Last Saturday, we partnered with Bikes Belong for Nickelodeon’s Worldwide Day of Play at the White House. Nickelodeon encouraged cities across the globe to host events, and the channel shut off all programming for three hours to prove the point that kids need to go outside and play.
The D.C. event was a big success, with more than 600 kids biking through the bike course on the White House lawn. The participants were shown the proper way to fit a helmet, the parts of the bike and how to make sure they were working properly, how to obey the laws the of the street, and were encouraged to get out and ride more often. The kids all enjoyed the activities and were pumped for the bike zone on the lawn. Some kids were so excited to ride bikes that they wouldn’t listen to their parents when they were told it was time to stop riding — there were a few feet stomping episodes to convince their moms and dads to let them ride more. One little girl was so excited, she brought her own pink and white helmet adorned with glitter, just so she could ride. It was great to see the next generation so excited to ride. Hopefully, they’ll keep that up far into adulthood. To learn how to teach your child to bike, visit the League’s kids bike education info page on bikeleague.org.
Thanks to the the Washington Area Bicycling Association – we couldn’t have done it without you!
Nickelodeon, World Wide Day of Play and all related titles and logos are trademarks of Viacom International Inc.
Alissa Simcox League Director of Education
Simcox joined the League in July 2011. For the 5 years prior, she worked with the Congressional Youth Leadership Council and the National Association of Home Builders. She holds a BA in Education and Recreation and Leisure Administration from Florida State University.
The 2010 US Census Bureau American Community Survey (ACS) bike to work data that we analyzed this weekand last has sparked a lot of conversation and press coverage as communities gauges their biking levels and compare themselves to one another. Not surprisingly, we tend to zero in on the biking data. But there is a whole world of journey-to-work data out there in the ACS results.
That’s where Brian McKenzie and Melanie Rapino at the US Census bureau come in. They reviewed the 2009 ACS journey to work data to give us all a general overview of commuting in America.
The first point they make is a very important one, especially for those of us interested in cycling levels:
In the United States, commutes make up less than 20 percent of all trips taken.
Commutes can present challenges to bicycling that don’t necessarily exist for other utilitarian trips. They’re a fixed distance. We don’t all have the luxury of living near work. Sometimes our commutes are outside of comfortable biking distance. Sometimes there a dress code, and nowhere to get cleaned up. Sometimes bikes aren’t allowed in our work buildings. We don’t all work at Bicycle Friendly Businesses. But none of this means that we don’t ride for other purposes. Our need to look at commuting data — because consistent, comparable data for different geographic areas isn’t readily available — means that we’re only learning about one in five of all of the trips we’re making. The need for better data is considerable.
That said, there’s a lot we can learn from commuter travel data. The folks at the Census Bureau made the following observations (taken directly from their report):
Commuting highlights from the 2009 ACS are:
Over three-quarters of the nation’s workers drove alone to work.
Workers took an average of 25.1 minutes to get to work.
Hispanic workers carpooled at a rate of 16.4 percent, compared with 9.5 percent for non-Hispanic workers.
The rate of public transportation usage among the foreign-born population was 10.8 percent, more than twice that of the native-born population, at 4.1 percent.
Suburban workers drove alone at a rate of 81.5 percent, compared with 72.1 percent for workers living inside of a principal city.
The New York-Northern New Jersey-Long Island, NY-NJ-PA Metro Area had the longest average commute, at 34.6 minutes.
The 10 metro areas with the shortest average commute times have populations of fewer than 300,000 people.
Using the 2009 ACS data for Metropolitan Statistical Areas (not the city geographies that we use), they put together these tables for bicycling and walking:
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.
Last week, we shared with you the 2010 US Census Bureau American Community Survey bicycle commuting data. Here is a visual representation of the trends:
Thanks to Kate Powlison at Bikes Belong for putting together this very attractive graph using ACS data to show the growth of bike commuting since 2000 in the largest Bicycle Friendly Communities, non-BFCs, and the national rate. Click on the image for a larger version.
Another version here, without the 70 city average:
The notes on the American Community Survey are worth repeating:
ACS limitations, notes, and cautions
The ACS asks only about commuting. It does not tell us about bicycling for non-work purposes.
Results are based on a survey of a sample of the population. Surveys take place throughout the year. The journey to work question asks respondents about the previous week.
The journey to work question asks about the primary mode of transportation to work. The wording of the question undercounts the actual amount of bike commuting that occurs. It does not count people who rode once or twice a week or people who bike to transit (if the transit leg is longer than the bike leg).
Since the ACS is a survey of a sample, the results are estimates. The ACS releases a margin of error along with the estimate. Users can add and subtract the margin of error value from the estimate to find the top and bottom of the range within which the ACS is 90 percent confident in their estimate lies. Refer to the2010 city table for margins of error.
Changes among years may not be statistically significant. Be cautious when drawing conclusions based on one year changes. Look at the trend over a number of years.
The numbers reported here are for the “principal city,” not the larger Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA).
UPDATE: A note of caution from the US Census Bureau: ”The 2009 ACS and 2010 ACS 1-year estimates use different Census base years for the population estimates used in the ACS weighting. Estimates of population size are not comparable between 2009 and 2010. Estimates of percent distributions, rates, and ratios should be compared with caution. For more details, visit the ACS Research Note Change in Population Controls [PDF 366K].” The Bureau is urging users to use caution in interpreting the results, but not suggesting that users avoid comparisons all together.
For detailed questions about methodology, contact the American Community Survey Office at 301-763-9810.
Darren Flusche League Policy 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.
Hard on the heels of a failed move in the US Senate to strip transportation enhancement funding out of the transportation bill, opponents of the program are now trying a new tack: claiming that bridges are falling down because of the funds diverted to “bike paths” and other beautification projects. Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) has suggested that enhancement funds – the primary source of Federal funding for bicycling and walking infrastructure – be siphoned off to bridge repair, in part because one key Ohio River bridge in Kentucky is in need of repair and the state transportation agency “doesn’t have the money” to do the repairs.
If this sounds familiar, it is. You may remember some of the same rhetoric surfaced around the time of the Minneapolis bridge collapse, including a statement from then-Transportation Secretary Mary Peters that she later retracted. The arguments being used by Senator Paul don’t improve with age or re-telling and still make no sense. Here are a few of the reasons why:
Safety: Thirteen people died when the Minneapolis bridge collapsed in 2007: since then, close to 20,000 pedestrians and 2,800 cyclists have died on our nation’s highways, largely as a result of poor highway design and an historic lack of safe non-motorized infrastructure – exactly what the enhancement program was created to fix. No bridges have collapsed since 2007.
Fix it First: Between six and ten percent of Kentucky bridges are classified as “structurally deficient” – yet for every dollar Kentucky has spent in recent years on bridge repair, they have spent $6.50 building new roadway capacity; they spent 77% of their stimulus funds on new capacity rather than fixing existing bridges and roadways – the fourth worst record in the nation.
Use it or Lose It: Kentucky isn’t even spending all the Federal transportation money they have already been given for bridges on bridges: in fact, earlier this year they sent $6.9 million of unspent bridge funds BACK TO WASHINGTON DC. They are not alone: nationwide, more than $534 million of unused bridge funds were sent back to Washington DC by state Departments of Transportation.
A Question of Scale: Kentucky has four massive bridge & highway projects in its “transportation improvement program” each one costing between $1.5bn and $4.1bn. The transportation enhancement program for all 50 states is around $900m annually of which bike/ped projects are typically half. This means the entire nation’s primary source of bike and pedestrian program funding for the next 20 years would have to be diverted to rebuild four bridges in Kentucky…bridges that aren’t actually structurally deficient, they are “functionally obsolete”, which means they aren’t as big and wide as the highway lobby wants them to be.
Senator Paul should be a little more skeptical of the rhetoric of many of our state’s highway agencies when they plead poverty, warn of imminent bridge collapse, and complain about “their” funds being taken from them. In far too many cases, state departments of transportation are spending vast sums of public money on the wrong projects in the wrong places for all the wrong reasons. That’s one reason why they often struggle to get approval for projects that take so long to implement – they are still trying to build a 1950s-style highway system long after the sell-by date.
As his Senate colleagues were reminded just a couple of weeks ago, the enhancements program is popular, successful, heavily over-subscribed, and is creating the kind of infrastructure improvements and choices in communities that people want more of, not less.
Andy Clarke League President
Andy 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. Before joining the League in February 2003, Clarke was on contract to provide technical assistance to the highly regarded Pedestrian and Bicycle Information Center on site at the Federal Highway Administration. He is on the Board of Directors for America Bikes, and a member of the Association of Pedestrian and Bicycling Professionals.
For the third year in a row, data released by the US Census Bureau’s American Community Survey show that more than half of one percent of American workers use a bicycle as their primary mode of transportation to work. While this number represents nearly 40 percent growth since 2000, it also shows that we still have a lot of work to do in making our communities truly welcoming to bicyclists.
Updated with graph:
Kate Powlison at Bikes Belong put together this very attractive graph using the data to show the growth of bike commuting since 2000 in the largest Bicycle Friendly Communities, non-BFCs, and the national rate.
A look at the country’s 70 largest cities shows that the communities that have done the most to promote bicycling through engineering, education, encouragement, enforcement, and evaluation – determined by the League’s Bicycle Friendly America program – have seen greater increases in bike commuting over the past decade than non-Bicycle Friendly Communities.
Since 2005, the 38 Bicycle Friendly Communities among the 70 largest cities saw a 95 percent average increase in bicycle commuting. In contrast, the 32 non-Bicycle Friendly Communities (among the largest 70) grew 46 percent. Since 2000, large Bicycle Friendly Communities grew 78 percent, compared to 55 percent for large non-BFCs.
You can see the variations on the year-by-year table of bike commuting levels for the 70 largest US cities, but overall the general and the specific city trends are upward.
The ACS asks only about commuting. It does not tell us about bicycling for non-work purposes.
Results are based on a survey of a sample of the population. Surveys take place throughout the year. The journey to work question asks respondents about the previous week.
The journey to work question asks about the primary mode of transportation to work. The wording of the question undercounts the actual amount of bike commuting that occurs. It does not count people who rode once or twice a week or people who bike to transit (if the transit leg is longer than the bike leg).
Since the ACS is a survey of a sample, the results are estimates. The ACS releases a margin of error along with the estimate. Users can add and subtract the margin of error value from the estimate to find the top and bottom of the range within which the ACS is 90 percent confident in their estimate lies. Refer to the 2010 city table for margins of error.
Changes among years may not be statistically significant. Be cautious when drawing conclusions based on one year changes. Look at the trend over a number of years.
The numbers reported here are for the “principal city,” not the larger Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA).
UPDATE: A note of caution from the US Census Bureau: ”The 2009 ACS and 2010 ACS 1-year estimates use different Census base years for the population estimates used in the ACS weighting. Estimates of population size are not comparable between 2009 and 2010. Estimates of percent distributions, rates, and ratios should be compared with caution. For more details, visit the ACS Research Note Change in Population Controls [PDF 366K].” The Bureau is urging users to use caution in interpreting the results, but not suggesting that users avoid comparisons all together.
For detailed questions about methodology, contact the American Community Survey Office at 301-763-9810.
Darren Flusche League Policy 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.
Congratulations to Richmond, Va. for winning the 2015 World Cycling Championships – Tim Miller and the team down there did a fantastic job to persuade international cycling’s ruling body, the UCI, to bring their premier event to the historic capital of Virginia. And now the hard work really begins for the entire cycling community in Richmond and beyond!
Four years from now, the eyes of the international cycling community and, to some extent, the world’s media, will be on Richmond. Hundreds of top riders from around the globe will descend on the region for not just the week of the championships but for weeks, months and even years in advance as preparations are made and training is completed. They will bring with them thousands of fans, spectators, team support, sponsors, media – and a lot of them are going to be riding the courses and checking out the Richmond area by bike. If the event took place today, I’m not sure the cycling world would be that impressed! Richmond certainly isn’t Copenhagen, which is where this year’s event is just wrapping up (Go Wiggo and Cav!).
Richmond has got four years to get its cycling act together! Fortunately, the city has a new bike plan underway, a newly hired bike coordinator, and a supportive Mayor and city council. The timeline is tight, but Richmond has a unique opportunity to put itself permanently on the map as a great cycling city – as a destination and a more livable and sustainable city – by using the excitement and urgency of the world championships coming to town. The local cycling community has always been active, and as the state capital Richmond is home to the Virginia Bicycling Federation and Bike Walk Virginia who cover the advocacy, education, and encouragement side of things really well; but this requires a whole new level of action and commitment from local cyclists, businesses and the local bike industry.
Just two hours away, I am sure that we’ll be doing what we can to help. The Bicycle Friendly Community and Bicycle Friendly Business programs are ideal blueprints for Richmond to follow (in our opinion, of course), and there’s a vibrant college scene that could make good use of the Bicycle Friendly University game plan. So, Richmond, Game On! Make us all proud.
Andy Clarke League President
Andy 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. Before joining the League in February 2003, Clarke was on contract to provide technical assistance to the highly regarded Pedestrian and Bicycle Information Center on site at the Federal Highway Administration. He is on the Board of Directors for America Bikes, and a member of the Association of Pedestrian and Bicycling Professionals.
The system has far exceeded expectations. Program managers had hoped for 8,000 members and 500,000 trips in the first year. Instead, they have 18,000 members and 1 million rides. Like I said, wow.
The bike fleet one year and one million trips ago
Darren Flusche League Policy 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.
Moments ago, the Senate passed a clean extension on the Transportation Bill with a large margin of 92-6. This means that all current transportation funding and programs will continue to March 31, 2012 — the date the extension expires. During this time we will have much work to do to ensure that bicycling is included in either a long term transportation bill or another extension. The National Bike Summit conveniently takes place on March 20-22 — our final opportunity to tell our representatives that we need bicycling in the transportation bill.
Votes are not made public until 20 minutes after passage of bills but here is the Senate link to keep checking.
Thanks to all of you for taking part in this very important action alert; telling your senators that “I bike. I vote.”; and spreading the word in your clubs and stores, with your colleagues, and on your social media sites. All of your calls and e-mails made the difference.
Meghan Cahill League Director of Communications
Cahill joined the League in December 2008 and has a BA in Media Communications with a concentration in Italian Studies from the College of Charleston.
Late yesterday afternoon Senator Coburn spoke on the Senate floor demanding that Transportation Enhancements be stripped from the Extension of the Surface Transportation bill, and that he is willing to shut down transportation in order to do it. (See our previous post on this subject for background.)
Sadly, Mr. Coburn’s demands are based on a misrepresentation of the facts about the Transportation Enhancement program, and a serious misunderstanding of the role bicycling and walking play in our nation’s transportation system. Mr. Coburn described transportation enhancements as not having anything to do with safety, or true transportation.
First of all The Transportation Enhancements program is 1.5% percent of the overall transportation program, not 10% as Mr. Coburn would have us believe.
Secondly – Mr. Coburn consistently highlights museums as primary examples of the projects that are funded by TE to try and make his case that TE has nothing to do with Transportation. The reality is that roughly one half (55%) of the 1.5% is usually spent on bicycling and walking infrastructure-such as sidewalks, crosswalks and bike lanes. Bicycling and walking trips make up 12% of all trips in the United States; bicyclists and pedestrians comprise 14% of all fatal crash victims on our nation’s roads – and yet these two modes of transportation receive barely more than 1% of Federal transportation investment. Active transportation is growing in popularity and significance in communities throughout the nation-and this welcome trend is due in part to the investment of Federal transportation funds in bicycling and walking infrastructure.
Thirdly – TE program has very much to do with safety. As mentioned previously, fourteen percent of roadway fatalities are bike riders and pedestrians- two-thirds of which occur on Federal aid Highways. While roadway fatalities have been decreasing- the percentage of fatalities that are bicyclists and pedestrians has increased. Building biking and walking infrastructure saves lives.
The real shame is that by holding up passage of a clean extension of the transportation bill, which Congress had already agreed to pass, Senator Coburn will keep 1.8 million people from working on highway construction projects for another six months.
We understand the Senate leadership has offered Mr. Coburn a chance to offer his amendment for a vote on the floor and although Mr. Coburn has not done so yet, we expect that that will be the case.
We can only hope the Mr. Coburn either withdraws his hold on the extension or allows the Senate to vote on his amendment. The bill extending transportation funding for the next six months is not the legislative vehicle to pass long term national transportation policy. That responsibility lies with the committees of jurisdiction and they should be afforded the opportunity to work out the details on what our nation’s transportation policy will be.
The League urges Congress to pass a clean extension to the transportation bill, and support continued dedicated funding for bicycling and walking programs. If you have not had an opportunity to contact your Senator yet please visit the League’s advocacy center today to do so. This maybe our last chance to make sure we have sufficient votes to beat back the Coburn amendment.
~Walter Finch Director of Advocacy, League of American Bicyclists
Finch joined the League in 2006 and has more than 20 years of experience in the transportation industry. He worked as a government relations associate with G.S. Proctor & Associates, served as the chief of staff for a member of Maryland’s House of Delegates, and worked at the U.S. Department of Transportation as the Special Assistant, Office of the Secretary, Office of Intermodalism.
The League of American Bicyclists announces a new round of Bicycle Friendly Community (BFC) designations that includes 11 new and 14 renewing communities today at the Interbike Expo in Las Vegas, Nev. “The League congratulates all of our BFC winners for implementing successful, long‐term bicycle plans and programs that provide quality of life improvements for their citizens,” said League President Andy Clarke. “Cities are choosing investment in bicycling, even in tough economic times, as a key to building the places people want to live, work and visit.” There are now 190 BFCs in 46 states.
“We are proud of the roadmap that the Bicycle Friendly Community program provides for communities to build strong BFCs,” said Bill Nesper, Director of the League’s Bicycle Friendly America program. “We are especially pleased to see so many communities improving their award level.” New Orleans, La. has seen its number of bike commuters increase by more than 150% in the last five years. The city, which had received Honorable Mentions in three previous rounds, implemented the feedback we provided and received the bronze designation this time. New Orleans was recognized for their large biking population, bicycling education programs, a bicycling network that has tripled in length in the last three years and the strong bike culture seen in events like the NOLA Bike Bash.
In addition to the high percentage of new BFCs that had previously received no award or an Honorable Mention, more than half of the renewing BFCs moved to a higher award level including Breckenridge, Colo.; Scottsdale, Ariz.; Steamboat Springs, Colo. and La Crosse, Wis.
Today we have sent a national alert asking you to call, e-mail or fax your Senators and ask them to protect funding for critical and popular bicycling and walking programs – please take a moment to do this if you haven’t already.
The good news is that we understand leaders of the House and Senate have agreed on a six-month “clean” extension of the current transportation programs that would preserve the transportation enhancements and other key funding programs for bicycling and walking infrastructure. That will give them six months to continue their work on writing a new transportation program for the longer term. We do not have to take action on the House side as we expect the House to pass it out.
The bad news is that Senator Coburn (R-OK) is still planning on introducing an amendment to strip the enhancements program from the otherwise clean extension. This is no idle threat. Two years ago a similar effort by Coburn was defeated by 59-39 and it’s a very different Congress today than it was in 2009. The additional reality is that if Coburn decides to pick this one issue on which to filibuster – and there’s every reason to believe he will – we will need not just a majority but a super majority of 60 Senators to vote to end a filibuster. That’s a real challenge on almost any issue these days.
So we need to take this threat seriously and contact our Senators today. The ask is pretty simple – “please support a clean extension to current transportation funding and please support continued dedicated funding for bicycling and walking programs in the next transportation authorization.” (Until we see the specific wording we won’t know whether we are asking for a vote for or against his amendment – last time the wording was such that a “no” vote was a vote “for” the enhancements programs.) Let’s send a strong and unmistakable message to Congress that investing in a smart, sustainable transportation system for the 21st century, one that offers choice and safety for all, includes dedicated funding for bicycling and walking.
The blog post from last week (read it for more details on the debate in Congress) went viral. We’ve sen an impressive response to the advocacy alert already. Thank you to all those would acted then. Please continue to spread the word to other supporters of bicycling and transportation options. Have you made the I Bike. I Vote. graphic your facebook picture yet?
Andy Clarke League President
Andy 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. Before joining the League in February 2003, Clarke was on contract to provide technical assistance to the highly regarded Pedestrian and Bicycle Information Center on site at the Federal Highway Administration. He is on the Board of Directors for America Bikes, and a member of the Association of Pedestrian and Bicycling Professionals.
For sometime we’ve been concerned about the proliferation of rumble strips on shoulders that either don’t need them or that do not have at least 4 feet of remaining shoulder space for safe cycling. Last year we wrote a report on rumble strips for advocates. We’ve been partnering with the Adventure Cycling Association and the Alliance for Biking & Walking to work with state DOTs and the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) to curb excessive rumble strip use.
We were extremely perturbed by FHWA guidance quietly released in May, which set out “much broader” recommendations than in the past. The new FHWA guidance on the installation of both shoulder and centerline rumble strips is significantly worse for bicyclists than the 2001 guidance. The League, the Alliance, and Adventure Cycling submitted specific points that the bicycling community wants added to the guidance.
Cyclist Will Selser rides in the travel lane on US Highway 89 in Montana in order to avoid rumble strips on the shoulder. Photo by Bill Schneider.
Today, Adventure Cycling Executive Director Jim Sayer wrote this update on the partnership’s efforts:
[We] have held lengthy meetings with FHWA’s director of safety and technology, Michael Griffith, plus many of his staff and also officials at the U.S. Department of Transportation.
At our most recent meeting, we were pleasantly surprised by what we heard. Rather than stonewall us, Mr. Griffith and his staff walked though our litany of concerns, in detail, and acknowledged that they could do better. They shared with us many specific and extensive changes to the TA that they are now considering and hope to move on in the next couple of months. In particular, they are working to improve the language as it relates to the needs of bicyclists and other non-automotive road users, and also the guidance on effective public participation before rumbles are applied. Also, as a good faith measure, FHWA has suspended webinars that it was going to conduct on the new TA until the language is redone.
We agree with Jim’s advice for in the meantime: be on the look out for bad rumble stripping practices and let your transportation agency know that modified guidance is on the way.
Darren Flusche League Policy 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.
Well, we knew September was going to be busy…and sure enough we’re seeing the opening moves in a major attack on funding for bike projects and programs.
This evening, the President talks to the nation about jobs and infrastructure, and he’ll likely repeat his plea for Congress to pass a “clean” extension to the Federal transportation program. The House Republican response includes an explicit demand that funding for bicycling and walking infrastructure be stripped out of the program.
Quick bit of background: the current transportation bill that funds highway, transit and bike/pedestrian improvements across the country basically expires at the end of this month. Congress either has to write a new law (highly unlikely) or agree to continue or extend the existing program for a set period until they write a new long-term law for the next five or six years. And, they can either pass a “clean” extension – not changing anything, just continuing what we’ve had since 2005 – or they might try to change a few things along the way.
Senator Coburn (OK) has said he won’t agree to an extension unless funding for bike projects is stripped out. Representatives Boehner and Cantor have basically said the same thing in the House. Yes, folks, they are willing to hold the entire transportation program hostage – infrastructure spending and millions of real jobs – to get rid of bike projects.
Today, the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee approved their extension bill. It’s clean. Most likely, Coburn will try to force a vote on the floor of the Senate next week to strip out the popular transportation enhancements program…which funds the lion’s share of bike and pedestrian projects around the country. So, if you’ve ridden on a bike trail or bike lanes, or used a bike rack on the front of a bus in the last few years…the chances are you’ve seen the program in action. And if Coburn, Cantor and Boehner succeed, we’ll see a dramatic drop-off in bicycling safety improvements.
Why would they do this, I hear you ask. After all, bike projects create jobs; bike projects improve safety; more bicyclists means less congestion, cleaner air, less oil consumption, fitter and healthier American’s. It’s baffling. It’s not like the transportation program is going to be cut by the amount they strip out for bike funding…no, the money still gets spent but it will likely buy us another mile or two of freeway instead of thousands of small-scale, labor-intensive bicycling and walking improvements.
Equally, the enhancements program is hardly eating up a massive chunk of the transportation program. Even though Cantor and Boehner like to leave the impression that it’s ten percent of the transportation program…it isn’t. Not even close. It’s ten percent of one of dozens of programs that make up the overall program. In fact, enhancements account for barely one percent of Federal transportation funds.
Another myth you’ll hear – most likely from Coburn’s camp – is that states will still be able to spend their funds on bicycling projects if they choose to do so. While that’s technically true, the reality is that most states will stop spending a dime on bike projects overnight. Utah has already stopped their program in anticipation; they just can’t wait!
We have to stop them. We need to save cycling! Go to our on-line advocacy center right now to contact your members of Congress. Tell them you support continued dedicated funding for bicycling and walking projects, and you support a clean extension to the transportation bill.
Andy Clarke League President
Andy 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. Before joining the League in February 2003, Clarke was on contract to provide technical assistance to the highly regarded Pedestrian and Bicycle Information Center on site at the Federal Highway Administration. He is on the Board of Directors for America Bikes, and a member of the Association of Pedestrian and Bicycling Professionals.
I’m very excited about the panel for Wednesday’s Club Leadership Webinar on Diversifying your Membership and Outreach.
The issue is getting a lot of attention here in Washington, DC, lately — the Washington Area Bicyclists Association (WABA) has been active east of the Anacostia River, building bridges, as it were, with the advocacy community in the more affluent areas of the city. The city government under former mayor Andrian Fenty added a lot of bike lanes across Washington, though the lack of community input in some areas caused friction, as detailed in this recent City Paper article. Meanwhile, the explosive growth of the Black Women Bike DC has demonstrated that there are plenty of people outside the stereotypical biker demographics who are looking for a comfortable way into cycling.
In my time as League membership director, I’ve spoken to plenty of other types of people who have started their own clubs because they didn’t feel welcome in existing groups — family cyclists, older riders, and a racing team for riders who have had bariatric surgery.
Why is diversity important? For clubs, it can be as simple as creating a broader base for growth, and a richer mix of people to ride with. For advocacy groups, reaching out to new demographics means bigger, broader coalitions, and connections to social justice groups. And to truly build a Bicycle Friendly America, cycling infrastructure needs to integrate the needs of all current and potential cyclists.
In the next Club Leadership Webinar, Wednesday, September 7, at 8pm Eastern, we’ll give some basic steps to start making your club more inviting and inclusive, as well as looking at LACBC’s City of Lights initiative and WABA’s East of the Anacostia outreach.
Diversifying your Membership and Outreach September 7, 2011, at 8pm Eastern
Learn ways to make your organizational outreach, membership, advocacy and events more welcoming to all. Panelists:
Veronica Davis of Black Women Bike DC will discuss how she came to start her own organization, and how they’re helping grow the number of black women biking in Washington DC.
October 5: Off the Bike – Banquets, Speaker Series, and other social events
November 10: Effective Club Websites
December 6: Club Insurance Review
Panelists to be announced.
Club Leadership Webinars are free for League member clubs.
Scott Williams League Director of Membership
Williams joined the League in April 2010. For the four years prior, he worked providing technology consulting and solutions to nonprofit organizations with Community IT Innovators.
Last week we got a call from the mother of the Tennessee child who was told “not to ride her bike to school”; the story is lighting up the blogosphereas wespeak. We listened, offered some advice, encouraged her to contact her statewide advocacy group, BikeWalk Tennessee, and gave the police department in Elizabethton a call to get their side of the story. What emerges is a frustrating story with no obvious winners and lots of people left feeling aggrieved. The basic principle that it really should be (and probably is in this case) perfectly reasonable for a capable 10-year old to ride her bike to school on local streets is in danger of getting lost.
The student trying to get to school really doesn’t have a lot of options to riding the mile from home to school on the road – her neighborhood has no sidewalks; there aren’t any alternate routes; her mother can’t drive her; the police didn’t really help her with a solution; the school bus isn’t an option. Besides, riding is a good option – it’s quicker and healthier; the streets are pretty quiet; many ten-year olds are quite capable of riding in that environment; and her mom shouldn’t have to drive her (assuming she could)! The fact that she may not have been riding with all the traffic skills of a seasoned commuter cyclist speaks perhaps to the need for decent bike education in school, slightly more patient parents who are driving their kids to school, and – of course – a few more fellow riders and walkers out there with her who can easily access the school on foot and bike.
It’s not too much of a stretch to say that this case highlights the need for the Safe Routes to School (SRTS) Program currently under threat of Congressional budget cuts. The SRTS program has enabled local communities to access badly needed funds to help build sidewalks and trails to schools; to add bike lanes, signs and markings on roads around schools; to deliver critical bicycling and traffic safety education to students; to support bike trains and walking school buses; and even to begin to tackle bigger issues of school siting and access. Clearly these things are not happening without the impetus of the SRTS program and it would be a huge mistake if Congress were to approve a transportation bill without this critical initiative.
If Congress does decide to axe the program, we can anticipate a lot more cases like we are seeing in Tennessee – we can’t afford school buses because of local budget cuts; we aren’t providing education and encouragement programs to teach kids traffic safety skills; we keep putting our schools in the wrong places where people can’t walk and bike easily to them; we don’t provide sidewalks, crosswalks, lanes, trails and other safe facilities to get them to school; and then we wonder why more and more increasingly overweight and irritable kids are being driven to school [by increasingly overweight and irritable parents] adding to the danger for kids who can’t be driven…and the police and school administrators are left to sort out the mess with their own preconceived notions of what’s “safe” and “normal” behavior that doesn’t seem to include hopping on a bike and riding for kids who are generally quite capable of doing so.
To speak up for Safe Routes to School, contact your members of Congress and ask them to support the program by signing on to this bill. You can also sign up to the advocacy center for alerts on the larger transportation bill – we are expecting to see some action on this when Congress returns next week and we are going to need all the help we can get to preserve dedicated funding for bicycling and walking programs.
Andy Clarke League President
Andy 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. Before joining the League in February 2003, Clarke was on contract to provide technical assistance to the highly regarded Pedestrian and Bicycle Information Center on site at the Federal Highway Administration. He is on the Board of Directors for America Bikes, and a member of the Association of Pedestrian and Bicycling Professionals.
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