Archive for the 'safe routes to school' Category

For the past 20 years, local elected officials have been given rare access to state transportation funds through a handful of programs administered by state Departments of Transportation as grant programs. These also happen to be the primary sources of funding for bicycling and walking initiatives: Safe Routes to School, Transportation Enhancements and Recreational Trails. They account for just 1.5 percent of the overall federal transportation bill and have all been heavily over-subscribed since their creation.

Despite the overwhelming success and popularity of these programs, House Republican leadership and a handful of influential Senators have waged an unexplained and inexplicable vendetta against these programs — not to save the government any money, just to prevent state or local governments spending their money on these specific programs and activities, removing any vestige of local control over transportation investments into the bargain.

The threat of elimination provoked a rare display of bipartisanship in both the House and Senate — a bi-partisan effort to preserve these programs was narrowly defeated in a heavily-whipped House committee vote by just two votes (29-27) and the equally bi-partisan Cardin-Cochran amendment to the Senate transportation bill was successfully adopted.

Remarkably, the single-minded attacks on even the bi-partisan Cardin-Cochran compromise continue. House leadership entered the conference committee process to hammer out a transportation bill (something they couldn’t even get passed in the House itself) with the elimination of funding for bicycling and walking as a top priority. Senate conferees are struggling to hold the line against these attacks, desperate as they are to get a transportation bill — a jobs bill — completed before the summer.

Here are our top ten reasons why Senator Boxer must hang tough, keep her word, and lead the transportation committee conferees to reject these small-minded and vindictive attacks:

• There is overwhelming bi-partisan support among the American public for continued or increased federal funding for bicycling and walking programs. At least, we think 83 percent is overwhelming, across party lines, and all geographic, demographic, and ethnic divides.

• This is so much more than just a bicycling and walking issue. Transportation stakeholders in support of Cardin-Cochran include mayors, AARP, the American Heart Association, Transportation for America, Sierra Club, The National Council of La Raza, NAACP are just a handful of the dozens of groups from the health, environmental, equity, local government and transportation sectors that signed a letter of support to conferees.

• If this is about jobs, we’ve made the jobs case. Transportation investment in bicycling, pedestrian and trail projects are more effective in creating jobs, per million dollars spent, than traditional road projects.

• We’ve proven these programs are in the national interest. Just yesterday, Transportation for America provided even more compelling and detailed data showing the terrible safety record of national highway system roads for the most vulnerable users: pedestrians. Congress can’t simply turn their backs on this problem and expect local governments to literally pick up the pieces.

• Reducing congestion and easing the morning commute: We’re doing it. Even small reductions in vehicle miles of travel in recent years have resulted in 30%-plus reductions in congestion in our major metro areas. We can do  even more with a very small investment.

• Replacing short car trips with bike or walk trips improves air quality and saves energy: It’s self evident. A 77% increase in bicycle commuting since 2000 in cities that have invested in bicycling programs shows that these voluntary behavior changes are actually happening.

• Worried about efficient project delivery? Small-scale projects to improve the safety, functionality and operation of highway system for all users — those projects funded by the TE, SRTS and RT programs — are popular, successful, and get done quickly. Unpopular, 1950′s-era mega-highway projects with dubious actual benefits will still take years to get built even through a streamlined process… because they are still unpopular, ineffective, and unnecessary.

• There are so many benefits beyond transportation to investing in more walkable, bike-friendly communities. Highway agencies may not care about health or livability but the American public does.

• Military readiness? Yes, we can even play that card. The U.S. military is so concerned about the general lack of physical fitness among kids that they are big supporters of the Safe Routes to School program as one way to get our children moving again. Really, who wouldn’t be in favor of Safe Routes to School?

• Last but not least, there is still an underlying fairness and equity argument underpinning this whole issue. Bicycling and walking make up 12% of all the trips that are made by Americans; 14% of traffic fatalities are bicyclists or pedestrians; but only 1.5% of federal transportation funds address these issues.

Now even that tiny investment is under serious threat. I really don’t get it: What else do we have to do or say to make the case for continued investment in bicycling and walking; for preserving some minimal level of local involvement and control in major investment decisions? Senator Boxer, Chairman Mica…what do we have to do?

(Photo by Allan Crawford)

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.

Zac Totten wanted to go out with bang. Little did he know that his senior bike ride idea would make national news headlines.

The senior at Kenowa Hills High School in a suburb of Grand Rapids, Mich., wanted to put on a show, but he didn’t want to end his run with something silly. “In years past, seniors did stupid stuff, like painting the school and camping at the school — dumb things that got them in trouble,” he told me this morning. “I wanted to do something that wouldn’t harm the school and would be good for the community.”

So he came up with a great idea that fit that bill. He got on the (private) Facebook group for his senior class and proposed a bike ride. The idea took off and, with more than 80 kids expected to participate, Zac realized they needed back-up. His friend Steve called the police, who arranged an escort. Zac’s mom invited her friend, the city’s Mayor Rob VerHeulen, who showed up for the event with donuts for the riders.

And, then, smiling and singing the school fight song, the band of merry seniors pedaled to school.

“It was a lot of fun,” Zac says. “It was a great experience.”

But then something unexpected happened. After hanging out and taking some pictures, the students started to go inside — but they were redirected to the performing arts center by a school official. “We got chewed out a little bit by our principal who said we were suspended and weren’t able to participate in the traditional senior walk, where we walk through the high school and say goodbye to our teachers and underclassmen,” Zac says. “She said they were going to investigate the prank more and some people might not walk at graduation. My heart kind of dropped, because it was my idea and I had a speech to give [at graduation]. It was really scary at first.”

Joshua Duggan, a board member of the Greater Grand Rapids Bicycle Coalition (GGRBC), was lobbying at the Michigan state capitol when he heard the news. Even before the local advocacy organization could respond, the community rallied behind Zac and his fellow students. In fact, the response backing biking was so strong that the principal quickly reversed course — and even apologized publicly.

“As evidenced by the overwhelming support for the students in the comments on the news articles, the huge attendance at the board meeting, and the written statement with an apology of sorts by the principal, most people in West Michigan seem to support what the students did,” Duggan says. “And I personally was impressed that the Walker Mayor stood by the students and did not waver in his support of their event.”

In hindsight, Zac says, keeping the ride a secret wasn’t the best tactic. “I felt bad for blindsiding the principal and superintendent, and looking back now, I would have told them we were doing it,” he says. “[At the board meeting], I apologized to them, but I told them I hope what we did this year becomes a tradition: that seniors, on their last day, ride their bikes to their high school.”

Aside from the controversy, though, the Kenowa Hills ride taps into another topic that’s receiving national buzz: the challenges — and in some cases, administrative prohibitions — that many students face in trying to ride to school. If you haven’t seen it yet, David Darlington’s recent article in Bicycling magazine is a must-read. For Duggan in Grand Rapids, Zac and his friends underlined the issues raised in Darlington’s piece and the need for safer routes to school.

“When it’s not safe for the kids to ride to school without a police escort, and when the principal states in her public response to one of the TV stations that she feared for the seniors because ‘I have two kids of my own. I’ve seen car accidents, even this school year right outside our student parking lot,’ it indicates there is a problem with the location of the school and its surrounding roads, because they were designed solely for motor vehicles,” Duggan says.

Zac agrees. He, for one, lives just one mile away but didn’t bike to high school because it didn’t seem safe on the fast-moving, high-volume streets. “We definitely have quite a big population around the school, so we could ride a bike if we wanted to, but it’s kind of dangerous,” he says. “That’s something I’d like to see changed.”

The good folks at GGRBC are still formulating their response and contemplating how to capitalize on the students’ energy and community support — and we’re putting on our thinking caps, too. In the meantime, though, Zac’s ride already inspired his fellow students. “I went back the next day and there were quite a lot of bikes,” he says. “A lot of underclassmen rode to school.”

Carolyn Szczepanski
Communications Director

Carolyn joined the League in March 2012, after two years at the Alliance for Biking & Walking. In addition to managing the League's blog, magazine and other communications, Carolyn organized the first National Women's Bicycling Summit and launched the League's newest program: Women Bike. Before she crossed over to advocacy, she was a professional journalist for nearly 10 years.

Grace Williams wasn’t the only happy bicyclist who participated in National Bike to School Day yesterday. From coast to coast, thousands of kids pedaled to class making the first ever event a huge success.

Here are just a few snapshots that captured the celebrations — big and small — across the country. Thanks to everyone who shared their photos!

Carolyn Szczepanski
Communications Director

Carolyn joined the League in March 2012, after two years at the Alliance for Biking & Walking. In addition to managing the League's blog, magazine and other communications, Carolyn organized the first National Women's Bicycling Summit and launched the League's newest program: Women Bike. Before she crossed over to advocacy, she was a professional journalist for nearly 10 years.

When you see David Darlington’s byline, you know it’s going to be good.

A longtime contributor to Bicycling magazine, his heart-wrenching feature on cyclist fatalities earned a prestigious National Magazine Award in 2009. Now, in the June issue, Darlington digs into another important issue: Safe Routes to School.

In his in-depth investigation — Why Johnny Can’t Ride — Darlington introduces readers to a family in Saratoga Springs who defied an administrative ban on biking to the local middle school. He examines the many factors that have caused the number of kids who walk or bike to school to fall from nearly 50 percent in 1969 to just 13 percent in 2009. And, interviewing advocates like League president Andy Clarke, he makes the case for improved infrastructure, supportive local policies and continued federal funding for Safe Routes to School.

In fact, the piece was so thought-provoking that Darlington appeared on NPR’s Talk of the Nation yesterday. Click here to listen.

It’s a great segment and, as Robert Ping from the Safe Routes to School National Partnership points out, “With May being National Bike Month, it’s the perfect time to be talking about riding and walking to school.” With Safe Routes in the national headlines, Ping provides some additional resources for both longtime advocates and those new to the movement in his his follow-up blog post, including:

• Safe Routes to School programs can increase walking and bicycling by as much as 200 percent and improve safety by 49 percent, and increased physical activity rates in children results in better cardiovascular fitness, including for those who actively commute to school. Find more facts about Safe Routes to School here.

• Safe Routes to School champions quickly learn that Safe Routes to School are safe routes for everyone and that they are also promoting healthier and sustainable communities. From Complete Streets to joint use policies, find important information about policy change here.

• Understanding all aspects of Safe Routes to School is key and by truly understanding liability issues, schools, nonprofits and parent groups can help students reap the health and academic benefits of Safe Routes to School programs while minimizing any risks. These two fact sheets can help your school address liability concerns.

• The Safe Routes to School National Partnership doesn’t grant any federal dollars, but as a nonprofit we do lead the movement in advocating for a federal Safe Routes to School program and win the transportation dollars needed to build sidewalks, crosswalks and bicycle paths, so that families can walk and ride safely to school. Join the cause and speak up for Safe Routes to School today.

And get involved in your community, too. This year marks the first-ever National Bike to School Day on May 9th. Find more information and resources on the new www.walkbiketoschool.com website from the National Center for Safe Routes to School.

Carolyn Szczepanski
Communications Director

Carolyn joined the League in March 2012, after two years at the Alliance for Biking & Walking. In addition to managing the League's blog, magazine and other communications, Carolyn organized the first National Women's Bicycling Summit and launched the League's newest program: Women Bike. Before she crossed over to advocacy, she was a professional journalist for nearly 10 years.

The League’s Smart Cycling curriculum is a great tool for creating safe, confident cyclists. One of the greatest aspects of the program is the way it can be adapted to meet an educator’s needs. A great example is Programs to Educate All Cyclists (PEAC), a Michigan group helping individuals of all ages with cognitive, physical, and emotional disabilities reach their cycling goals.

John Waterman and his staff are serious about what they do. “We believe everyone can ride,” Waterman says. “That’s our motto and we take this stuff personally.” Waterman is a League Cycling Instructor, and all of the staff has graduated from Traffic Skills 101. More importantly, everyone has a degree in special education and a passion for working with cyclists with disabilities. PEAC has developed a number of programs to address the variety of goals set by their students.

Credit: PEAC

Credit: PEAC

Rather than approaching cycling education only as a set of skills, PEAC staff focus on a student’s level of independence. “Student goals can last years,” says Waterman. “What cyclists face the first time they pick up a bike or ride in traffic can be overwhelming for our students.” Students are required to demonstrate the necessary skills as they progress towards their goals and become more independent cyclists. Practice venues range from parking lots to trails to urban streets. Transitions between practice venues are done on a tandem bike to slowly introduce the new skill set to students.

The highest praise anyone can offer of PEAC is to share stories from their students and families.

• Shawn has been part of PEAC for about twenty years, coming to the group just as he started learning to ride a bike. What he found was the excitement and joy of riding with his family. This was difficult for Shawn due to a cognitive and visual impairment and the multitude of decision points required while cycling. PEAC worked with him to become independent by making sure he understands the decisions he has to make and knows the area he is riding. Shawn is living independently with two jobs and cycling is how he gets to work and connects to the community.
• Rachel is part of a very active family that loves to ride. Her mom knew including Rachel would be a challenge, and reached out to PEAC. Together they helped outfit “Rachel’s Chariot,” a trailer that holds all of her necessary medical equipment. While she faces a lot of physical challenges, cycling has given her independence and family time her parents never thought would be available.
• Chris learned to ride a two wheel bike at PEAC, but suffered a tragic accident and had to relearn how to walk and bike. Today his bike is his sole method of transportation to work (Chris works for a hardware store and runs his own business). He now volunteers with PEAC and teaches children to ride. Chris’ current goal is to ride a tandem with his girlfriend.

Credit: PEAC

One of the biggest lessons John has learned is that “our students are our best advocates.” PEAC students met with Michigan state senators to discuss complete streets and the value of accessibility and bicycling in their lives. “What our students face is really what complete streets is meant to address,” notes Waterman. The complete streets legislation passed the Senate unanimously and has since become law.

PEAC students and staff have also realized the benefit of a cycling community like Michigan. “Michigan is the most inclusive [cycling] community you’ll meet, from the League of Michigan Bicyclists [LMB] to the local clubs,” praises Waterman. “Everyone is part of PEAC. Local rides are reaching out to us, wanting our input on how to make their ride available to everyone. And the LMB has gone out of its way to ensure students with disabilities are included in its SRTS literature.”

To learn more about PEAC, email John Waterman at jwaterman@bikeprogram.org. Also consider riding in PEAC’s Annual Celebration of Cycling Ride on September 8, 2012 or get up/get down at the Dance Marathon at the University of Michigan. Both events help fund PEAC programs and activities throughout the year.

Credit: PEAC

Elsewhere in cycling advocacy…

• A project installing rumble strips on several key bicycle routes in Vashon Island, Washington is on hold after concerns were raised by cyclists.  Advocates have noted that WSDOT isn’t following it’s own policy to leave at least four feet of clear space for cyclists.  Bike Vashon and the Cascade Bicycle Club are working with WSDOT and King County DOT to stop the rumble strip project if cyclist concerns cannot be addressed.

Do you have news from your advocacy organization? Let me know: matt@bikeleague.org

Matt Wempe
League State and Local Advocacy Coordinator

Mr. Wempe joined the League in September 2011. For the three years prior, he worked as a transportation planner and Safe Routes to School Coordinator in Fort Collins, Colo. He holds a BA in Economics from the University of Illinois at Chicago and a Masters of Urban and Regional Planning from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.

It may be the first year for National Bike to School Day, but San Francisco has been celebrating and growing its local event since 2009. Yesterday, more than 2,000 students pedaled to class (in the rain!) for the fourth annual Bike to School Day, with the participation of 40 schools and six District Supervisors.

“More and more families are discovering that bicycling is an easy and enjoyable way to move around San Francisco,” said Leah Shahum, Executive Director of the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition, which co-hosted the event with the San Francisco Safe Routes to School partners. “As our city continues to add more safe and protected family-friendly bikeways like the new one on JFK Drive in Golden Gate Park, we expect to see even more families discovering the joy of biking together.”

Seeing the tremendous impact of Safe Routes to School programs operating in 15 area schools, district officials have been key partners and champions for Bike to School Day — and biking to school everyday. “We know when kids start the day with exercise, they are more likely to be awake and alert and perform better in school,” said San Francisco School District Superintendent Carlos Garcia. “More kids safely biking and walking to school makes for healthier kids and a healthier school.”

One way the district is encouraging biking is its intent to add four bike racks to all 104 schools. “We’ve put in the infrastructure that makes it easier for parents to leave the bike there during the day instead of having to schlep it back,” Nick Kaestner, director of sustainability for SFUSD, told Streetsblog.

According to SFUSD, a sizable segment of the student body is within easy pedal distance of their classroom: More than 40 percent of elementary students live within one mile of their school. “People love seeing us biking to school — they smile and wave,” said Brook Broughton, who bikes to school with her daughter and son. “It’s a really fun way to start our day. There are so many other parents and kids biking, and that community really helps us feel safer.”

Are you planning an event for National Bike to School Day? Get inspired! Read more from the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition and check out photos here.

Carolyn Szczepanski
Communications Director

Carolyn joined the League in March 2012, after two years at the Alliance for Biking & Walking. In addition to managing the League's blog, magazine and other communications, Carolyn organized the first National Women's Bicycling Summit and launched the League's newest program: Women Bike. Before she crossed over to advocacy, she was a professional journalist for nearly 10 years.

For more than a decade, millions of students have participated in Walk to School Day each October. Now, in partnership with the League, the National Center for Safe Routes to School has taken the successful concept to two wheels, launching National Bike to School Day.

The first-ever event will be held May 9, 2012 and registration is now open. Just like Walk to School Day, Bike to School Day will unite and energize schools, communities and families across the country and capitalize on the momentum of National Bike Month.

• Be a pioneer. Free event registration is available at www.walkbiketoschool.org for individuals and/or organizations planning a 2012 Bike to School Day event in the United States. Registering an event provides organizers access to a variety of brand new downloadable materials, including stickers, certificates, badges and classroom activities.

• Be a resource. Do you have free expertise, time, materials, information, funding or other resources to share? Register as a Resource and help others find you!

• Be a winner. Registered schools and communities will be entered into the Bike to School Day Bike Rack Giveaway. Each Wednesday beginning April 18, two registrants will be selected to win a Saris bike rack for the school of their choice. A total of 10 bike racks will be given away. The sooner an event coordinator registers, the more chances he or she has to win a bike rack for the school or community.

The National Center is also pleased to launch its newly redesigned website – www.walkbiketoschool.org  – to support the celebration of Bike to School Day in May, Walk to School Day in October and walking and biking to school every day.

Check out the updated website for new event planning resources, like Map-a-Route, a GIS-powered tool that allows users to create and share bicycling or walking routes with easy-to-use maps. And stay tuned to www.walkbiketoschool.org/go/whos-biking/2012 to see “Who’s Biking” in 2012!

Carolyn Szczepanski
Communications Director

Carolyn joined the League in March 2012, after two years at the Alliance for Biking & Walking. In addition to managing the League's blog, magazine and other communications, Carolyn organized the first National Women's Bicycling Summit and launched the League's newest program: Women Bike. Before she crossed over to advocacy, she was a professional journalist for nearly 10 years.

By Mary Lauran Hall, Communications Coordinator, America Bikes

For the past 20 years, the federal Transportation program has included dedicated funding for biking and walking. Over the course of twenty years and three federal transportation laws, federal support for bicycle- and pedestrian-friendly infrastructure projects has slowly ticked upwards. As a result, more and more communities feature safe roads for people who travel on foot or by bicycle and more people are bicycling — there has been a 40% increase in bicycling from 2000 to 2009 and a surge in Bicycle Friendly Communities.

In 1992, Congress passed ISTEA, the first federal transportation bill to include funding for transit, biking, and walking. As each consecutive transportation bill passed and continued dedicated funding for biking and walking, funding increased from $23 million for 50 new projects in 1992 to $297 million dollars and 971 projects in 2000, to a record $1.2 billion dollars and 3010 projects in 2009.

However, recently there has been a drop in funding and projects — since 2009 — as a result of the decline in stimulus spending that was available for a limited period and uncertainty over the future of the programs. A similar phenomenon occurred between 1997 and 2005. Now, however, a new transportation bill threatens to eliminate federal support for biking and walking infrastructure all together.

Next Thursday, the House Transportation Committee will vote (see timeline) on the American Energy and Infrastructure Jobs Act, a bill that eliminates crucial funds for biking and walking. Representatives on the Transportation Committee are key positions to save dedicated funding for biking and walking.

The American Energy and Infrastructure Jobs Act, the long awaited multi-year Transportation bill, eliminates the two largest programs that fund biking and walking infrastructure — Transportation Enhancements and Safe Routes to School. Without these programs, communities all over the country will lose resources to build the sidewalks, crosswalks, and bikeways that make biking and walking safe and accessible in communities across the country.

We can’t let that happen  – take action now and ask your elected officials to preserve biking and walking.

Biking and walking are essential parts of everyday transportation in the U.S., and turning off federal funding for projects that keep Americans safe would represent a significant step backwards.

Federal funding for biking and walking keeps people safe. Two out of three pedestrian deaths take place on roads built with federal funding, and new sidewalks, crosswalks, and bikeways help end preventable deaths and make roads safer for everyone. Moreover, biking and walking make up 12 percent of all trips, but only 1.5 percent of all federal transportation funding.

America Bikes is working in conjunction with their partners to introduce an amendment that will preserve funding for biking and walking. During Thursday’s Transportation and Infrastructure Committee vote in the House, Representatives will have the opportunity to pass this amendment to save biking and walking.

To learn more about this issue and keep up-to-date as the bill moves forward, visit americabikes.org. And please, don’t forget to take action and share the action alert to your fellow bicyclists.

The League welcomes Matt Wempe, our brand new State and Local Advocacy Coordinator. He comes to us from Fort Collins, CO, where he was a transportation planner and Safe Routes to School Coordinator.

It’s a beautiful fall day here in the nation’s capital, made even better by all the children and parents walking to school for International Walk to School Day. They are joining families from throughout the world to celebrate walking as an excellent way to start the school day.  Besides the absolute fun of walking with friends and neighbors, there are myriad benefits: children arrive at school energized and ready to learn, they are closer to the recommended 60 minutes of daily exercise, fewer parents drive (as much as 10 to 14 percent of morning traffic can be generated by parents driving children to school), and there is a greater sense of school community.

Students at Portland, Oregon's Prescott Elementary School walk to school

If this sounds great to you, it does to us as well!  League president Andy Clarke joined students in Portland, Oregon on their morning walk to school today.  “All over the world, kids are walking and biking to school today,” he said, “and if the students at Prescott Elementary are any indication they are loving it.  We do have an important responsibility to make sure our children can travel safe – they’ll take care of the fun!”

Prescott Elementary Students complete their Bike Train ride to school

Today doesn’t have to be the only day of the year your family walks.  Safe Routes to School programs in communities nationwide work year round to support walking and biking as viable ways to get to school.  The League has been working to protect Safe Routes to School funding in the federal transportation bill reauthorization.  These critical funds provide a real benefit for communities across America to directly improve walking and biking infrastructure and programs for some of our most vulnerable citizens.  Keep updated and learn more about the program at the League’s Safe Routes to School page.

Visit the National Center for Safe Routes to School to explore what your community and school are doing.  Mark your calendar now for the next International Walk to School Day on October 3, 2012!

Also see Secretary LaHood’s blog post on Walk to School Day.

Matt Wempe
League State and Local Advocacy Coordinator

Mr. Wempe joined the League in September 2011. For the three years prior, he worked as a transportation planner and Safe Routes to School Coordinator in Fort Collins, Colo. He holds a BA in Economics from the University of Illinois at Chicago and a Masters of Urban and Regional Planning from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.

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 blogosphere as we speak. 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.

The message at the 2011 National Bike Summit was: bicycling is good for business. Thanks to data from Bikes Belong and the America Bikes coalition partners, we were able to back up those words with numbers. America Bikes assembled fact sheets for every state and Congressional District.

They first list the amounts of federal investment in bicycling and walking using Transportation Enhancements since 1992 and Safe Routes to School since 2005. Then they show the gross revenue of bicycle retail stores for 2009 and the number of retail stores in the district or state. In the majority of the districts, the entire federal investment since 1992 is matched by retail revenue in just a few years.

Go here to see the National Bike Summit fact sheets for your state and district.

The fact sheets were a new addition this year to address the priorities of the current Congress. “Given the current focus in Congress on budget cuts and job creation, the fact sheets were developed as an important tool for Summit attendees to educate the many new Members of Congress, as well as some of the more skeptical Members, on why the federal government must continue to invest in bicycling infrastructure,” says Walter Finch, League Advocacy Director.

“People know bicycling is good for health and the environment. The fact that biking is good for American businesses is not as intutitive, and people need to see the numbers to understand that,” says Daniel de Zeeuw, campaign coordinator for America Bikes, who created the fact sheets.

The fact sheets were even mentioned in the Washington Post:

The hundreds of bike advocates encamped at the Grand Hyatt for the National Bike Summit have been armed with fact sheets for their foray to the Capitol. Just like Sarbanes, members will be told precisely how many stores sell bikes in their districts and how much their constituents spend on two-wheelers.

They appear to have been extremely effective. ”We have found in our meetings with the Members and staff that the fact sheets have been very well received,” the League’s Finch says. “Many have told us that they are quite enlightened when they see the economic impact that bicycling has meant for their specific districts and communities.”

“In every office I visited, regardless of which side of the isle they were on, eye brows raised when I began to talk about the dollars and cents our industry brought into each district,” says Dan Thornton, president and owner of Free-Flite Bicycles in Georgia.  ”In every case when I offered to leave behind the fact sheet, the staffer or actual Member excitedly accepted it. In all my meetings over the years it was the first time I felt the materials left were actually reviewed upon our departure.”

Here are the fact sheets, prepared by America Bikes, for each state and district: (more…)

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.

Attending the National Bike Summit can make a difference in your community. Here’s how it did in mine:

A few years ago during the Summit, I met with my Congressional Representative at the time, Marilyn Musgrave. I invited her to a school back home that had a Safe Routes to School program in place. Doing so would enable her to see how federal transportation dollars were being used at the local level.

Previous to her visit, the Congresswoman had refused to join the Congressional Bike Caucus and had not been a supporter of legislation that was going to divert transportation tax dollars from road construction or repair.

Buzz Feldman (in bike jersey) with Congresswoman Marilyn Musgraves, bike winners, and Tom Cobb, who donated one of the two bikes that were given away.

On the day that she chose to visit Columbine Elementary School in Longmont, Colorado, no special effort was made by the school to encourage increased participation in their Safe Routes to School program. The Congresswoman stood on one of the sidewalks use by students as they enter the campus. Her job was to give each student who walked or biked a recognition sticker that read, “I walked to School” or “I biked to school”. On that special day, out of 417 students at the school, only 12 arrived by car. The remainder all either walked or biked to school. No youngsters are bused to Columbine. Congresswoman Musgrave was amazed at the level of participation and the lack of traffic around the school! It was an eye opening experience for her.

While at the school, the Congresswoman had the fun of picking two winners of new bicycles from raffle tickets the students had earned throughout the school year for walking or biking. (See accompanying photo.)

Upon her return to her office in D.C., Congresswoman Musgrave immediately joined the Congressional Bike Caucus and became an ardent supporter of Safe Routes to School and other initiatives that encourage people to walk or bike more.

Guest blogger Buzz Feldman is League Cycling Instructor  #1316 and a founding member of Bicycle Longmont in Longmont, Colorado.  He’s currently  the  Coordinator for Safe Routes to School in St. Vrain Valley School District and serves on Longmont’s Transportation Advisory Board.  He’s the former owner of  High Gear Cyclery in Longmont.

The 2011 National Bike Summit will be held March 8-10 in Washington, DC.  Early bird discounts end on February 3.  Register now and save!

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.

Subscribers of our bi-weekly American Bicyclist Update  e-newsletter recently saw the following list of events:

1. 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.
2. Colorado’s Bicycle Summit will take place this February 7-8 in downtown Denver. Find out more and registernow.
3. 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.
4. 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.
5. 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.
6. Maryland’s 14th Annual Bicycle Symposium in Annapolis will be February 22. Find out more.
7. The 2011 New Jersey Bike and Walk Summit will be held on February 26 in Trenton. Register today.
8. Oregon Active Transportation Summit will be March 29-30 in Salem. Find out more.
9. Utah’s Bike Summit will be April 28-29. There is no link yet but check for updates at utahbikes.org.
10. 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.

As bicycling continues to grow across the country, so does the need for increased understanding of how to safely ride a bike. There’s much more to learn beyond the basic balance, braking and shifting.  Luckily, with proper training and a bit of practice, it’s not that hard. With our terrific Smart Cycling series of courses, and our hardworking League Cycling Instructors (LCIs), we offer courses for cyclists of all skill levels – beginner to expert.

With this growth of bicycling, comes the need for more instructors. The League relies on our wonderful LCIs to help deliver our Smart Cycling message across the country, and we welcome more cycling enthusiasts to join us in this effort. What would have made for a full year of instructor seminars a few years back, now makes for a full month! We have 16 seminars remaining this year [2 are apparently already full!]. See the schedule below, and consider signing up for one:

Having active LCIs  in your state, community or business earns you credit in their respective award recognition applications. If  you’re working on any of these, it’s a great way to bolster your responses to the Education section. Also, we strongly encourage law enforcement, Safe Routes to School practitioners, planners and engineers to participate. As professionals working on behalf of cyclists, you already understand the needs, rights and responsibilities of bicyclists. You’ll learn the necessary skills to better share this with others.

To learn more about becoming a LCI, visit the Instructor FAQ’s , contact Education Program Director Preston Tyree or call the League office at 202.822.1333.

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.

The most remarkable thing to me about the latest status report on the National Bicycling and Walking Study (www.fastlane.dot.gov) is that it’s the 15-year update. Fifteen years? I remember like it was only yesterday sitting down with Bill Wilkinson and the folks in the office of then-Congressman Martin Sabo to suggest the study, and that was way back in 1990 – then it got funded, consultants were hired, and the report was finally delivered to Congress on National Bike to Work Day 1994. Surely it can’t be that long ago…

The 15-year update is really pretty positive. It captures many of the exciting new trends and initiatives that have helped increase use and improve safety, especially in the last two or three years. The report is rightfully optimistic about where these trends will take us – and with continued leadership of the Department of Transportation and Secretary LaHood, who knows what we can achieve together.

I must say, though, that there is something missing for me. The original study came at a time of similarly high expectations. The Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act was really kicking into gear and spending was increasing; states had newly-hired, enthusiastic bicycle and pedestrian coordinators;  the USDOT and FHWA themselves had newly appointed bicycle and pedestrian program managers; and after more than a decade of real neglect, bicycling and walking was starting to be taken seriously again at all levels of government. The case studies written as background to the overall report provided an invaluable snapshot of where bicycling and walking issues really were in the early 1990s.

The National Study itself had a very specific 69-point action plan for the Federal Government, as well as lengthy recommended action plans for state and local government. The five-year update reported on progress towards each of those 69 action items – and to be fair many of them had been completed. The 10-year update didn’t do a whole lot more than search and replace the dates and plug in some new crash and census data. So while the 15-year report references the new USDOT policy statement and documents the great success of the Safe Routes to School, Complete Streets and other programs…I’m still wondering where the action plan and leadership is for FHWA and NHTSA to capitalize on all this.

As the National Study came out in 1994 – hey, wasn’t there a World Cup going on then as well…right here in the USA? – Federal Highways and NHTSA embarked on a multi-year, multi-million dollar research program that resulted in crash analysis tools, level of service measures, training courses on the ISTEA planning process, a university-level design course for engineers, a bicycle safety research synthesis…all kinds of good stuff that helped move the ball forward. When TEA-21 was passed, FHWA came right out with detailed guidance on the new law and on what we now call complete streets.

That’s the kind of leadership we need anew at FHWA and NHTSA to really turn Secretary LaHood’s policy and support into concrete action. And in particular we need FHWA and NHTSA to demonstrate that kind of leadership to the State Department’s of Transportation because, if truth be told, a 15-year report on how state DOTs are doing in this realm would not make for such encouraging reading.

So, I am delighted to see that bicycle use and walking are up from 7.9 percent to 11.9 percent of trips and that fatalities involving the two modes are down 12 percent and 22 percent respectively since 1994 – and I am looking for the next milestone to be set; and this time with a deadline! We need to get to a 20 percent mode share by 2020 to really start to see the kinds of health, environmental, energy and traffic benefits we know we can all enjoy from getting more people out of their cars and onto their feet and their bikes.  That’s the target we’re looking for now.

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 would tell you that League President Andy Clarke and U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood participated in a great Safe Routes to School event in Indianapolis today a few days after share time on BicycleRadio, but the Secretary has already covered the day better than I could. So I’ll quote at some length from his post:

I cannot imagine a better way to begin Grandparents Day than by walking two of my grandkids, Ella and Henry, to school with my wife, Kathy. And to combine that with a schoolwide event at St. Thomas Aquinas School in Indianapolis celebrating Safe Routes to School is really a terrific bonus…

Meanwhile, other kids from the school joined the “bicycle train,” sort of a walking school bus on wheels. And, since I can’t be in two places at once–I really wanted to!–today’s special bike train guest was a great Safe Routes partner, Andy Clarke, President of the League of American Bicyclists.

You may have heard me and Andy on the air this week during the BicycleRadio.com broadcast Tuesday night. If you didn’t, I encourage you to download a podcast of the internet radio show; there’s been a lot of exciting developments lately regarding DOT and non-motorized ways of getting around, and that excitement made the show a lot of fun.

Andy Clarke and Secretary LaHood (Photo from Welcome to the Fast Lane Blog -- www.fastlane.dot.gov)

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.