Action Alert: Contact your Senators!
Bicycle and Pedestrian Funding under Attack – Again
Contact your Senators Again Today to Save Bicycle and Pedestrian Funding
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.
Senator Rand Paul’s 80-year Bridge Repair Plan
Now, Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) is taking the lead in trying to destroy the Transportation Enhancements component of the transportation bill that funds bicycle and pedestrian projects. 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.
We agree on the need to keep our bridges safe, but the lives of pedestrians and cyclists are important too. 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 a lack of safe non-motorized infrastructure – exactly what the enhancement program was created to fix.
If Sen. Paul’s amendment is successful, it would eliminate approximately $700 million in federal funding for FY2012 that is used to construct sidewalks, bike lanes, bike paths, trails and other infrastructure that makes it safe for bicyclists and pedestrians to get around. Even if every penny of these funds is diverted to bridge repairs, Senator Paul’s plan will still take 80 years to fix the backlog of bridge repairs we have today — by which time all those repaired bridges would be falling down again.
Remember that the TE program represents less than two percent of the federal transportation program and these projects help alleviate traffic congestion, improve safety, get people active, and create more jobs per dollar than highway-only projects.
Remember also that last year, states sent back to Washington $530 million of unspent bridge funds in rescissions. The states are leaving bridge repair funds on the table, unspent, year after year. They should at least spend these funds first.
If the Paul amendment succeeds, it will make it much more challenging to sustain funding for Transportation Enhancements, Safe Routes to School, and Recreational Trails in the long-term transportation bill that the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee starts debating on
November 9.
We must turn back any amendment to strip Transportation Enhancements.
Last month, more than 75,000 messages were sent to Senators to ask them to stand strong for Transportation Enhancements. Thank you, that was an amazing turnout – but we must do better this time. Every time someone in Congress attacks bicycling and walking, we must push back even stronger than we did the time before. And, we will keep doing it until bicycle and pedestrian funding is protected.
This is the third time in a month that a small group of Senators has targeted Transportation Enhancements, using a different angle each time. It is 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.
Please contact your Senators today to ask them to vote against the Paul amendment (SA-821) to eliminate Transportation Enhancements. And then please forward this message to all your friends, club members, and supporters, with the link to the League of American Bicyclists Action Center.
If you have any questions, feel free to contact me 850-238-5328.
Thank you for your help today, and for passing along the call to action.
FBA @ …
Thanks to all who visited our booth during the Mount Dora Bicycle Festival this past weekend, we appreciate the continued support. FBA will next be @ the Ride to Defeat ALS on November 5th, the Bicycle Bash at Flatwoods Park on November 6th and the Horrible Hundred Expo on November 19th. Be sure to stop by and say “hello” and bring your bicycle buddies! New members will receive $5 off the membership fee when they join at the event. We look forward to seeing you soon!
November 5th, Ride to Defeat ALS
November 6th, Bicycle Bash Festival (and check out the YouTube video)
November 19th, Horrible Hundred Expo
Economic Impact Survey for Seminole County Trails
A message from the East Central Florida Regional Planning Council:
The East Central Florida Regional Planning Council is conducting a survey to determine the economic impact of trails in Seminole County from now until November 19th. This includes face to face surveys at trail heads and along sections of the Flagler Trail, Cross Seminole Trail, Seminole Wekiva Trail and the Sanford Riverwalk. You may also take the survey on line using this link:
https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/SeminoleTrailUserSurvey
Anyone interested in volunteering with survey assistance should contact Tara McCue at tara@ecfrpc.org or 407.262.7772.
Funding for this project is provided by Seminole County, the Florida Office of Greenways and Trails, the U.S. Forest Service, and the Florida Greenways and Trails Foundation
Thank you for your support!
If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me at 407.262.7772.
Gina Marchica
GIS Specialist
gmarchica@ecfrpc.org
East Central Florida Regional Planning Council
309 Cranes Roost Blvd. Suite 2000
Altamonte Springs, Fl 32701
407.262.7772 (phone)
407.262.7788 (fax)
www.ecfrpc.org
We Did It! Transportation Bill Preserved!
We’ve won – for now! Thank you to everyone that was able to send e-mails and make phone calls on behalf of keeping Transportation Enhancements and the Safe Routes to School programs intact in the extension of the transportation bill. You did make a difference – please see the letter below from “America Bikes” that summarizes what we accomplished, and what we need to do next. However, as detailed below, we’ve just won the initial battle – we will still need to stay on this over the next six months until the extension expires – we’ll keep you posted (but we will try to keep the e-mails to a minimum).
On behalf of FBA and all our partners – thanks again!
Regards,
Tim Bustos
Letter from America Bikes:
Thank you for all your help over the last week beating back the Coburn Amendment. Together the bicycling community generated over 50,000 emails into the Senate – as well as hundreds, maybe even thousands, of calls. We reached every single Senator and created a buzz in the halls of Congress. I heard from several Senate offices stating their support for the clean extension and for Transportation Enhancements. It was clear that, had Senator Coburn offered his amendment on the floor, it would have lost overwhelmingly.
You may read in the news today that Senator Coburn dropped his amendment because he got a promise from Senator Boxer to make Transportation Enhancements optional in the two year bill. I’ve gotten several emails today asking if we won the battle but lost the war. No we haven’t. We have not lost any policy ground- although we may be losing the messaging battle.
Please remember Senator Coburn is the same person who says TE is 10% of Surface Transportation Funds, and suggests that TE funds go mainly to the ‘beautification’ and ‘museum’ uses of Transportation Enhancements. Just because he says there will be an ‘opt-out’ provision for TE in the long term bill doesn’t make it so.
Senator Boxer, Chair of the Environment and Public Works Committee charged with drafting the Transportation bill, has stated that “there is no opt out option” and that there will be dedicated funding. She has stated there will be reforms to the bill, including to the programs that provide dedicated funding for biking and walking. There may not even be a program called ‘Transportation Enhancements’ in the new bill- but she has promised there will be dedicated funding.
She also said that if its controversial there should be a vote. We should consider ourselves on notice that we will need to defend dedicated funding for biking and walking in six months when this extension expires. And we will need to be able to get 60 votes in order to overcome a filibuster. The push we did this week helps in building that support but we will need to continue building relationships in order to bring swing Senators to our side. The Bike Summit will be critical in this fight.
Over the next week or so we will be thanking our Senate Champions- Senators Boxer, Reid, Durbin, Schumer for their leadership in the transportation deal with the House, and many many more who were lined up ready to speak on our behalf had the Senate debated the issue- and we’ll send an update to the partners in DC.
We also want to thank you and promoting the alerts and in the media- and thank all the individuals who called and emailed. This outreach helped keep Senate leadership strong in defending TE, and helped us educate all Senators. This will help in the next fight.
If you have any questions please feel free to contact me at 202-215-3908<tel:202-215-3908> or via email caron@americabikes.org<http://caron@americabikes.org>
Sincerely,
CaronCaron Whitaker
Campaign Director
America Bikes
1612 K Street, NW Suite 802
Washington, DC 20036
(ph)202-215-3908
(f) 202-223-3181
(e) caron@americabikes.org
When America Bikes, America Benefits
Action Alert: Critical Funding at Stake
A message from FBA Executive Director Tim Bustos:
“We have been working on this for awhile now, but the fight isn’t over yet. I’ve gone on the congressional record on behalf of FBA, we’ve written letters, and we’ve had meetings with our members in congress. However, the final vote could happen in a matter of days. People that don’t ride bikes, and know nothing about the valuable contributions cyclist contribute to society, could vote to take away as much as 700 million in critical funding for bicycle projects. They also fail to realize that Florida is one of the most dangerous places in America to walk or ride a bike, so we can’t let this happen. Please circulate the information below to your contacts, your bike club members, and anyone else you know that can contribute to this effort.”
From the League of American Bicyclists:
We expect that in the next few days, Senator Coburn (R-OK) will ask Congress to eliminate the federal Transportation Enhancements program – the primary funding source for the past 20 years for bike lanes, trails, bike racks on buses, bike education etc. This isn’t safe or smart; it’s not good for the economy or the environment; this is bad health policy and bad transportation policy. But they are going to try because they don’t think bicycling matters.This year, around $700 million of Federal transportation funds, which in reality is less than 2 percent of total transportation dollars, will be spent on bicycling and walking. In 2012 that figure might be a big fat zero.
Even though bicycling projects create more jobs per dollar than highway-only projects and cutting enhancements won’t impact the deficit – the money just won’t be spent on bicycling – some Members of Congress want to force us backwards to a 1950s highway-only mindset: as if oil embargoes, congestion, smog, the obesity epidemic and climate change never happened.
Now is the time to Save Cycling, so we are asking you to contact your Senators and urge them to support continued funding for biking and walking. Don’t let them take away this vital investment program for smart, sustainable, safe transportation choices.
Please Take Action today.
Thank You.
Go HERE for LAB “I BIKE I VOTE” Blog post and direct link to TAKE ACTION
FBA in the News
The Daytona Beach News-Journal recently printed an article on our very own Tim Bustos – read all about it here!
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!