The nation’s capital was hit with both a major snowstorm and a return to Congressional action this week – with the transportation bill and future funding issues for once making more progress than the car commuters stuck in Wednesday’s heavy snow!
On Wednesday, a Senate hearing on the transportation bill included a revealing exchange, reported by StreetsBlog DC, between Senators Inhofe, Boxer and Cardin, and witnesses from the construction industry who seem unaware that their members also build bike and pedestrian infrastructure. Inhofe (R-OK) appeared to ask for help in getting Republican support for a transportation bill that includes funding for transportation enhancements – which prompted witnesses from the National Construction Alliance and Associated General Contractors to express surprise that this even existed! Odd, given that the program has been popular and thriving for the last 20 years and their members have, presumably, been the primary beneficiaries of the investments that have gone to such community-building transportation projects such as trails, sidewalks, and bike lanes.
While no fellow Republicans leaped immediately to the defense of the program, long-time cycling supporter Senator Cardin (D-MD) certainly did, and he was joined by Senator Boxer (D-CA) who noted that many of her constituents consider cycling and walking to be transportation. Given her role as Chair of the Environment and Public Works Committee, this was good news.
Commuters on a Transportation Enhancement project in Denver. Source: NTEC
Attention shifted to the House on Thursday. Representative John Mica (R-FL), chair of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, announced a series of dates and locations for field hearings on the next transportation bill. While there are a lot more details to come, we know for sure that its going to be important for our issues – i.e. continued investment in bicycling and walking transportation measures – to be raised at these hearings, and for those attending to know that there is a lot of public, business and public agency support for the programs that support these activities.
Concurrent with all this is an ongoing and slightly byzantine budget and appropriations process that will impact overall funding levels for transportation in the short term, and set the scene for longer-term transportation funding and policy. The America Bikes coalition – of which the League is obviously a part – is staying on top of all this, but it is a fast-moving and slightly bewildering process to try and follow from a distance. In the next month, there are probably going to be some action alerts and quick responses that are needed from cyclists around the country; we are continuing to encourage folks to meet with their members of Congress in their districts at this critical time – especially new members and new appointments to key committees. And we are looking forward to seeing many of you in Washington for the National Bike Summit in just a few weeks – where perhaps we can take stock of this current flurry of activity. It’s a lot to ask of state and local advocacy groups and individuals at a busy time for all of us – state legislatures are also back in session around the country and a lot of city and county agencies are struggling with difficult budget decisions at the same time – but all we can say is that we appreciate anything you can do to help amke the case for bicycling during this time…and this isn’t a drill, folks. The next month or so really is pretty crucial.
Which makes it really nice to have the support of key members of Congress like Senators Boxer and Cardin.
Andy Clarke League President
Clarke was appointed to the position of Executive Director in April of 2004 after successfully leading efforts to create, interpret and implement the various transportation programs that are available to improve conditions for bicycling and walking as the League’s State and Local Advocacy Director.
Flusche joined the League in April 2009 and has a B.A. in history from Syracuse University and a Masters of Public Administration with a concentration in public policy analysis from New York University.
To say that data from a new report by the Governor’s Highway Safety Association have been “misunderstood” is to put it so kindly as to do a disservice to the word.
The report, Pedestrian Traffic Fatalities by State: 2010 preliminary data, examines preliminary fatality data that show that pedestrian fatalities did not fall during the first six months of 2010, compared to the first six months of 2009. In fact, there were seven more pedestrians killed nation-wide in that period in 2010 than in 2009, a 0.4 percent increase. This is news — not because the data reveal any kind of “spike,” as is being reported – but because motorist and bicyclist fatalities have been decreasing in recent years. The GHSA report says, “In contrast, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s (NHTSA’s) early estimates are that overall traffic fatalities dropped 8% during this period.”
However, the facts, clearly laid out in the actual report, have not stopped some serious hyper-ventilating about the dangers of walking our country’s streets. The First Lady has even been dragged into it. The Washington Examiner published the following paragraphs:
First lady Michelle Obama’s campaign to get people to exercise outdoors might be a factor in an increase in the number of pedestrian deaths during the first half of last year, according to the Governors Highway Safety Association…
But the “get moving” movement, led by Obama’s “Let’s Move” campaign to eliminate childhood obesity, could be to blame, Harsha told The Washington Examiner.
“There’s an emphasis these days to getting fit, and I think people doing that are more exposed to risk [of getting hit by a vehicle],” said Harsha, who conceded to having no scientific evidence that the Let’s Move campaign has led to an increase in walkers and runners, or deaths.
This angle was picked up by at least one other paper. Harsha says she was misquoted.
For all of the good work Michelle Obama is doing to fight against childhood obesity and to encourage people to be more active, I think it’s safe to say that she is a distraction in this story. It is, however, a fair question to ask why pedestrian fatalities are not declining on pace with motorized fatalities. There is probably not one single explanation. According to the Financial Management Information System, only six states (CA, FL, NJ, OH, VA, WA) obligated federal Highway Safety Improvement Program (HSIP) funds to projects categorized as bicycle and pedestrians safety. Perhaps we need to re-examine how states are allocating safety funds. It is also true that Vehicle Miles Traveled are going back up. This doesn’t explain why motorized fatalities are not also rising, but it highlights the fact that people walking are more vulnerable to distracted, drunk, and speeding drivers than people in cars and trucks are.
Much has been made over very little. We’ll have to see if there is even an increase in pedestrian fatalities by the time all of the 2010 data are released.
Darren Flusche League Policy Analyst
Flusche joined the League in April 2009 and has a B.A. in history from Syracuse University and a Masters of Public Administration with a concentration in public policy analysis from New York University.
Tuscon Velo has photos and video from a bike vigil, attended by at least 150 cyclists, to honor the victims of Saturday’s shooting.
Thanks to CommuteByBike for brining this to our attention.
UPDATE: The Associated Press (via the Washington Post) features the fact the Giffords is a cyclist:
It didn’t matter if it was pitch black or cold – or if she were juggling calls she had missed while on the plane from Washington, D.C., or preparing to meet with constituents the next day. She would do all that, and then go for that bike ride.
“She has a passion for her bicycle, I’ll tell you that,” said Raoul Erickson, a longtime friend of the Democratic three-term congresswoman who had gone riding with her that night.
The next day, on Jan. 8, Rep. Gabrielle Giffords was critically injured in a massacre that killed six people and wounded 12 others outside a Safeway in Tucson. The 22-year-old gunman had been bent on targeting her since meeting her at similar event in 2007, authorities said.
The shooting rocked Tucson and the nation, resulting in an outpouring of support for Giffords and the other victims that has taken the form of thousands of candles, cards, balloons and bouquets across the southern Arizona desert city. But for one segment of the community, pedaling their bicycles in honor of the victims has been the start of their healing process.
Word that Giffords loved to ride her custom-made bike up and down Tucson’s bike boulevards and trails spread like wildfire across cycling blogs and through Facebook and Twitter posts.
While many people had never met Giffords, much less went on a ride with her, she’s considered part of a loose-knit group that ranges from die-hard racers clad in spandex to weekend warriors and commuters who push the pedals to get to work.
For the past two Tuesdays, cyclists have shown up en masse outside the hospital where she remained in serious condition, along with hundreds of other supporters.
The 2-mile vigil ride from the University of Arizona campus takes less than 15 minutes, but organizer Damion Alexander said there’s a lot to think about in that short time.
“The word ‘community’ is what it’s all about. We are a bike community,” Alexander said. “This gives us an opportunity to share and do something positive. What happened was awful. It’s so sad. And whenever something bad happens, you have an opportunity to be brought down by it or to look at how you can lift up the spirits and make it a better place to live.”
It didn’t matter if it was pitch black or cold – or if she were juggling calls she had missed while on the plane from Washington, D.C., or preparing to meet with constituents the next day. She would do all that, and then go for that bike ride.
“She has a passion for her bicycle, I’ll tell you that,” said Raoul Erickson, a longtime friend of the Democratic three-term congresswoman who had gone riding with her that night.
The next day, on Jan. 8, Rep. Gabrielle Giffords was critically injured in a massacre that killed six people and wounded 12 others outside a Safeway in Tucson. The 22-year-old gunman had been bent on targeting her since meeting her at similar event in 2007, authorities said.
The shooting rocked Tucson and the nation, resulting in an outpouring of support for Giffords and the other victims that has taken the form of thousands of candles, cards, balloons and bouquets across the southern Arizona desert city. But for one segment of the community, pedaling their bicycles in honor of the victims has been the start of their healing process.
Word that Giffords loved to ride her custom-made bike up and down Tucson’s bike boulevards and trails spread like wildfire across cycling blogs and through Facebook and Twitter posts.
While many people had never met Giffords, much less went on a ride with her, she’s considered part of a loose-knit group that ranges from die-hard racers clad in spandex to weekend warriors and commuters who push the pedals to get to work.
For the past two Tuesdays, cyclists have shown up en masse outside the hospital where she remained in serious condition, along with hundreds of other supporters.
The 2-mile vigil ride from the University of Arizona campus takes less than 15 minutes, but organizer Damion Alexander said there’s a lot to think about in that short time.
“The word ‘community’ is what it’s all about. We are a bike community,” Alexander said. “This gives us an opportunity to share and do something positive. What happened was awful. It’s so sad. And whenever something bad happens, you have an opportunity to be brought down by it or to look at how you can lift up the spirits and make it a better place to live.”
Giffords bikes Arizona; (AP Photo/Courtesy of Raoul Erickson)
Darren Flusche League Policy Analyst
Flusche joined the League in April 2009 and has a B.A. in history from Syracuse University and a Masters of Public Administration with a concentration in public policy analysis from New York University.
Today the Secretary of Transportation, Ray LaHood, wrote on his blog: “I don’t think anyone who reads this blog doubts my enthusiasm for increasing Americans’ transportation options.”
Absolutely true.
Secretary LaHood meets with America Bikes; photos by Todd Solomon
Today he has once again demonstrated his commitment and enthusiasm for bicycling and walking. In his post, the Secretary described the meeting he held this week with AmericaBikes, the coalition of national bicycling advocacy group, including the League of American Bicyclists. He also cited two recent studies that we highlighted on our blog: 1. bike lanes create more jobs per $1 million than other road construction, and 2: Americans support active transportation infrastructure. It is great to have friends like this in Washington.
However, the Secretary also points out the limits of what he can do — “there’s a budget process, and there’s a surface transportation reauthorization process–and DOT does not control either.” His message is a good one for advocates all over the country: “participate in the process.” That is exactly what we are trying to do at the national level and what we are helping state and local advocates do. There is a lot of enthusiasm in the capitol to improve bicycling and walking in this country — and we’re committed to helping it spread. We hope that you will join us for the National Bike Summit, to do just that.
The caption on the Secretary's blog reads: "Listening to Andy Clarke"
Darren Flusche League Policy Analyst
Flusche joined the League in April 2009 and has a B.A. in history from Syracuse University and a Masters of Public Administration with a concentration in public policy analysis from New York University.
We are often asked to address the dubious claim that bicyclists do not help pay for roads. We have long argued that since many of 57 million adult bicyclists in this country are also drivers, and that since much of the government’s transportation spending comes from property taxes, general fund allocations, bond issues, and fare boxes of transit systems, we’re all paying into the system. A new report is perhaps making our job a little easier.
The U.S. PIRG Education Fund recently released a report, called “Do Roads Pay for Themselves? Setting the Record Straight on Transportation Funding” that busts the myth that “user fees” paid by drivers pay for all road costs. The one-two punch of myth-busting boils down to these two points: 1. Gasoline taxes aren’t “user fees” in the way the phrase implies, and 2. highways don’t pay for themselves.
First, the user fee argument. A user fee implies a direct connection to the fee and the use, for example admission to a state park or a toll road. However, when you pay the gas tax, you may not ever use the highways or other transportation projects that the tax is helping to pay for. When the gas tax was first implemented to pay down the deficit and since 1973 the gas tax has been used to pay for many useful transportation projects beyond highways. It’s not a user fee.
Second, the highways-pay-for-themselves argument. The report explains that since 1947, expenditures on highways, roads and streets have exceeded the amount generated through the gas tax and other fees by $600 billion. The subsidy for highways is as significant today as it has ever been. Current “user-fees” pay for only about half of the costs of highway and road building and maintenance.
The report concludes that the misconception that roads pay for themselves through a direct user fee distorts our transportation planning, by making roads look cheaper than they are.
For cyclists, this is just another good reminder that all of us are paying into the road system, either as drivers or through general taxes. The roads belong to all of us.
Flusche joined the League in April 2009 and has a B.A. in history from Syracuse University and a Masters of Public Administration with a concentration in public policy analysis from New York University.
The New Year is bringing with it a host of new research and reports. This is the first of a series of research summaries.
According to a survey recently released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 57 percent of adult Americans say that their neighborhood features – like sidewalks, crosswalks, or lighting – are of high importance in determining their levels of physical activity. About two-thirds of adults said they were willing to take “civic actions” to improve neighborhood features.
The report, “Public Support for Street-Scale Urban Design Practices and Policies to Increase Physical Activity,” confirms that the public sees the impact the built environment has on their levels of physical activity. There were no statistically significant differences in the responses to the impact question based on income, sex, education, home ownership, or BMI; however, respondents over 65 years old, African-Americans and Hispanics were more likely than others to say that neighborhood features impact their levels of activity. [UPDATE:StreetsBlog Capitol Hill has a very good piece on building a diverse advocacy movement.]
The survey also shows that many people are willing to take action to push for such projects. What were they willing to do? More than 40 percent were willing to write letters. This is not surprising for those of us that see the great response rate for important biking and walking advocacy alerts. Sixteen percent were willing to pay more in taxes. Six percent were willing to write letters AND pay more in taxes.
Not surprisingly, the study concludes, “the biggest factor in determining a person’s willingness to take civic action to improve neighborhood features was how important that person rated neighborhood features to be in determining her or his level of physical activity.”
More information on health and the built environment:
Flusche joined the League in April 2009 and has a B.A. in history from Syracuse University and a Masters of Public Administration with a concentration in public policy analysis from New York University.
The National Bike Summit is just 8 week away. (Register before Feb. 3rd and save $100!) Your voice is needed on Capitol Hill as much as ever. While the National Bike Summit brings cyclists together to discuss and push for bicycling at the federal level, an ever-growing number of state and local summits are making a difference across the country.
Missouri’s Bike/Ped Day at the Capitol 2011 will be February 1. Bicyclist and pedestrians will have the chance to speak with their legislators. Find out more.
Colorado’s Bicycle Summit will take place this February 7-8 in downtown Denver. Find out more and registernow.
South Dakota’s Bicycle Summit will be held January 21-22 in Fort Pierre. Friday is a meet and greet and Saturday is packed with presentations. Find out more here.
Florida Bicycle Association will be facilitating their third bike summit at the state capitol on March 24 in Tallahasse. Registration is free! Read more about the conference.
Iowa Bicycle Summit is January 28-29 in Des Moines. Antonio Rosell from Twin Cities Streets for People and Andy Clarke from the League of American Bicyclists will speak at this event.
Maryland’s 14th Annual Bicycle Symposium in Annapolis will be February 22. Find out more.
The 2011 New Jersey Bike and Walk Summit will be held on February 26 in Trenton. Register today.
Oregon Active Transportation Summit will be March 29-30 in Salem. Find out more.
Utah’s Bike Summit will be April 28-29. There is no link yet but check for updates at utahbikes.org.
The New York Regional Bicycling and Active Transportation Symposium that the Rochester Cycling Alliance is co-hosting with the Genesee Transportation Council will be April 27th. There is no link yet. Check Rochester Cycling Alliance for info.
One event that was absent from the e-newsletter that is worth bringing attention to is the 2011 Youth Bike Summit in New York City hosted by the great folks at Recycle-A-Bicycle. The event which runs January 14-16 “aims to inspire people from different educational disciplines to explore, network, and learn how bicycling can be a legitimate and safe form of transportation for today’s youth.” It’s inspiring to see such work dedicated to fostering the next generation of recreational cyclists, bike commuters and hopefully future bike advocates!
Do you know of another upcoming Bike Summit that wasn’t listed? Let us know! Are you thinking about hosting your own state, regional or local Summit? Check out our Bike Summit Guide for tips and ideas.
UPDATE: Our good friend Clarence of StreetFilms just alerted us to video from the Youth Bike Summit.
Jeff Peel State and Local Advocacy Coordinator
Peel joined the League in March 2008 as a Program Specialist for the Bicycle Friendly Communities program. Peel has a BA in American Studies from the University of Southern Mississippi.
We were shocked to learn of the dreadful shooting in Tucson, Ariz., yesterday – we are still waiting to learn the full extent of the casualties and the status of Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords and her staff. Our thoughts and prayers are with all involved. Representative Giffords is a cyclist and member of the Congressional Bike Caucus, according to an interview she gave to the Tucson Velo website in October (thanks to Branan Cooper for sharing this with us). Tucson has a special place in the League’s heart; it seems almost inconceivable that such an act would occur in a community we have always found to be so friendly and welcoming. Mayor Walkup, everyone involved in El Tour de Tucson, city and county staff, and the entire local cycling community must be shocked and appalled at these tragic events. We hope beyond hope that those cycling leaders can meet with Representative Giffords during the National Bike Summit in March.
Clarke was appointed to the position of Executive Director in April of 2004 after successfully leading efforts to create, interpret and implement the various transportation programs that are available to improve conditions for bicycling and walking as the League’s State and Local Advocacy Director.
According to a new report by the Political Economy Research Institute at the University of Massachusetts Amherst says that building bike lanes and pedestrian projects, and bike boulevards, creates more job per million dollars spent than road repairs and road resurfacing.
The study, “Estimating the Employment Impacts of Pedestrian, Bicycle, and Road Infrastructure,” which examines the costs of engineering, construction, and materials for different types of projects in the city of Baltimore, concludes that, for a given amount of spending, bike lanes create about twice as many jobs as road construction. The difference lies in the varying labor intensity and the ratio of engineering costs to construction expenses across project types. Footway repairs and bike lane signing are labor intensive, meaning that a greater share of the total cost goes to pay people than in material heavy road projects. “Each $1 million spent creating on-street bike lanes directly creates 7.9 jobs and creates a total of 14.4 jobs when we include the indirect and induced effects,” the author, Heidi Garrett-Peltier, writes, “The two categories of road repairs have the lowest employment effects, with 3-4 direct jobs and approximately 7 total jobs created for each $1 million.”
Here’s the report’s conclusion:
Investment in transportation infrastructure of all types will generate employment in various industries throughout Baltimore and the State of Maryland. In this case study we find that investments in bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure create the most employment for a given level of expenditure. While road construction projects create approximately 7 jobs per $1 million spending, pedestrian projects create over 11 jobs for the same level of spending, and bicycle projects create up to 14 jobs. Other studies have shown that investments in bicycle and pedestrian facilities can reduce carbon emissions and improve quality of life. Here we find that these investments bring an additional benefit to the community: they are an important source of job creation.
This new data is just the latest indication that investing in bicycling infrastructure is good for the economy. It should come in handy in March at the National Bike Summit.
Darren Flusche League Policy Analyst
Flusche joined the League in April 2009 and has a B.A. in history from Syracuse University and a Masters of Public Administration with a concentration in public policy analysis from New York University.
Let me say up front that this blog post isn’t trying to make a partisan point and it is going to be impenetrably wonky.
Still with me? OK, let’s dig into House rules and procedures… The incoming leadership team in the House of Representatives is proposing a raft of changes to the way the House is run; it’s part of the larger effort to rein-in government expenditures and get a grip on the deficit, as well as ushering in an era of transparency and allowing members to use their blackberry’s on the floor of the house.
In amongst the 11 pages of rule changes is a provision that would prevent any new, or extension of the existing, transportation program from exceeding the amount of money that is projected to be generated by the gas tax – on the face of it, not completely unreasonable. Right now, Congress can only extend the current bill at the current bill’s spending level regardless of whether or not there’s enough money in the trust fund (from the gas tax) to pay for it. At the moment, there is enough, but last year there wasn’t (and Congress had to use general funds to make up the difference) and there might not be in the future. We just don’t know.
That degree of uncertainty is a problem. For the state Departments of Transportation, concrete-pourers and bridge-builders it’s a problem because it’s hard to plan and program multi-year projects when you don’t know if there’s going to be enough money next year to carry on with the project you just started – and our experience over the last 20 years of ISTEA, TEA-21 and SAFETEA-LU funding is that if there is any uncertainty it is bike and pedestrian projects that end up in that zone of uncertainty and don’t get funded. Look at the chart of Federal spending on bike/ped projects and you see a dip each time the transportation bill is about to expire and there is uncertainty over what will happen next. Look at what happens when “rescissions” come around…bike and pedestrian program funds make up a far larger proportion of the amount of money turned back to Washington.
So the new rule changes would set an upper limit – albeit an uncertain one – on the amount of transportation expenditures. Up until now, the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee has authorized programs and funding levels for five or six years at a time through the transportation bill. Another proposed change would allow the Chair of the Budget Committee, annually, to set overall spending ceilings that individual appropriation bills could not exceed. The next transportation appropriation, therefore, could set funding levels below the amount of money generated by the gas tax and well below current levels. At some future date, the Highway Trust Fund could be sitting there with a very attractive surplus. Although the new rules do continue to protect any such balances from being raided for deficit reduction (at least for now), it allows a return to the days when that surplus could be used to mask expenditures elsewhere in the budget. Plus, once again, massive uncertainty is created by making transportation funding subject to the whims of annual appropriations rather than more secure, multi-year funding.
Is this a direct attack on bike/ped funding? No. Does it make such an attack more likely – absolutely. Changing the rules, and allowing appropriators to wield significantly more influence over which portions of the transportation program gets funded each year, is a real challenge and will bring a level of excitement and anticipation to each annual appropriations cycle that we probably won’t come to cherish. Sometime before the beginning of March, we’ll get a taste of what this means. Under these new rules (assuming they pass, and there’s a three-line whip on to make sure they do), Congress must either pass a continuing resolution or a new transportation bill to keep highway and transit funding flowing…and at that point, we will need your help!
In the meantime, if you happen to be meeting with your members of Congress please put in a good word for popular, cost effective transportation investments that have a great economic return and dramatically improve the quality of life for businesses and middle-class taxpayers…if you know what I mean.
Andy Clarke League President
Clarke was appointed to the position of Executive Director in April of 2004 after successfully leading efforts to create, interpret and implement the various transportation programs that are available to improve conditions for bicycling and walking as the League’s State and Local Advocacy Director.
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