[B’ Spokes: Just a few highlights from this article. I will also note that in Maryland the State owns ~10% of the roads yet funding for on-road bicycling facilities is predominantly limited to just State roads. Maryland’s stress of a trail “network” and only a trail “network” where too many do not feel comfortable biking to a trail even though they live within a mile of the trail has to stop! This is not about trail vs road but simply a need to put the stress where it belongs, and that is on a bicycling network, period. If you can’t use it to get from your home to your destination then it’s not much of a network is it? ]
by Tanya Snyder, Streets Blog
Anxious about Congress messing up the federal transportation bill? There’s a lot at stake in Washington, but consider this: 78 percent of transportation funds come from the state and local levels.
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The federal transportation bill is extremely important, and national programs like Safe Routes to School have prompted state and local agencies to think about more than just moving cars and trucks. But advocates shouldn’t let Congress dictate the pace of change. Sure, it would be huge if Washington raised the gas tax, Grunig said, but “the states aren’t waiting.” Between 2008 and 2010, 17 states enacted 29 new transportation funding bills.
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“We’re saying this is an important investment into our state’s transportation network. We can’t just keep building our roads and building our roads and not providing other alternatives.”
Delaware Secretary of Transportation Shailen Bhatt
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Bhatt says he doesn’t act alone. He half-jokingly offered a four-part recipe for advocacy success:
- Elect a governor who bikes.
- Elect senators who bike.
- Elect a congressmember who bikes.
- Get them all to show up at all of your events.
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Continue reading “To Change Your Community’s Streets, the Action Is in the Statehouse”
