. Participants will learn about the logistics and curriculum behind running and facilitating successful Learn-to-Ride classes. We will walk through the different learning activities outside, weather permitting. Feel free to bring your own bike (though not required), helmet and a water bottle; and dress comfortably for biking and the weather.

Please email val@zetigeistarts.com with any questions

REGISTER LINK COMING SOON

Bike Tune-Up Demonstration Station

Held at the Central Hillside Farmer’s Market (503 E 3rd St, Duluth) on Tuesdays from 2-5PM

Learn from local mechanics as they tune up donated bikes at the Central Hillside Farmer’s Market. All tuned-up bikes will get distributed to community members through We Bike Learn-to-Ride classes. All tuned-up bikes will get distributed to community members through We Bike Learn-to-Ride classes.

Volunteer mechanics welcome! Stipends available for volunteer mechanics!

SIGN UP AS A VOLUNTEER MECHANIC HERE

Adult Learn-to-Ride Classes

Held at the Lincoln Park Farmer’s Market (3002 W 3rd St, Duluth) on Thursdays, 3-6PM from July 17-August 7

For adults age 16+ learning or re-learning how to bike. Using an established best practice approach, participants progress from walking with a bike to striding and gliding, to pedaling on their own, to riding with a group. Come for all 4 classes and receive a free bike, helmet, lock, and lights!

REGISTRATION COMING SOON

Denfeld High School Bold Bikers Club

Held at Denfeld High School (401 N 44th Ave W, Duluth) on Wednesdays, June 18-July 25, 12:30-3:30pm

For high schoolers new to biking to go from balancing to striding to group riding!

Volunteers needed – stipends available! Help share valuable knowledge and skills in your community!

SIGN UP AS A VOLUNTEER INSTRUCTOR HERE

Lincoln Park Middle School Bold Bikers Club

Held at Lincoln Park Middle School (3215 W 3rd St, Duluth) on Thursdays, July 17-August 7, 12:30-2:30pm

For middle schoolers new to biking to go from balancing to striding to group riding!

Volunteers needed – stipends available! Help share valuable knowledge and skills in your community!

SIGN UP AS A VOLUNTEER INSTRUCTOR HERE

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 Continental’s We Bike events. We’re looking for:

Equipment donations of bicycles, helmets, u-locks, lights, car racks, bike trailers, and cargo racks
Volunteer mechanics
Financial donations

JOIN THE 2025 WE BIKE SUPPORT CREW

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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 region’s transportation plans.

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

Reestablishing a central artery as “main street” with attractive, safe, and walkable designs

LONDON ROAD

Addressing traffic flows and adding safety improvements for all users

I-35

Re-envisioning current and future transportation needs – Learn more about potentials for reconnecting communities

HAMMOND AVENUE

Reenvisioning the street as an active corridor with multimodal treatments

W SUPERIOR STREET

Redefining an industrial corridor as a connected, safe place for all

TRANSPORTATION EQUITY RESOURCES

Zeitgeist's Transportation Equity Principles & Vision

Transportation Equity Read/Watch/Listen List

Become an Advocate

US Department of Transportation's Equity Action Plan

Making the Case for Sidewalk Snow Removal

Transportation Zine 2024 (Print)

Transportation Zine 2024 (Digital)

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

Transit Truths: A Transit Equity Day Event Tiffany Fenner presenting her original artwork on the DTA bus.Community members making Transit Equity Day artwork."Empathy Rides the Bus" artwork by DASH [Denfeld After School Happenings] students.DASH students MCing Transit...

Voices from BIPOC Outdoors

Voices from BIPOC Outdoors On March 28, 2024, as part of our Transportation Equity Doc & Talk screening of Emily Ford’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...

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. “Every one of the neighborhoods given a description about immigrants or African-Americans in the 1930s remains...

Duluth’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 “the Green Book on steroids”), 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 – 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 Moore’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...