New survey shows overwhelming support for bike facilities

As Congress debates funding for our future transportation system, America Bikes released the results of a survey that shows Americans overwhelmingly support funding for bike and pedestrian facilities. According to America Bikes:

The national survey, performed by Princeton Survey Research Associates International, asked 1,003 adults in the United States about their opinions on federal funding for sidewalks, bike lanes, and bike paths. The results were astounding — and bipartisan:

• 83 percent of all respondents support maintaining or growing the federal funding streams that pay for sidewalks, bikeways, and bike paths.
• 80 percent of Republican respondents and 88 percent of Democrat respondents think Congress should maintain or increase federal funds for biking and walking.
• 91 percent of respondents between the ages of 18 and 29 support continuing or increasing biking and walking funds.

These results add critical perspective to a pressing national debate about transportation, as members of Congress conference to develop a consensus transportation bill — and some propose eliminating dedicated funding for biking and walking.

Congressman Blumenauer

The survey results were released at a press conference this morning that we attended. Andy Clarke of the League of American Bicyclsts introduced the speakers that included Senators Cardin (D-MD) and Durbin (D-IL) and Congressmen Blumenauer (D-OR) and Petri (R-WI). For a summary of remarks from see DC.Streetsblog.

We rode in from Reston and encountered lots of bike commuters on the W&OD and Custis Trails.

Update-May 10: Post transportation reporter Ashley Halsey III wrote an article about the survey, Advocacy group says public supports federal fuuding for bikes, pedestrians. The first quote is from well-known cycling expert, AAA's John B. Townsend II. I don't recall AAA ever being called an "advocacy group" in the many Halsey articles that quote from AAA press releases and yet those are the first two words Halsey's article on the America Bikes survey.

Press conference on funding for bike facilities

America Bikes is a national coalition of bicycle organizations that advocates for a federal transportation law that provides adequate funding for bike facilities. They are holding a press event next Wednesday morning, May 9, on the Hill to announce new survey data about Americans' attitudes towards federal funding for sidewalks and bike lanes. A House-Senate conference committee is scheduled to begin formal negotiations on the latest Transportation Bill on May 8.

Senator Cardin (MD) and Representative Blumenauer (OR) will be at the press conference, as will Andy Clarke of the League of American Bicyclists and others, to mark the release and discuss the importance of biking and walking for transportation.

The press conference will be on Wednesday, May 9 from 9:15 - 10:30 AM. At the House Triangle, located directly in front of the Capitol Building on the House side. The press event follows a National Bike to School Day celebration in Lincoln Park. From 7:30 - 8:30 a.m., school children will gather in Lincoln Park and ride in “bike trains” to nearby Capitol Hill public schools.

If you are not involved in Bike to School Day consider attending the press conference to ensure there is a good showing of folks with bikes. Biking and walking funds are on the line-funds that benefit bike projects in Maryland, DC, and Virginia.  Read the America Bikes press release about the event.

Formation of national bike advocacy coalition

We just received word that the three top national bicycle advocacy organizations have agreed to form a single organization: "The leadership of the Alliance for Biking & Walking, Bikes Belong, and the League of American Bicyclists has agreed that uniting the three organizations would dramatically improve their effectiveness in increasing bicycle use in U.S. communities. Leaders of the three groups issued a joint statement summarizing the outcome of their recent meeting in San Diego, February 13-14:

“Our enthusiasm to take this momentous step for the movement is matched by a commitment to do this right,” said Noah Budnick, Board Chair of the Alliance for Biking & Walking. The boards of all three organizations must ratify the agreement. Once (and if) that occurs, the transition team will work with a variety of board, staff, partners and advisors to determine the initial programs, membership structure, and staff needs of the new organization. “Changes will be implemented carefully and respectfully over time,” continued Budnick, “and it is important to say that all existing contractual agreements will be honored and the continuity of existing memberships is assured.”

“We can transform communities across the United States and accelerate the creation of a more bicycle-friendly America by combining the programs, resources, and members of these three leading organizations,” said Chris Fortune, Chairman of the Bikes Belong board and member of the transition team empowered to facilitate unification of the three groups. The transition team comprises representatives of each organization and will be working with the boards, staff, and members of each group to implement the process.

“There is a lot of work ahead,” acknowledged Hans van Naerssen, Chair of the League’s board and a member of the transition team. “We must determine how to combine the diverse strengths of a powerful alliance of state and local organizations, a storied national user group, and a vibrant industry association in a way that preserves their unique attributes and realizes the game-changing potential of a single entity.”

See the official statement that includes a FAQ.

Key Transportation Votes in House and Senate

The League of American Bicyclists and other organizations are asking cyclists to contact their Senators and Representatives to ask them to support a more bicycle-friendly transportation bill. Here is text from the LAB Take Action Alert:

Act Now on Key Transportation Votes
Ask the Senate to Support Cardin-Cochran, Tell Your Representative to Oppose the House Bill It’s time to ask both chambers of Congress to save our streets.

The current Senate transportation bill (MAP-21) weakens walking and biking programs. To improve the bill, we’re asking senators to vote for a bipartisan amendment to guarantee local governments a voice in transportation decisions and allow them to build sidewalks, crosswalks, and bikeways that keep people safe.

In the House, we are asking representatives to oppose the House transportation bill. Despite the fact that walking and bicycling infrastructure is a low-cost investment that creates more jobs per dollar than any other kind of highway spending, the House bill eliminates dedicated funding for walking and biking altogether.

Will you contact your Representative and Senators today and ask them to save our streets?

Senate: Support the bipartisan Cardin-Cochran amendment

As written, the Senate’s transportation bill removes dedicated funding for walking and biking and allows state DOTs to opt-out of safe street programs. The Cardin-Cochran amendment ensures local governments can fund walking and biking infrastructure.

Tell your senators:

Local governments deserve a voice in transportation. The Cardin-Cochran amendment ensures that cities and counties have a voice in making transportation decisions for safer streets in their communities. Safety matters. Bicycle and pedestrian deaths make up 14% of all traffic fatalities, but only 1.5% of federal funds go towards making walking and biking safer. These programs provide funding for sidewalks, crosswalks, and bikeways that make streets safe for all users.

Active transportation is a wise investment. Walking and biking infrastructure is low-cost, creates more jobs per dollar than any other kind of highway spending, and is critical to economic development for main street America.

House: Say “NO” to H.R. 7

On the other side of Congress, the House is about to consider a transportation bill that reverses 20 years of progress in making streets safer for people. Despite the fact that walking and biking make up 12% of trips but receive only 1.5% of federal funding, the House bill eliminates dedicated funding for walking and biking. It’s time to defeat this bill.

Tell your representative:

HR 7 takes us back to the 1950s. HR 7 takes us back to a 1950s system by eliminating dedicated funding for biking and walking AND kicking transit out of the highway trust fund. We need a transportation bill to meet 2012 needs, not 1950 needs.

HR 7 doesn’t invest wisely. Federal transportation laws should invest our finite resources in cost-effective, efficient infrastructure solutions that create jobs and keep the economy moving. The House bill eliminates walking and biking, despite the fact that walking and bicycling infrastructure is low-cost and creates more jobs per dollar than any other kind of highway funding.

HR 7 makes streets more dangerous for kids. By repealing the successful and effective Safe Routes to School program, the House bill makes the streets more dangerous for kids on their walks and bike rides to school. Congress needs to know that that finding effective, efficient transportation solutions to keep people safe on the streets should be a national priority. Please contact your representative and senators today.

Thank you for all that you do to keep the streets safe!

Please visit the Take Action page.

Ride to promote Safe Routes to School

Four young women are riding bikes cross country from Florida to San Francisco to raise money for the League of American Bicyclists Bicycle Friendly Communities program and for the Safe Routes to School National Partnership. Organizer of the ride Jeanie Ward-Waller currently lives in DC. The group leaves Key West on Saturday, Feb. 4. You can follow their progress on the Ride American for Safe Routes website.

It's a cruel irony that the U. S. House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee is voting today on a Transportation Bill that would cut most funding for bicycling and pedestrian projects, including the Safe Routes to School Program.

Defend bicyclists' right to the road

Unmaintained section of
FFX Co Pkwy trail

Earlier we mentioned that a mandatory sidepath provision is included in the current version of the Transportation Bill working it's way through the Senate. According to the League of American Bicyclists, the bill was marked up yesterday and the mandatory side path provision was retained:

"It requires cyclists on Federal lands to use a path or trail, instead of roads, if the speed limit is over 30 MPH and a trail exists within 100 yards, regardless of its condition or utility of the path. The provision sets a terrible precedent. Passing it would send the wrong message to transportation agencies that these policies are acceptable. Laws like this have been taken off the books in states over the past 30 years. This takes us in the wrong direction."

The League has started an online petition to let cyclists "demonstrate collective anger at this particular language and gives us the flexibility to "deliver" it at the most opportune moment." Please take a minute to sign the petition to fight this ill-conceived proposal.

Bikes in the news

NPR's All Things Considered story entitled Bike Infrastructure Hits Congressional Speed Bumps includes an interview with Andy Clarke of the League of American Bicyclists.

"If we were in Portland or Amsterdam ... we'd have our own set of traffic signals, and there'd be a little more space here," he says, "but, you know, these are early days, and we're not Amsterdam yet. We don't have quite that many cyclists, but it's certainly noticeable the increase in the last year or two as the infrastructure has gone in."

The Post has two articles on bikes: Mental health study tries Capital Bikeshare as therapy about a study of the health benefits of cycling using Capital Bikeshare bikes. WABA coordinated training for the cyclists:

After six months of Bikeshare participation, the patients will swap places with a control group that will ride for the next six months. “The hypothesis is that people who have been riding bikes for six months will have a greater sense that they are healthier,” Moghimi said. “They’ll have a greater sense of mobility, that things are accessible to them in the city that weren’t accessible before.”

Another article in the Post: Pedicabs and exercise: That’s how we roll.

Pedicab drivers, like their renegade cousins, bike messengers , burn countless calories cycling, one of the most healthful forms of exercise we know. They work outdoors. They work for themselves. They set their own hours. A hustling driver can cover 25 or 30 miles in an eight-hour day, earning about $200 and staying pretty darn fit in the process.

Cyclists paved the way for roads

Today another motorist shouted out his window that I should be riding on the sidewalk. I guess he didn't read my recent Patch article about this topic, or he didn't agree with it, not to mention the fact that there was no sidewalk on the road we were traveling; it had ended a few feet back. I won't go into all the reasons why we usually shouldn't ride on the sidewalk.

What most motorists don't know is that cyclists were the first proponents of paved roads back in the late 1800's. There's a good article in the Guardian entitled 19th century cyclists paved the way for modern motorists' roads: Car drivers assume the roads were built for them, but it was cyclists who first lobbied for flat roads more than 100 years ago:

Many motorists also assume that roads were built for them. In fact, cars are the johnny-come-latelies of highways.

The hard, flat road surfaces we take for granted are relatively new. Asphalt surfaces weren't widespread until the 1930s. So, are motorists to thank for this smoothness?

No. The improvement of roads was first lobbied for – and paid for – by cycling organisations.

In the UK and the US, cyclists lobbied for better road surfaces for a full 30 years before motoring organisations did the same. Cyclists were ahead of their time.

Cyclists' organisations, such as Cyclists' Touring Club in the UK and League of American Wheelmen (LAW) in the US, lobbied county surveyors and politicians to build better roads. The US Good Roads movement, set up by LAW, was highly influential. LAW (now LAB) once had the then US president turn up at its annual general meeting.

Hat tip to Owen for pointing out the article.

Who speaks for cyclists?

FABB is one of several bike organizations included in a Vienna Patch article by Tim Fricker of bikes@vienna entitled Who Speaks For Cyclists?. Also included are the Vienna Bicycle Advisory Committee, WABA (FABB's parent organization), Virginia Bicycling Federation, and the League of American Bicyclists. FABB is a sponsored project of WABA and we encourage our supporters to become members of WABA and to donate directly to FABB.

Virginia bicycle and pedestrian funds in jeopardy

According to the League of American Bicyclists blog, Virginia and other states have been asked to send transportation funds, including those dedicated to bicycle and pedestrian projects, back to the federal government. We urge Fairfax cyclists to use the LAB action alert to contact Governor McDonnell to urge him to work with VDOT to ensure balanced cuts:

Yesterday, June 30, the Federal Highway Administration informed state Departments of Transportation of another rescission of funds, this time totaling $2.5 billion. The action is taken under the 2011 Full-year Continuing Appropriations Act. Attached is the FHWA notice, which includes the total amount of funds each state is to send back to Washington.

States are given maximum flexibility about the source of the funds that are rescinded – from among a variety of transportation programs. Most critically for bicycling, the transportation enhancements, congestion mitigation, and recreational trails programs are included in the list of programs. Fortunately, the Safe Routes to School program is not included, so those funds are safe.

We say that because Transportation Enhancement and Congestion Mitigation Air Quality funds have consistently been inequitably targeted for rescissions in most states – and this will likely continue unless State DOT’s hear from their customers. In August, 2010 almost $1 billion of CMAQ, TE and Recreational Trails funds were returned to Washington, out of a $2.2 billion rescission. That means that State Departments of Transportation didn’t spend these funds in the first place – even though they could have been using the funds to build better bicycling infrastructure, provide bicyclist education, install bike parking – and now are choosing instead to send the money back to Washington.

Given the complexity of issue, the short turn-around time, and the fact that there’s a Federal holiday of some note on Monday, it’s a challenge to know how to effectively respond and try to influence the outcome of this rescissions process – however, we have set up an action alert here that you can use. Governors often seem to have little influence over their Departments of Transportation and State DOT directors certainly need to know your concerns but will rarely be the person making the actual decision. If you have a statewide advocacy group in your state, they will be a good place to go for any targeted action or inside information on who to contact and how.