We are watching this legislation carefully and are raising this issue with Congress. Right now, we want to show the Senate how important the right to the road is to cyclists – and voters. As part of our “I Bike. I Vote.” campaign, please sign our petition opposing the mandatory sidepath provision.
We will keep you updated on our progress on the mandatory sidepath clause and other critical issues in the proposed legislation. An action alert may be needed at some point. In the meantime, you can register for the National Bike Summit, where together we will make the very strong case for bicycling to Congress.
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.
Thanks to all of you who contacted your Senators, Senator Rand Paul’s (R-KY) amendment that would have diverted Transportation Enhancement funds to bridge repairs, was soundly defeated. Transportation Enhancements are a key source of funding for bicycling and walking infrastructure. The amendment would not have made a significant impact on the state of repair of bridges, but would have drastically impacted active transportation investments. Sixty Senators voted against the measure.
While Sen. Paul once again railed against “squirrel sanctuaries,” as a possible use of Enhancement funds, Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA) pointed out that Paul’s amendment would actually hinder bridge repair in certain instances. “The amendment prevents a bridge from being fixed if it is a historic bridge,” Boxer said. “There are thousands of those in this country, including the Brooklyn Bridge.”
Senator Rand Paul's anti-bike amendment failed by a vote of 38 to 60.
This was the thirdtime in two months that the Senate has voted to protect Transportation Enhancements. As long as the attacks keep coming, we’ll keep fighting them. Thank you to the thousands of people who sent action alerts to your Senators. We need to keep reminding them that these are popular, critical, and beneficial transportation projects. So far, they’re hearing us. Now is a good time to thank them.
Here is how the Senators voted (courtesy of www.Senate.gov, hat-tip Eric Rogers):
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.
It’s happening again. Just one month ago, Sen. Coburn (R-OK) failed in his efforts to strip funding for Transportation Enhancements from the six-month transportation extension.
Now, Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) is taking the lead in trying to destroy Transportation Enhancements. On November 1, the Senate will finalize the transportation appropriations bill, which sets funding levels for FY2012. Sen. Paul has offered an amendment to redirect all funding for Transportation Enhancements to bridge repair. Here’s why his arguments don’t make sense.
This is the third time in a month that a small group of Senators have targeted Transportation Enhancements, using a different angle each time. It is a red herring, and a waste of the Senate’s time and taxpayers dollars to focus on this small and valuable program when we are in dire need of real and viable solutions to fix our failing transportation system.
We agree on the need to keep our bridges safe, but the lives of pedestrians and cyclists are important too. That is why we believe Senator Paul should withdraw his amendment now and let the Senate EPW Committee, which has jurisdiction over writing the next transportation bill, do their job. The Committee is actually scheduled to mark-up their bill on November, 9. That is the appropriate time to discuss changes to the overall transportation program, not during the appropriations process.
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
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.
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
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.
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
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.
In a press conference this morning, John Mica (R-FL), chairman of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee in the House, announced his proposal for the next surface transportation re-authorization bill. He said the proposal would cost $230 billion over six years — a reduction of 33 percent from the last 6 year bill. (Update:22 page outline now online.) That’s fine — the alarming thing is that the proposal eliminates dedicated funding for bicycling and walking, including Transportation Enhancements, Safe Routes to School and the Recreational Trails Program, and discourages states from choosing to spend their dollars on these activities that are “not in the federal interest.”
Meanwhile on the Senate side, James Inhofe (R-OK), the lead Republican negotiator on the transportation bill, declared that one of his TOP THREE priorities for the transportation bill is to eliminate ‘frivolous spending for bike trails.’
The League and the America Bikes Coalition have launched a critical advocacy alert. Please contact your Members of Congress and tell them to reach out to Senators Inhofe, Boxer, and Congressman Mica to urge them to continue funding for Transportation Enhancements, Safe Routes to School and Recreational Trails.
Whether the next transportation bill is $200 billion or $400 billion is frankly less important than what is done with that kind of investment. Mica’s ‘New Direction’ proposal in fact turns the clock back on decades of hard-fought progress towards a truly multi-modal transportation system that offers American’s real choices. Even with a ‘small’ bill, returning to a 1950′s highways-only mentality flies in the face of fiscal responsibility by guaranteeing more single occupant vehicle travel on ever more congested and dangerous highways that we can’t even afford to maintain, let alone build.
The League calls on Chairman Mica to reinstate dedicated funding for bicycling and walking in his bill. We also ask that the Senate resist the efforts of Senator Inhofe eliminate dedicated funding for bicycling and walking. In addition to being healthy activities, bicycling and walking are valid transportation options, with more than four billion bike trips made annually for trips to work, school, and tourism. Furthermore bicycling and walking projects have the potential to create 46 percent more jobs per million dollars spent than auto-only projects; and bicycling and walking are critical generators of economic activity in communities across this country. Now is the time to be investing in these modes, not cutting them off just as 20 years of investment is starting to bear fruit.
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.
In a video response to questions from Twitter, Facebook, and his blog, the Secretary of Transportation, Ray LaHood, reminds us that April is Distracted Driving Awareness Month.
The League has been working to raise awareness of the dangers of distracted driving and support state laws to outlaw it. See our Advocacy Advance report on Distracted Driving. While the League focuses every day on cyclist education, distracted driving campaigns are important because they put the onus on drivers to do the right thing in keeping themselves and all road users safe. In that spirit, this month we are sending a mailing to ask members to support our work to do even more to stand up for cyclists and make motorists accountable.
The Bicycle Friendly State program evaluates motorist education programs and allows us to share best practices, create model driving test questions, and provide solid information to DMVs and driving instructors. We will continue to work with the Department of Transportation as well as pedestrian and motorcyclist groups and participate in the Decade of Action on Road Safety, which is being launched during Bike Month — and, of course, we will continue to spread the word about Distracted Driving. This story from Minnesota shows that distracted driving is still a major problem for cyclists.
We are telling motorists that sharing the road is a two-way street.
Darren Flusche League Policy Analyst
Flusche joined the League in April 2009 and has a B.A. in history from Syracuse University and a Masters of Public Administration with a concentration in public policy analysis from New York University.
Late yesterday the Georgia state legislature approved HB 101 which requires a minimum safe passing distance of 3 feet when overtaking cyclists. Congratulations and thanks to Georgia Bikes!, Representatives McKillip and Holt, Senator Albers and all Georgia cyclists who contacted the state legislature.
Originally introduced as HB 180, which failed to pass the Georgia House of Representatives, the 3 foot safe passing language was a late amendment to HB 101 the “Better Bicycling Bill”. In addition to the safe passing language, HB101 also cleans up Georgia state code in regard to bicycling by legalizing the use of recumbent bicycles, further defining bike lanes and updated equipment requirements.
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.
On Monday April 11, the Maryland State Senate passed HB 363, which gives Maryland law enforcement and prosecutors additional tools to see that traffic justice is served. The new law creates a new misdemeanor level offence: vehicular negligent homicide. This closes a loophole that had let negligent drivers off with mere traffic fines for killing other road users, while still allowing for felony level charges to be brought in instances of gross negligence such as drunk driving. Guilty drivers will face up to 3 years in jail and up to a $5,000 fine.
Thanks to Bike Maryland, the Washington Area Bicyclists Association (WABA), AAA Mid-Atlantic, bill author Delegate Luiz Simmons, Senate Judiciary Proceedings Committee Chair Brian Frosh and the hundreds of Maryland cyclists who took action in support of the bill, the governor is expected to sign the bill soon. Laws like this have been long sought by advocates in many states, so congratulations to Maryland for their success.
As Maryland advocates welcomed their good news, cyclists in New Mexico faced a setback. Despite passing both the state House and Senate with relative ease, Governor Martinez vetoed what would have been the country’s first statewide five-foot passing law. Such a law already exists within two cities in the state: Albuquerque and Los Alamos. Making it statewide would make for consistent application as cyclists and motorists travel throughout the state.
The League is disappointed the Governor chose to veto the bill that would have served as an good opportunity to educate motorists and cyclists about shared roadway safety, and would have provided another opportunity for state law enforcement to help protect cyclists.
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.
Having passed through both the New Mexico Senate and House, New Mexico Governor Susana Martinez now has twenty days to sign SB 124 in order to make this bill into law. This would be the first statewide 5 foot Safe Passing law in the nation.
SB 124 clarifies to motorists what a safe passing distance is, provides a safe operating space for cyclists across the state and creates another tool for law enforcement when responding to aggressive drivers and crashes; as well as an opportunity to educate motorists and cyclists on how to share the road safely.
Cyclists in New Mexico should contact Governor Martinez through our Advocacy Center and urge her to sign SB 124 into law.
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.
A February proposal before the Houston-Galveston Area Council’s Transportation Policy Council (TPC) called for cuts to bike, pedestrian and transit funding in the region’s Transportation Improvement Program (TIP) for 2011-2014. Under the proposal, CMAQ and STP MM funds that were previously programmed for active transportation projects and livable centers would be reallocated for road expansion in the region.
Upset that the TPC would stray from language in the 2035 Transportation Plan, stating that roadway spending should make up no more than 55% of regional transportation infrastructure spending, advocates in the Houston area organized. Houston Tomorrow started an online petition and joined Bike Houston and other area cyclists at the TPC’s February 25th meeting to present the petition and insist that this funding be preserved.
Thanks to these hardworking advocates there has been a temporary reprieve. City of Houston Council member Sue Lovell motioned for a delay of 30 days so that TPC members could further investigate options and hear from their constituents. See Houston Tomorrow’s ongoing blog coverage here.
While significant progress has been made, pressure on the TPC and Houston-Galvelston Area elected leaders is still needed.League President Andy Clarke has written this letter to TPC members asking for the preservation of these funds for bicycling and other active transportation projects. Houston area cyclists can still help save this critical funding by signing on to this petition. Cyclists are also encouraged to attend the TPC’s next meeting March 25th at 9:30 am in the H-GAC building at 3555 Timmonson the 2nd floor in Conference Room A.
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.
Virtually everyone that forwarded footage of the awful scenes of a car plowing into a crowd of cyclists in Brazil this week prefaced their message by saying “if you can get to the end of this…” or “this is grim watching”; it is pretty grim and it’s a miracle that no-one was killed. The sense of outrage in response to this is growing internationally – regardless of what you might think of critical mass rides in your community this was clearly unjustified and senseless behavior by the driver and – and there’s a petition and more information available here: massacriticapoa.wordpress.comwww.bicicletada.org.
My colleague Jeff Peel noted that the video dramatically illustrates the frailty of cyclists in the face of such aggression and the impact of such a callous disregard for the safety of others – we hope that everyone who gets behind the wheel of a car who sees this will realize how a moment’s distraction or inattention can have just as disastrous an impact.
We also hope that the reaction to this incident shows the emerging power and strength of the global cycling community in responding to such an egregious act – it might even be on the agenda of those attending the Velo City conference in Seville later this month.
On Monday São Paulo’s advocates organized a walk through Paulista Avenue (the main avenue in São Paulo) in solidarity for their friends in Porto Alegre. Many other cities are doing similar walks.
Additionally, Prosecutors Eugenio Amorim and Lucia Callegari said in a statement Tueday, that they have asked for the preventive detention of Ricardo Jose Neis on charges of attempted homicide. The statement was posted on the Web site of the prosecutor’s office of Rio Grande do Sul state.
Andy Clarke League President
Clarke was appointed to the position of Executive Director in April of 2004 after successfully leading efforts to create, interpret and implement the various transportation programs that are available to improve conditions for bicycling and walking as the League’s State and Local Advocacy Director.
Sad to say that the awful series of fatal bike crashes in Tampa last year has carried over into the new year. Despite a gratifying response to the need for improved bike safety in the area – including the development of a Bike Safety Action Plan – yet another rider was killed last Sunday, this time by a driver who was likely racing and was certainly going way too fast for the roadway. No charges have yet been filed against the driver.
(Photo by Alan Snel)
After reviewing this latest cyclist fatality, AND looking at the dreadful pedestrian crash story in this area AND the almost daily serious crashes involving just motorists throughout the Tampa Bay area, we figure it’s time to really challenge the community to tackle the scourge of careless, dangerous and reckless driving behavior that is making life miserable for everyone out there. We also realized that most of the action plan, and most of the pedestrian safety plans and programs in the area over the years have all focused on cyclists and pedestrians…and at some point that just isn’t ever going to be enough. Cyclists are getting hit while they are doing everything right – even when they are standing on the sidewalk with their bikes they are getting hit by cars.
Therefore, we are encouraging Tampa area residents to get out and support the bicycle safety action plan in the coming weeks but also to demand something more: that the police and court system hold drivers accountable, and get dangerous drivers off the road. The Florida Bicycle Association lobby day in Tallahassee is March 24 – maybe it’s time to get a vulnerable road user law on the books that gives the law enforcement community a tool they can use to charge dangerous drivers with something that carries a meaningful penalty and sends a message that this kind of criminal behavior isn’t acceptable.
Hillsborough County residents, send this action alert to your elected officials. Everyone, click on that link to read our letter to Tampa City Council and Hillsborough County Commissioners.
The three public meetings on the proposed bicycle safety action plan are: February 24, 2011, 6:30pm – 8:30pm
Pizzo elementary School (cafeteria), 11701 USF Bull Run Dr, Tampa
Broward Elementary School (cafeteria), 400 W. Osborn Ave, Tampa
Andy Clarke League President
Clarke was appointed to the position of Executive Director in April of 2004 after successfully leading efforts to create, interpret and implement the various transportation programs that are available to improve conditions for bicycling and walking as the League’s State and Local Advocacy Director.
On October 1st, fifteen cyclists left Outspokin’ bike shop in Savannah Augusta, GA on their weekly ride across the state border into rural Aiken, SC. While riding along Beech Island Ave. the cyclists heard the revving of a truck’s engine moments before it collided with the group. The crash injured four cyclists and tragically left one other, Dr. Matthew Burke, critically injured with severe head trauma. After months in a coma, Dr. Burke passed away on Sunday. The driver, Daniel Johnson, claims to have been distracted while reaching for something.
Dr. Matthew Burke
Dr. Burke is survived by his wife Bonnie and 11-month-old daughter, Anna. At the time of the crash, Dr. Burke, a U.S. Army major and orthopedic surgeon, had been home from Iraq for about a year. Dr. Burke will be buried at Arlington National Cemetary. He was 38 years old.
Thanks to the vigilance of the Palmetto Cycling Coalition and South Carolina cycling attorney Peter Wilborn, Daniel Johnson was charged with reckless homicide. If convicted, Johnson faces a maximum of 10 years in jail and a mandatory five-year driver’s license revocation. The League commends the South Carolina Highway Patrol and the Aiken County Solicitor’s office for the thorough investigation, and having the courage to bring appropriate charges against Johnson.
The loss of Dr. Burke is a tragedy and it is our hope that justice will be served. Far too often we hear of similar stories in which law enforcement and prosecutors claim their hands are tied, that a gap exists in the law that lets offenders off with simple traffic violations. Unfortunately cyclists and other vulnerable road users exceedingly feel the brunt of this loophole. Several states are working to change these laws.
In New Mexico, HB 68 will add another layer of punishment options for careless drivers when the result of their actions causes severe injury or death. The bill will allow for misdemeanor punishment of up to one year in county jail and fines up to $1,000. Cyclists in New Mexico can take action to move the legislation forward here.
In Maryland, HB 363, Manslaughter by Vehicle or Vessel – Criminal Negligence, will provides a misdemeanor option for those who cause fatalities by driving in a criminally negligent manner. If convicted, drivers would be subject to imprisonment up to 3 years and/or a fine up to $5000. Cyclists in Maryland can take action here. HB 363 will be a major component of the Maryland Bicycle Symposium on February 22nd.
If your state is working on similar legislation, let us know.
Read more about Dr. Burke at the Alliance for Biking & Walking.
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.
It’s been awhile since we’ve shared an update on the Black Hawk, CO bike ban. According to our colleagues at Bicycle Colorado, a local judge has denied a request to dismiss the tickets ofthree of the cyclists ticketed as a result of the ban. The court’s ruling can be found here. While these cyclists have yet to decide whether to appeal to a higher court, Bicycle Colorado is seeking a legislative solution.
…that a local authority may not prohibit the operation of bicycles or electrically assisted bicycles on a street or highway unless a suitable bike path, horseback trail, or other trail is available within a specified distance for use as an alternate route and an engineering and traffic investigation has been done to determine whether the operation of such vehicles is incompatible with the normal and safe movement of traffic.
Colorado residents: contact your state legislators (find contact info here) and urge them to support House Bill 1092 (Kerr-Brophy). Let them know bicycle bans are bad for Colorado’s bicycle and tourism industry and limit your freedom to travel by bicycle.
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.
One of the hurdles to passage of the next transportation bill is the even-longer overdue reauthorization of the Federal aviation program – this was being debated in the Senate today. In the last Congress, we were disappointed to learn that Senator McCain (R-AZ) proposed an amendment to the bill to prohibit the use of Passenger Facility Charges to provide bike parking at airports, which seemed like a singularly mean-spirited and unnecessary thing to do.
The PFC (oh yes, we know the aviation lingo as well) allows the collection of up to $4.50 for every passenger at commercial airports to be used for projects that enhance safety, security or capacity at airports as well as noise reduction, etc. Intermodal projects are funded with this levy at airport terminals and on access roads – and it’s no trivial sum of money. In FY2009, close to $2.5billion was collected through PFCs.
Bike parking at Portland Airport; Photo: BikeMontclair via Picasa
Lo and behold, Senate Bill 223 in the 112th Congress, Section 207(b), contains the language proposed last time by McCain. For some reason, either McCain or someone else has decided that bike parking at airports is worth singling out for exclusion; that it doesn’t somehow count as an “intermodal” facility; that it should never be part of the airport experience. One can only speculate as to why.
Source: Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia
Bicycling to the airport may never be a major means of access given the nature of air travel and the trips people make by air (but it does happen — including by airport employees). Even cycling meccas like Copenhagen (CPH) and Amsterdam (AMS) airports have a limited number of people riding to and from them – but it certainly isn’t precluded or deliberately made more difficult, and nor should that happen at US airports. Demand may only require a few bike racks and maybe a locker or two for longer term storage in more accessible airports – not exactly the kind of volume that would eat deeply into the $2.5billion fund.
Hopefully, as the bill progresses we can find a way to strip this provision from the bill and restore equity to the funding of landside airport facilities.
Andy Clarke League President
Clarke was appointed to the position of Executive Director in April of 2004 after successfully leading efforts to create, interpret and implement the various transportation programs that are available to improve conditions for bicycling and walking as the League’s State and Local Advocacy Director.
Tuscon Velo has photos and video from a bike vigil, attended by at least 150 cyclists, to honor the victims of Saturday’s shooting.
Thanks to CommuteByBike for brining this to our attention.
UPDATE: The Associated Press (via the Washington Post) features the fact the Giffords is a cyclist:
It didn’t matter if it was pitch black or cold – or if she were juggling calls she had missed while on the plane from Washington, D.C., or preparing to meet with constituents the next day. She would do all that, and then go for that bike ride.
“She has a passion for her bicycle, I’ll tell you that,” said Raoul Erickson, a longtime friend of the Democratic three-term congresswoman who had gone riding with her that night.
The next day, on Jan. 8, Rep. Gabrielle Giffords was critically injured in a massacre that killed six people and wounded 12 others outside a Safeway in Tucson. The 22-year-old gunman had been bent on targeting her since meeting her at similar event in 2007, authorities said.
The shooting rocked Tucson and the nation, resulting in an outpouring of support for Giffords and the other victims that has taken the form of thousands of candles, cards, balloons and bouquets across the southern Arizona desert city. But for one segment of the community, pedaling their bicycles in honor of the victims has been the start of their healing process.
Word that Giffords loved to ride her custom-made bike up and down Tucson’s bike boulevards and trails spread like wildfire across cycling blogs and through Facebook and Twitter posts.
While many people had never met Giffords, much less went on a ride with her, she’s considered part of a loose-knit group that ranges from die-hard racers clad in spandex to weekend warriors and commuters who push the pedals to get to work.
For the past two Tuesdays, cyclists have shown up en masse outside the hospital where she remained in serious condition, along with hundreds of other supporters.
The 2-mile vigil ride from the University of Arizona campus takes less than 15 minutes, but organizer Damion Alexander said there’s a lot to think about in that short time.
“The word ‘community’ is what it’s all about. We are a bike community,” Alexander said. “This gives us an opportunity to share and do something positive. What happened was awful. It’s so sad. And whenever something bad happens, you have an opportunity to be brought down by it or to look at how you can lift up the spirits and make it a better place to live.”
It didn’t matter if it was pitch black or cold – or if she were juggling calls she had missed while on the plane from Washington, D.C., or preparing to meet with constituents the next day. She would do all that, and then go for that bike ride.
“She has a passion for her bicycle, I’ll tell you that,” said Raoul Erickson, a longtime friend of the Democratic three-term congresswoman who had gone riding with her that night.
The next day, on Jan. 8, Rep. Gabrielle Giffords was critically injured in a massacre that killed six people and wounded 12 others outside a Safeway in Tucson. The 22-year-old gunman had been bent on targeting her since meeting her at similar event in 2007, authorities said.
The shooting rocked Tucson and the nation, resulting in an outpouring of support for Giffords and the other victims that has taken the form of thousands of candles, cards, balloons and bouquets across the southern Arizona desert city. But for one segment of the community, pedaling their bicycles in honor of the victims has been the start of their healing process.
Word that Giffords loved to ride her custom-made bike up and down Tucson’s bike boulevards and trails spread like wildfire across cycling blogs and through Facebook and Twitter posts.
While many people had never met Giffords, much less went on a ride with her, she’s considered part of a loose-knit group that ranges from die-hard racers clad in spandex to weekend warriors and commuters who push the pedals to get to work.
For the past two Tuesdays, cyclists have shown up en masse outside the hospital where she remained in serious condition, along with hundreds of other supporters.
The 2-mile vigil ride from the University of Arizona campus takes less than 15 minutes, but organizer Damion Alexander said there’s a lot to think about in that short time.
“The word ‘community’ is what it’s all about. We are a bike community,” Alexander said. “This gives us an opportunity to share and do something positive. What happened was awful. It’s so sad. And whenever something bad happens, you have an opportunity to be brought down by it or to look at how you can lift up the spirits and make it a better place to live.”
Giffords bikes Arizona; (AP Photo/Courtesy of Raoul Erickson)
Darren Flusche League Policy Analyst
Flusche joined the League in April 2009 and has a B.A. in history from Syracuse University and a Masters of Public Administration with a concentration in public policy analysis from New York University.
We were shocked to learn of the dreadful shooting in Tucson, Ariz., yesterday – we are still waiting to learn the full extent of the casualties and the status of Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords and her staff. Our thoughts and prayers are with all involved. Representative Giffords is a cyclist and member of the Congressional Bike Caucus, according to an interview she gave to the Tucson Velo website in October (thanks to Branan Cooper for sharing this with us). Tucson has a special place in the League’s heart; it seems almost inconceivable that such an act would occur in a community we have always found to be so friendly and welcoming. Mayor Walkup, everyone involved in El Tour de Tucson, city and county staff, and the entire local cycling community must be shocked and appalled at these tragic events. We hope beyond hope that those cycling leaders can meet with Representative Giffords during the National Bike Summit in March.
Clarke was appointed to the position of Executive Director in April of 2004 after successfully leading efforts to create, interpret and implement the various transportation programs that are available to improve conditions for bicycling and walking as the League’s State and Local Advocacy Director.
Let me say up front that this blog post isn’t trying to make a partisan point and it is going to be impenetrably wonky.
Still with me? OK, let’s dig into House rules and procedures… The incoming leadership team in the House of Representatives is proposing a raft of changes to the way the House is run; it’s part of the larger effort to rein-in government expenditures and get a grip on the deficit, as well as ushering in an era of transparency and allowing members to use their blackberry’s on the floor of the house.
In amongst the 11 pages of rule changes is a provision that would prevent any new, or extension of the existing, transportation program from exceeding the amount of money that is projected to be generated by the gas tax – on the face of it, not completely unreasonable. Right now, Congress can only extend the current bill at the current bill’s spending level regardless of whether or not there’s enough money in the trust fund (from the gas tax) to pay for it. At the moment, there is enough, but last year there wasn’t (and Congress had to use general funds to make up the difference) and there might not be in the future. We just don’t know.
That degree of uncertainty is a problem. For the state Departments of Transportation, concrete-pourers and bridge-builders it’s a problem because it’s hard to plan and program multi-year projects when you don’t know if there’s going to be enough money next year to carry on with the project you just started – and our experience over the last 20 years of ISTEA, TEA-21 and SAFETEA-LU funding is that if there is any uncertainty it is bike and pedestrian projects that end up in that zone of uncertainty and don’t get funded. Look at the chart of Federal spending on bike/ped projects and you see a dip each time the transportation bill is about to expire and there is uncertainty over what will happen next. Look at what happens when “rescissions” come around…bike and pedestrian program funds make up a far larger proportion of the amount of money turned back to Washington.
So the new rule changes would set an upper limit – albeit an uncertain one – on the amount of transportation expenditures. Up until now, the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee has authorized programs and funding levels for five or six years at a time through the transportation bill. Another proposed change would allow the Chair of the Budget Committee, annually, to set overall spending ceilings that individual appropriation bills could not exceed. The next transportation appropriation, therefore, could set funding levels below the amount of money generated by the gas tax and well below current levels. At some future date, the Highway Trust Fund could be sitting there with a very attractive surplus. Although the new rules do continue to protect any such balances from being raided for deficit reduction (at least for now), it allows a return to the days when that surplus could be used to mask expenditures elsewhere in the budget. Plus, once again, massive uncertainty is created by making transportation funding subject to the whims of annual appropriations rather than more secure, multi-year funding.
Is this a direct attack on bike/ped funding? No. Does it make such an attack more likely – absolutely. Changing the rules, and allowing appropriators to wield significantly more influence over which portions of the transportation program gets funded each year, is a real challenge and will bring a level of excitement and anticipation to each annual appropriations cycle that we probably won’t come to cherish. Sometime before the beginning of March, we’ll get a taste of what this means. Under these new rules (assuming they pass, and there’s a three-line whip on to make sure they do), Congress must either pass a continuing resolution or a new transportation bill to keep highway and transit funding flowing…and at that point, we will need your help!
In the meantime, if you happen to be meeting with your members of Congress please put in a good word for popular, cost effective transportation investments that have a great economic return and dramatically improve the quality of life for businesses and middle-class taxpayers…if you know what I mean.
Andy Clarke League President
Clarke was appointed to the position of Executive Director in April of 2004 after successfully leading efforts to create, interpret and implement the various transportation programs that are available to improve conditions for bicycling and walking as the League’s State and Local Advocacy Director.
Watching the Today Show this morning, I was appalled – as were the hosts of the show, as far as one could tell – by the story of the Connecticut driver who is suing the parents of child he killed in a traffic crash. I had to stick around and see what the story was about, and sure enough the kid was on a bike. The story goes something like this: the driver is going 80mph in a 40mph or 45mph area (two-lane road fairly rural road, narrow paved shoulder), overtakes another car and hits and kills the 14-year old cyclist. The driver, with four prior convictions for drunk driving, is sent to jail for ten years for manslaughter and is now suing the parents of the kid for allowing him to ride without a helmet.
Yes, Connecticut has a helmet law (under 16). Yes, the DMV screwed up in letting this guy behind the wheel of a car in the first place. Of course a helmet would have had zero impact at that kind of speed. So the idea that a publicly-funded lawsuit could be brought against the child’s parents seeking $15,000 in damages for the emotional harm done to the driver is truly the stuff of fantasy – or certainly should be. And yet there it is.
Andy Clarke League President
Clarke was appointed to the position of Executive Director in April of 2004 after successfully leading efforts to create, interpret and implement the various transportation programs that are available to improve conditions for bicycling and walking as the League’s State and Local Advocacy Director.
The November 2010 elections are fast approaching, with much at stake for many of the policies and initiatives important to the League and the wider bicycling community. That’s why it is important to make sure your voice is heard. Please check out our election center to research election information for your state.
In the two years of the 111th Congress, an unprecedented level of activity has been generated around bicycling and active transportation issues. As the 111th Congress draws to a close, we provide an overview of that activity here.
Also, before the elections check out the three topics below. These issues are important for cyclists to consider before they hit the election booths. If you still have the opportunity to attend a candidate forum or talk to your candidate, ask them about one or more of these.
Photo courtesy of inhabitat.com
1. In March 2010, at the National Bike Summit, U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood announced a bold new policy statement that this is the “end of favoring motorized transportation at the expense of non-motorized transportation”.
Question: How would you work in Congress to improve conditions and opportunities for walking and bicycling and to integrate walking and bicycling into our national transportation system?
2. Communities around the country have built many miles of streets and roads that are unsafe for people traveling by foot, bicycle or taking transit. These roadways often lack sidewalks, crosswalks, space for bicyclists, and make no provision for transit riders or people with disabilities.
Question: If elected to Congress, would you support inclusion of a Complete Streets policy in the next transportation bill? Such a policy would require transportation agencies to routinely design and operate the entire right of way with safe access for drivers, transit users and vehicles, pedestrians, and bicyclists, as well as older people, children, and people with disabilities.
3. A 2007 national transportation poll (page 18) found that Americans would like to see 22% of federal transportation funds—about 15 times current levels—invested in walking and bicycling. Currently, this figure is just 1.5% (primarily from the Transportation Enhancements program), despite the fact that bicycling and walking make up more than 10 of all trips and 13% of fatal crash victims.
Question: Walking and biking deliver substantial benefits to economic development, public health, energy, security, mobility and the environment, making active transportation one of the most strategic and cost-effective Federal transportation investments available. If elected to Congress would you support concentrated, focused federal investments to build active transportation systems?
Make sure you get to the polls this November and bike the vote!
~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 has a proud and rich history of working for better bicycling. Founded in 1880 as the League of American Wheelmen, the organization launched the Good Roads Movement that helped get quality paved roads around the country. We continue this work 130 years later still fighting for better roads and conditions for cycling.
We were delighted to see our colleagues at San Francisco Bicycle Coalition use the same simple message that launched the bicycling movement in our country for one of their latest campaigns. Their Good Roads Campaign seeks to enlist members and other SF cyclists to help them report potholes and other street defects through the city’s 311 campaign. The SFBC has conducted an audit of some of the worst pavement conditions in the city and monitors the pavement resurfacing schedule to ensure key bicycling corridors are prioritized.
We support these efforts. In fact, one of the many questions in our Bicycle Friendly Community application asks about the existence of a reporting mechanism for roads in need of repair. Lack of one is a regular part of feedback to applying communities. The Website SeeClickFix.com uses social media and new technology for this type of reporting. Citizens in cities like Omaha, NE and Milwaukee, WI are using this to capture maintenance issues. The site even allows communities to compete against others. On a national level the Complete Streets Coalition’s, Transportation for America’s and even the Sierra Club’s philosophy of ‘fix-it-first’ are extensions of the spirit of the original movement.
As winter approaches with its cycle of freezing and thawing moisture that leads to deterioration of pavement, now is the time for advocates, bike clubs and every day cyclists to learn how to report problems in their community in preparation for springtime’s pothole repair and road resurfacing. We all have to work to help make sure the good roads that have been created remain that way.
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.
This isn’t how I wanted to spend International Walk and Bike to School Day. True, I was able to ride with my daughter to school this morning, but then had to finish up this statement to Tampa, Fla., area officials in response to a really depressing rash of fatal bike crashes. Obviously Tampa isn’t the first place to have to deal with this. Three years ago, Portland dealt with two back-to-back right-hook fatals in dramatic fashion; this year Mayors Menino (Boston) and Villaraigosa (Los Angeles) have hosted safety summits in response to specific incidents. But, the response to tragic events like these really do end up defining communities that care about creating safe and livable streets and neighborhoods.
Other big cities are tackling these issues with some powerful programs that Tampa could look at:
Chicago is doing crash analysis and working with bicycling advocates to improve traffic safety. In addition to the bicycling education being offered throughout the city to youth and adults, the Active Transportation Alliance has a Drive with Care campaign with the goal “to stigmatize and curb reckless driving”, and the Alliance also recently beefed-up their crash response tools with a hotline.
Closer to home in the Tampa area, St Petersburg has been making some progress of late – although still has a ways to go and suffers from some alarmingly high crash numbers as well – and has made it to a bronze-level Bicycle Friendly Community. They have seen a 15% reduction in car/bike crashes in the last couple of years thanks to infrastructure improvements and education programs. So there is hope and there are local examples of ways for Tampa and Hillsborough County to improve.
There is also hope because of the efforts of local advocates, the outpouring of support for the families of the victims, and because some local leaders are ready to act. County Commissioner Mark Sharp already replied to my e-mail this morning and there is a hearing this afternoon on bicyclist safety. Tomorrow, attention shifts to the City.
Andy Clarke League President
Clarke was appointed to the position of Executive Director in April of 2004 after successfully leading efforts to create, interpret and implement the various transportation programs that are available to improve conditions for bicycling and walking as the League’s State and Local Advocacy Director.
Big news on the proposed St. Charles County bike ban.
County Councilmember Jerry Daugherty has removed his support for Bill 3620, which would ban bicycling on key routes through St. Charles County, MO. With that, the threat of a bicycle ban is essentially over. Thanks to everyone who took action to help stop this ban including St. Louis Regional Bicycle Federation, Missouri Bicycle& Pedestrian Federation and TrailNet. Extra special thanks to local cyclists and bike shop owners who spoke out in public meetings against the proposed bans. Your hard work not only benefits other local cyclists, but the cycling community as a whole.
Though the proposed ban may be behind us, the fight for fair treatment in St. Charles still remains. Since the introduction of the bike ban bill, other bills have been put forth calling for items such as flags, mirrors and other non-standard equipment for bikes; a requirement to ride 20 inches from the fog line; and a low cap on organized rides unless a special permit is acquired. Like the proposed ban, these requirements would only be along specific state-owned roadways within the county, are inconsistent with current state codes and have been proposed with little to no input from the bicycling community. Missouri Bicycle & Pedestrian Federation has put forth its own set of changes to St. Charles County law. Action is still needed from local St. Charles County cyclists! Please attend the next County Council meeting Monday, Sept. 27 at Council Chambers at 7:00 p.m.
Jeff Peel State and Local Advocacy Coordinator
Peel joined the League in March 2008 as a Program Specialist for the Bicycle Friendly Communities program. Peel has a BA in American Studies from the University of Southern Mississippi.
We have been following the Reed Bates’ case since pretty much the day the saga began. At the very outset, I called a couple of the people closely involved with Mr. Bates and offered the League’s help; it did appear that the charges were inappropriate, that Bates had a legal right to ride where he was riding, and that the jury that Bates chose to be heard by was incorrectly instructed by the first judge involved. On that basis, we would have been happy to help defend his right to ride on the road.
Our offer to assist was not accepted; instead, he and his advisers chose to assert that not only was Bates legally allowed to ride where he was riding, but that’s where he and everyone else should be riding, even in the presence of a perfectly rideable shoulder. That approach took the issue beyond a strict legal argument as to where one is legally allowed to ride to where one should ride, and a rural Texas courtroom may not be the best place to have that call made on our behalf. As the situation has developed, Bates (and the people advising him) has unfortunately chosen to follow a strategy that our board and legal advisers did not think was in the best interests of all cyclists – from the initial trial by jury preference to a failure to show up for court dates and hearings to the pursuit of a position that is simply not reasonable and could easily backfire.
We have remained in touch with the issue with local Dallas-area advocates, Bike Texas and our board of directors. It is instructive that none of us have chosen to get involved. I think we all regret that the way the case has been played by Bates and his advisers has precluded us from constructively intervening to help him and defend our collective rights to the road.
Andy Clarke League President
Clarke was appointed to the position of Executive Director in April of 2004 after successfully leading efforts to create, interpret and implement the various transportation programs that are available to improve conditions for bicycling and walking as the League’s State and Local Advocacy Director.
As we mentioned last week, state transportation agencies are faced with another round of rescissions and will be cutting unspent funds from various programs. Unlike previous rescissions, these cuts do not have to follow a proportionality clause, meaning an increased threat for programs that typically fund bicycling projects.
You can help prevent this by taking action! Visit our Advocacy Center and tell your Governor to require that these cuts be made proportionately across eligible programs. States must report which program funds are affected by August 25th — so action is needed this week!
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 battle to stop the proposed bike ban in St. Charles County, MO continues. As previously noted, bill no. 3620 banning bikes from Highways D, DD, F and Z and Highway 94 southwest of 40 was tabled after strong opposition at the last County Council meeting. Since that meeting, advocates in Missouri and the region, including Patty Vinyard of St. Louis Regional Bicycle Federation, have met with Councilmember Joe Brazil and other County leaders. St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports:
The council is to take up the issue again at a work session Monday. After meeting with some bicycling activists, Brazil says he’s open to alternatives such as imposing the ban only on more dangerous stretches of the roads or just requiring bicyclists to take special precautions in those areas.
“We’re just trying to come up with the best thing, the right thing and the most effective thing to do,” Brazil said.
The League, Missouri Bicycle and Pedestrian Federation, St. Louis Regional Bicycle Federation, local cyclists and even the Missouri Department of Transportation hold fast in that such a ban would not only be unjust, but also illegal. The editorial board of St. Louis Post-Dispatch agrees “We understand their [the motorists] frustration, but bicyclists have the law on their side. This is a safety issue, so there should be room for compromise. There certainly is room for greater understanding and less hostility.” If safety is the shared concern here, then why are the County Council and local Sherrif’s Department dismissive when the subject of enforcing speed limits on these windy country roads come up? Compromise should not mean that cyclists just give up less.
All readers — Let St. Charles County leaders know that bicycling is an important to their County and should be encouraged, not banned. Sign the online petition, particularly if you live in Missouri, here.
St. Charles County residents — take further action by sending messages to your County Councilmember here.
Black Hawk Ban Moves to Court
Black Hawk, CO’s ban on bicycling is still in effect, and after weeks of discussions with state advocates and cyclists from around the state and country, city leaders have closed public comment. The ban now moves to court, where many of those who have received tickets will try to have them thrown out. Arraignment is expected in late August for a September to October court date.
Cyclists, especially those in Colorado, are encouraged to show their opposition to this unjust ban by signing the online petition here. For those wanting to help more, you can donate to help with the legal efforts here.
Photo from Bicycle Colorado
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.
Yeah, we saw it too. A gubernatorial candidate in Colorado is claiming that Denver’s bike sharing program and the city’s participation in an international climate change agreement is “converting Denver into a United Nations community.” He went on, “This is all very well-disguised, but it will be exposed.” The Denver Mayor’s views seem harmless, the candidate says, but “that’s exactly the attitude they want you to have.” Finally, “This is bigger than it looks like on the surface, and it could threaten our personal freedoms.” Bold words. All this because of bike sharing?
Current Colorado Governor Bill Ritter, a cyclist himself, signed into law Complete Streets, 3 foot passing and other key bike-friendly legislation pieces in his tenure. As far as cyclists in Colorado are concerned, the next governor has big (cycling) shoes to fill.
This isn’t the first time this week that bicycling related items were been broken down to partisan politics this week. Our victory in the Livable Communities Act passed a crucial committee vote, but that vote went down on strictly party lines. As we’ve often said, we’re fully bike-partisan. Our work with elected officials through the U.S. Conference of Mayors, National Conference of State Legislatures and the U.S. Congress has ignored the D’s and R’s after elected officials names.
We feel bicycling for fun, fitness and transportation is good for everyone and plenty of liberals and conservatives agree. Though, we could always use more of both speaking up for it. To us, bicycling represents freedom from congestion, freedom from those extra pounds,freedom to live longer, freedom to better know your neighbors (and neighborhood), freedom to spend more money in your local economy and freedom to have a bit of fun every once in awhile. Hardly conspiracy theory material. To claim that bicycling represents anything else is absurd.
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.
This is SO the wrong question. Zero-sum games are rarely constructive and rarely ask the right questions. The issue for urban transportation planners isn’t, or shouldn’t be, “which mode is going to win”. The questions should be more along the lines of what is the balance we need achieve among the different modes; what are people trying to do in urban areas that transportation facilitates or enables? Transportation – even riding a bike – is rarely an end in itself; in fact it almost always imposes costs that individuals and the community end up paying for somehow: in time, or pollution, or energy consumption, etc.
We should be asking how we minimize the need to travel in urban areas; and how we minimize the impact and cost of urban travel – in part so that essential traffic, like deliveries and emergency services and Presidential motorcades (kidding…), doesn’t get stuck in traffic made up largely of single-occupant vehicles driving a mile or two down the street at not much more than walking pace. Just look at the madness we create for ourselves with the school trip: 20%-30% of morning rush-hour traffic in many metro areas consists of perfectly able-bodied kids being ferried to school by parents with better things to do with their time who won’t let their kids walk or ride their bikes to school because there are so many harried parents rushing their kids to school and the roads and sidewalks around the school aren’t safe. And frankly, many of the kids could use the exercise.
And lest we forget, the numbers show that fully half of all trips in metropolitan areas are three miles or less; 40% are two miles or less and more than one quarter are just one mile or less. These are the trips we ought to looking at to see if there are more sustainable and efficient ways that people can travel than by car – which is how the vast majority of those trips are currently made, and it really isn’t working that well. That should make sense whether you are a cyclist, pedestrian, transit user, or car driver.
Similarly, the numbers show that we are going to be adding 100 million people to the US population in the next two to three decades, mostly in urban areas. With the best will in the world, that simply isn’t going to work if all those people have two cars and expect to be able to drive an open road 20 miles each way every day to their job or to buy groceries. We have to diversify our transportation system and rely less on SOVs. That means more and better transit, and safer, more convenient and attractive bicycling and walking. That isn’t rocket science and it isn’t an assault on cars either.
The best cities in the world, and the best streets in the world have managed to find a good balance. Copenhagen has a 37% bike mode share, which is amazing and which somehow civilizes the city and rush hour. But the second biggest share of traffic is cars. You can drive almost everywhere you want to in Copenhagen, but it doesn’t always make sense and there are real choices. Places like Portland and Boulder in the USA provide decent (not great, yet) examples of the same phenomenon. And the contrast between New York City avenues that have been balanced and those that haven’t are really quite instructive. Eighth and Ninth Avenues have been rebuilt recently with much better pedestrian and bicycle provision, much better transit, delivery and parking management, and the streets really work as multi-modal corridors. Safety for ALL users has improved. By contrast, 6th and 7th Avenues are still wide open race tracks with illegal and double parking, pointless 4 foot wide bike lanes, terrifying pedestrian crossings that are five or six lanes wide…and frustrated drivers.
Hopefully others can weigh in on the need to create places for people, the need for actual bona fide land use planning to which people adhere, the incredible co-benefits of reducing car travel and getting people onto transit, foot and bike, the cost-effectiveness of a more balanced approach etc. And hopefully the urge to pick one mode over another or to take sides can be resisted. After all, we have it on good authority that the era of favoring motorized over non-motorized transportation is over. We are all in this together.
As for me, I’m escaping to Deep Creek Lake for the week and a few bike rides that actually will be ends in themselves.
Keith Laughlin from the Rails to Trails Conservancy adds:
Despite the media’s attempts to create conflict, it won’t be a death match pitting motorists and truckers versus pedestrians and cyclists. Rather, it will reflect an evolving redefinition of what is necessary to create economically vibrant cities in the 21st century.
The always reliable Representative Earl Blumenauer of Portland, OR also gave an eloquent response. Here’s an excerpt:
First, let’s be clear about one thing: there is enough room on our nation’s roads for everyone, particularly those who are taking up less space, reducing traffic congestion, causing less wear and tear to the roads, and putting less pollution in the air. In fact, drivers should be thankful to see more cyclists and pedestrians hitting the streets – the more people biking and walking to work, school, or the grocery means the fewer people holding up traffic or honking their horns to make it through a light.
Darren Flusche League Policy Analyst
Flusche joined the League in April 2009 and has a B.A. in history from Syracuse University and a Masters of Public Administration with a concentration in public policy analysis from New York University.
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