On Thursday, February 2, the transportation committee of the U.S. House of Representatives is set to vote on a long-term transportation bill, which would eliminate all programs dedicated to supporting biking and walking. A bipartisan group of Representatives is planning to amend the bill to reinstate a modest and revised version of these programs -- which have made a huge difference over the last 20 years in boosting bicycling and bicycle travel.
Please take a moment to find out if your Representative is on the committee and urge him or her to support biking and walking in the transportation bill: americabikes.org/take-action.
If your Representative is not on the committee, keep an eye peeled for more alerts about when the legislation goes to the full House of Representatives later in February -- hopefully, it will include bike facility investment for America's future!
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THIS THURSDAY -- BIKE PROGRAMS ON THE BRINK
From the Executive Director
Jim Sayer
Tuesday, January 31, 2012
Today, the leadership of the U.S. House of Representatives is releasing its long-term federal transportation bill. Cycling groups expected the bill to be bad news for biking and walking, but we didn’t think it would reverse all progress made in this country in the past twenty years.
The House Transportation Committee will vote Thursday, February 2, on whether to approve this bill or amend it to include biking and walking programs. Find out if your Representative is on the committee by clicking here -- and if he or she is, then take action right away.
Why the urgency? House leaders are pushing hard to completely cut bicycling and walking out of transportation. Lawmakers seem to have gone through federal law line-by-line to gut programs that make streets safer for cyclists and pedestrians. They haven't done this to any other transportation sector. Among many terrible provisions, the House bill:
- Destroys the major bike/walk funding program (Transportation Enhancements);
- Repeals the Safe Routes to School program, which helps create safe ways for kids to walk and ride bicycles to school;
- Allows states to build bridges without safe access for pedestrians and bicycles;
- Eliminates bicycle and pedestrian coordinators in state DOTs; and
- Strips language which ensures that rumble strips “do not adversely affect the safety or mobility of bicyclists, pedestrians, or the disabled.”
This is as urgent as it gets. Even if Mr. Petri's amendment succeeds, there will be a long road ahead. But if we lose here, we risk losing decades of progress for a more bike-friendly America.
Please pass this along to all your local friends and contacts -- particularly high-level contacts like mayors, school board members, and business leaders -- and ask them to weigh in, too. Thanks so much for your quick action and we'll keep you posted.
Photo from iStockPhoto.com.
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JIM SAYER is executive director of Adventure Cycling Association.
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