I didn't go to the National Bike Summit, but I did see the Congressional Ride go by my house as I was out walking my dog - and things seemed to be going well at that point. Rep. Jack Kingston (R-GA) and Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-OR) joined the ride, so it was "bike-partisan".
One of the big 'asks' this year was for Earl Blumenauer's Active Community Transportation Act. Streetsblog asked if 2010 will be the year for federal bike aid. It had better be, I fear next year they'll less reason for enthusiasm. Despite the "bike partisan" behavior above and the commitment of Republican Tom Petri of Wisconsin, as BikePortland points out "partisan politics around biking 'has gotten worse.'"
- The two Complete Streets bills (H.R. 1443, and S. 584) have 66 co-sponsors between them and not one of them is a Republican.
- The newly launched Active Community Transportation Act has six co-sponsors — all of them are Democrats.
- The Safe Routes to School bill (S. 1156) has 21 co-sponsors, all but four are Democrats.
- The Safe Routes to High Schools Act (H.R. 4021) has 21 co-sponsors; only two are Republican.
- The Urban Revitalization and Livable Communities Act (H.R. 3734) has 104 co-sponsors; 102 are Democrats and only two are Republican.
- The Land and Water Reauthorization and Funding Act (S. 2724) has nine co-sponsors. None of them are Republican.
There was more involvement from DOT this year with an FTA administrator and Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood speaking positively about cycling and about riding the C&O Canal often (he said he and his wife ride "as far as they can" and someone - probably from bike-pgh - shouts out "Pittsburgh!")
Comments