Good Morning Cleveland!
After a long series of red-eye flights, we’re almost the Washington DC! Stay tuned for more updates from the Bike Summit throughout the week…
We’re Going to Washington DC!
Next week, the Coalition Staff will is braving the cold and heading to Washington DC for the 2012 National Bike Summit, a gathering of bicycle organizations from all over the country. We will be advocating for biking and walking, and sharing your voice with our elected officials in DC.
Our message is clear: preserve dedicated funding for biking and walking. As more people choose these active modes to move around, it’s important we provide safe facilities for everyone.
You can follow our progress here on the blog to stay up to date with what we’re up to all the way across the country. We’re out there making sure your voice is heard!
If you want to add you voice to hundreds of others as we head to DC, become a member! We are proud to be YOUR voice representing bicycles in DC, and couldn’t do it without you.
[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=likinty_d_g&list=UUXG6ch0MLjYShVmOln9PKKw&index=16&feature=plcp]
Apply to be our Programs Manager
There is still time to apply to become our newest Programs Manager! We are accepting applications through THIS Friday, March 16, and would love to see you join us as we continue to make SLO County better for bicycles!
Pass the information along to friends/family/bicycle enthusiasts who might be interested.
For more information, and to apply, visit us online.
We’re Hiring a Programs Manager!
Join the Coalition team as our newest Programs Manager! We are accepting applications through Friday March 16, and would love to see you join us as we continue to make SLO County better for bicycles!
Pass the information along to friends/family/bicycle enthusiasts who might be interested.
For more information, and to apply, visit us online.
Morro Bay Bike Plan Moves Forward
Last week, the Morro Bay Planning Commission unanimously approved the latest draft of the Bike and Pedestrian Plan. Next week, Tuesday February 28th, the plan heads to the City Council for a final vote!
We’ll be there on Tuesday night to show our support for the plan, and hope to see you there too! It’s been a great process for you bicycle & pedestrian supporters in Morro Bay, and we’re almost done in getting the plan approved. We hope to see you there as we ask for final approval from the City Council, it’ll be fun!
When: Tuesday, February 28, 6:00 pm
Where: Veteran’s Memorial Building, 209 Surf St, Morro Bay (map)
A Bike and Pedestrian Plan is essential for a community to be eligible for federal funding for future projects. Not only does the plan provide guidelines for bike and pedestrian projects, but it also opens the door for more diverse funding sources to make them a reality.
Save Our Streets: Act TODAY!
We need you to ask both chambers of Congress to save our streets.
The current Senate transportation bill is a serious threat to biking and walking programs. To improve it, we’re asking our senators to vote for the Cardin-Cochran amendment, this will give local governments the freedom 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- Active transportation is a smart 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 our communities.
On the other side of Congress, the House is considering a transportation bill (HR 7) 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 by eliminating dedicated funding for biking and walking AND eliminating transit out of the highway trust fund. We need a transportation bill to meet our multi-modal 2012 needs, not auto-centric 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, creates more jobs per dollar than any other kind of highway funding, and is good for our healthy future.
- HR 7 makes streets more dangerous for kids. By repealing the 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.
For more information and great updates, visit America Bikes.
New Bill Eliminates Bike/Ped Programs!
New House Bill Reverses Decades of Progress
It’s so much worse than we thought… Today, the House released its transportation bill, the American Energy and Infrastructure Act.
Last week, we knew the bill would be bad news for biking and walking. But we didn’t think it would go so far as to completely remove every reference to bicycling and walking in the federal transportation policy. Despite making up about 1% of federal funding and over 13% of fatalities, it’s on the chopping block…
House leadership is pressing to eliminate bicycling and walking in the transportation bill:
- Transportation Enhancements is gone, the primary source for bike-ped programs
- Safe Routes to School is gone, reversing years of progress in creating safe ways for kids to walk and bike to school
- Allows states to build bridges without safe access for pedestrians and bicycles
- The Congestion Mitigation Air Quality program (CMAQ) is less likely to support pedestrian, bicycle, and transit improvements because air quality is no longer the operative measure.
- Eliminates bicycle and pedestrian coordinators in state DOTs
- Eliminates language that insures that rumble strips “do not adversely affect the safety or mobility of bicyclists, pedestrians or the disabled”
- Eliminates language that specifically includes traffic calming and bike-ped safety improvements as eligible for HSIP funding
But we can still save biking and walking in this bill!
The benefits of biking and walking extend into all aspects of everyone’s life:
- We save money on commuting costs, which we spend elsewhere
- We improve our health with every trip we take
- We reduce congestion on our roads by driving less
- We reduce our impact on the environment by not creating pollution
- We connect with our communities by being outside and ringing our bells at our friends as we pass by
- WE HAVE FUN!
After the bill is out of the Transportation & Infrastructure Committee this week, hopefully with some amendments to reinstate bike-ped programs, we will need everyone to contact your Representative before it goes to the House floor for a vote!
If we lose here, we risk losing decades of progress. We know we are asking a lot of you and we thank you for all you’re doing to preserve biking and walking. Tell your friends!
Read more about the American Energy & Infrastructure Jobs Act via AmericaBikes.org
Contact your Representative to ask them to support biking & walking via BikeLeague.org
Find your Representative to contact via AmericaBikes.org
AG Bike Plan Public Workshop
This is your opportunity to affect the future of bicycle and pedestrian travel in and around Arroyo Grande! The Coalition will be there to share our ideas, and encourage you to share your voice too!
When: Thursday February 9th, 6:00 – 7:30pm
Where: City Council Chambers, 215 East Branch St, Arroyo Grande (map)
Why: Your voice matters! Help us shape a better future for bicycles as AG updates the bicycle and pedestrian plan, your ideas are our future!
The brief presentation will begin promptly at 6:00, with the public workshop immediately after. For more information, contact project planner Ryan Foster at (805) 473-5420.
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