Meet and Greet in Miami Tonight
Meet and Greet the new Executive Director of the Florida Bicycle Association, Tim Bustos, this evening at Grove Spot, 3324 Virginia Street, Coconut Grove, from 5:30PM – 7PM (Happy Hour Specials will be offered).
Tim will talk about what is right and wrong with bicycling in Florida and how we can help to make it better. Sponsored by Green Network Mobility and South Florida Bike Coalition.
Action Alert: Federal Funding for Biking and Walking Under Attack
The following is a follow up to John Mica’s July 7th press conference, from Alliance for Biking & Walking (By Carolyn Szczepanski):
Dedicated funding for biking and walking has been cut in the transportation proposal from the U.S. House of Representatives.
John Mica, chair of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, would eliminate critical Transportation Enhancements, Safe Routes to School and Recreational Trails programs — programs that Mica referred to as “not in the national interest.” Chairman Mica’s statement that these uses remain “eligible” for funding is worthless. Without dedicated funding for these three programs they are effectively eliminated.
Things on the Senate side are not much better. Senator James Inhofe, a lead negotiator in the Senate debate, declared that one of his TOP THREE priorities for the transportation bill is to eliminate ‘frivolous spending for bike trails.’ This is in direct conflict with Senator Barbara Boxer’s commitment to maintain dedicated funding for biking and walking. However, the Senate is working towards a bi-partisan solution – and Senator Inhofe’s comments mean funding for bicycling and pedestrian programs is at risk of total elimination.
We need every single person who simply wants safe options to walk or bicycle to contact their Senators and Representative TODAY!
Thanks to our partners at the League of American Bicyclists, you can direct your members to use the LAB Action Center to send message to their members of Congress.
Not in the National Interest?
Biking and walking make up 12 percent of all trips in the US – even as funding for biking and walking projects only account for 1.5% of the federal transportation budget. That’s more than 4 billion bicycle trips and 40 billion walking trips per year, including trips to work, school, shopping and for recreation and tourism.
Frivolous?
Bicyclists and pedestrians are the victims of reckless highway design, accounting for 14% of all traffic-related deaths. Two-thirds of all pedestrian deaths are on federally funded highways. Bicycling and walking programs build sidewalks, crosswalks and bikeways, improving accessibility and saving lives.
The Facts
Biking and walking are important forms of transportation, and dedicated funding for bicycle and pedestrian improvements is a very efficient use of federal transportation dollars. Portland, Oregon built a 300-mile network of bike lanes, multi-use trails, and bike boulevards for the cost of one mile of highway.
These projects also create jobs, and build local economies. Building bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure creates 46% more jobs than building road-only projects per million dollars spent. Cities that invest in bicycle and pedestrian projects turn downtowns into destinations, and capitalize on increased business activity.
Finally, shifting 1.5% of transportation spending has no impact on the federal budget, but instead, decreases transportation options for American families in a time of rising gas prices and an uncertain economy.
Help Protect Transportation Enhancements, Safe Routes to School and Recreational Trails. Contact your Representative and Senators, and tell them to reach out to Senators Inhofe, Boxer, and Congressman Mica to urge them to continue dedicated funding for these important biking and walking programs. We need every Senator and every Representative to speak out for walking and biking.
Why Now?
Both the House and Senate long-term transportation bills are being written as we speak. We still have a chance of influencing the outcomes. Let’s make sure that dedicated funding for biking and walking programs don’t disappear for many years.
Your Next Steps
Use the LAB Action Center to send a message to your members of Congress.
We appreciate your efforts to help all of us maintain these important programs.
Take Action July 7: Attack on Bike/Ped Funding in Congress
More from our Executive Director, Tim Bustos:
“In addition to the message I sent about recessions threatening needed improvements in our infrastructure at the state level, we have a new threat affecting our needs at the national level. Members of congress, including Florida’s own Representative, John Mica, are seeking to gut federal requirements for important bicycle and pedestrian funding. Please see the message below from the Alliance for Biking and Walking, and spread the word far and wide through your respective networks. We will need to take action soon, and we’ll have a narrow window of opportunity, so please spread the word through all your respective networks.”
The attack is on: Leaders in the U.S. House and Senate want to cut funding for bicycling and walking.
Tomorrow, July 7, 2011, Rep. John Mica (R-FL), chair of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, is holding a press conference to announce his vision for the next federal transportation bill. We anticipate he will include provisions that eliminate dedicated funding for biking and walking.
In order to preserve these critical dollars, we will need you to act immediately. After the press conference, we’ll work with our partners at American Bikes to craft an urgent action alert to send to your members and supporters tomorrow afternoon. Our best chance to change the bill is before the official language is released. To do that, we’ll need all hands on deck, urging their members of Congress to preserve dedicated funding for biking and walking.
The attack has started in the U.S. Senate, too. Last week, Senator James Inhofe (R-OK), the lead Republican on the Environment and Public Works Committee, stated that one of his top three priorities for the transportation bill is to eliminate ‘frivolous’ spending for bike trails.
If we don’t act quickly, dedicated funding for biking and walking programs may be written out of our transportation system for the next two to six years. And, once those programs are cut, there’s no guarantee we’ll get them back!
If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact me. Thank you in advance for your help in this urgent issue.
Sincerely,
Jeremy Grandstaff
Member Services Director
Alliance for Biking & Walking
Urgent Action Needed by July 8
A request from our Executive Director, Tim Bustos, regarding 2.5 billion rescission of funds:
“It looks like the feds will be raiding state coffers again, and funding for bicycling and walking projects will likely take a big hit. We also have a very narrow window of opportunnity, so please spread this message far and wide. If you haven’t done so already, please contact your FDOT and let them know _again_ how important these funds are to help improve the safety of bicyclists and pedestrians in Florida. Remind them that we already lead the nation in bicycle and pedestrian fatalities, so now is _not_ the time to be cutting critical funding.”
For more information, see
League of American Bicyclists blog post
Alliance for Biking & Walking blog post
THANK YOU for your support!