Congress Is Closing In On A Transportation Bill - Tell Them To Preserve Funding For Walking and Biking

At long last, it may finally be crunch time.

We have been here before, asking you to contact your Senators and House Representative to preserve bicycling and walking in a transportation bill. You have responded every time and we are still in the game thanks to your diligence. Currently biking and walking funds are contained in the Senate bill but not in the House version.

Bike/ped trails aren't expensive in the scheme of things, and they
are unmatched in return on investment

With the pressure mounting to get a transportation bill (or any bill for that matter) passed the House and Senate are now negotiating terms of the final bill for passage. So we need your voice, here in the last mile, to ensure that walking and biking funds are not struck from the bill.

The key is the Cardin-Cochran agreement. This bipartisan compromise reached two months ago ensures that local governments and school systems are able to access funds to make walking and biking safer and more accessible.

This is the agreement, forged through strenuous effort, which must be preserved. It has no effect on the overall funding size of the bill. A recent Princeton survey found that an overwhelming majority of Americans (83%) support increasing or maintaining federal funding for sidewalks, bike lanes, and bike paths. Only 13% of Americans support decreasing biking and walking funding.

Contact your Senators and Representative today and tell them to keep bicycling and walking in the Transportation Bill!

An Update On The Slow-Moving Trainwrecks That Are The Federal Transportation Bills

We have urged you, our membership and readership, to contact your Congressmen the past few weeks and urge them not to gut biking and walking funding from federal transportation bills. Thank you if you made a phone call or sent a letter. Here is an update on the status of transportation legislation in Washington DC.

You can stop reading now if you want. This sums it up.

The Senate (cows on the tracks)
On the Senate side, Sen. Barbara Boxer is pessimistic about her two-year bill called Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century (MAP 21) after the bill was attacked by a swarm of unrelated amendments.

The House (the train was 8 hour late, ended up in the wrong city, all the passengers got motion sickness, and then the train fell into a river)
Although we didn't succeed in putting biking and walking back into the House Bill, our opposition to the bill has found some unlikely bedfellows. Not only do biking and walking proponents oppose the House bill, so does the Tea Party, Club for Growth, and several Chicagoland Republican Congressmen.

Senate Committee Votes Tomorrow On Complete Streets Amendment

Tomorrow, the US Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation will vote on an amendment which would require federally-funded street projects to consider all road users (including pedestrians and bicyclists) in their design.

This is the first time in six years that Complete Streets policies have been acted upon on a federal level.

Sen. Pat Toomey sits on this Committee.  Below is a letter we sent to Toomey's office.  The League of American Bicyclists is organizing engaged citizens to contact their respective Senators.  You can take action here.

Philadelphia and surrounding counties collaborate on $36M grant proposal to fund multi-use trail network

Grant would connect Schuylkill River Trail, East Coast Greenway & Camden GreenWay
















For the first time ever, Pennsylvania and New Jersey are poised to create a regional network of bicycle and pedestrian trails. In an unprecedented collaboration, six different counties and agencies in eastern Pennsylvania and southern New Jersey submitted a joint proposal to build 17 different trail segments to the U.S. Department of Transportation. On September 15th, the City of Philadelphia, Delaware, Montgomery, Schuylkill, Camden counties and the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources applied for $36 million of U.S. DOT Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) Discretionary grant funds to add 16.3 miles of trails and bridge crossings to the “spines” of the region’s network: The Schuylkill River Trail and the East Coast Greenway along the Delaware River.

The proposal, called Generating Recovery by Enhancing Active Transportation in Pennsylvania and New Jersey (GREAT-PA/NJ), would significantly complete an integrated, multi-county bicycle pedestrian network for the region. By filling in 17 critical gaps along the Schuylkill River Trail and the East Coast Greenway, it would help connect over 128 miles of bicycle trails in the region, providing more active transportation options and more multi-modal connections for the region’s 6 million residents.

“We are thrilled that after years of planning and public outreach but little construction, this grant program offers the Greater Philadelphia region an opportunity to finally build new trails so it can transform itself into a more connected, economically competitive and sustainable community,” said Spencer Finch, Director of Sustainable Communities at the Pennsylvania Environmental Council.

The public benefits of filling out this network include the creation of 1,400 jobs, the connection of residential neighborhoods to commercial corridors and places of work, the connection of residents to transit stops, economic development, enhancement of underserved neighborhoods access to green space and alternative modes of transportation, and improvements in public health. It will enhance the sustainability of the region by increasing the number of those who are able to (and enjoy!) walking and biking instead of driving for short trips, thus reducing greenhouse gases and air pollution.

“If this application wins approval, the region will finally have what it needs to entice more people to switch from their car to more sustainable modes of transportation for short trips: a connected trail network that can be used by users of all ages and backgrounds throughout the region to commute, run errands, exercise or go to a nearby park,” said Sarah Clark Stuart, Campaign Director at the Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia.

The submitted proposal includes trail segments and bridge crossings in Schuylkill (1 segment), Montgomery (3 segments), Philadelphia (7), Delaware (1), Bucks (2) and Camden (3) counties. The sponsors of the projects include: Schuylkill River Heritage Association, Montgomery County Planning Commission, Philadelphia Department of Parks and Recreation, Schuylkill River Development Corporation, Bartram’s Garden, Delaware River City Corporation, Pennsylvania Environmental Council, Borough of Marcus Hook, Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources and the Cooper’s Ferry Development Association. The proposal also received letters of support from over 52 elected officials, institutions and non-profit organizations, including all four Senators and eight Members of Congress in the region.

The proposal submission coincides time-wise with Philadelphia’s celebration of a new bicycle facility the Mayor’s inaugural ride of the new Spruce and Pine Street bike lanes on September 23rd.

The Pennsylvania Environmental Council promotes the protection and restoration of the natural and built environments through innovation, collaboration, education and advocacy with the private sector, government, individuals and communities as partners to improve the quality of life for all Pennsylvanians. For more information: www.pecpa.org and www.pecpa.org/eastcoastgreenway

Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization working with area governments and community organizations to help improve bicycling safety and education in southeast Pennsylvania, southern New Jersey and Delaware. The Bicycle Coalition is a member of and contributor to various national, state, regional and county bicycling, pedestrian and transportation organizations. For more information: www.bicyclecoalition.org