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New Cycling Policy From Transportation Department Earns Praise, Ridicule
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March 18, 2010 1:39 p.m. EST
Topics: government, politics, government departments, environmental issue, physical fitness, health, global warming, United States
Kris Alingod - AHN News Contributor
Washington, DC, United States (AHN) - Cycling advocates nationwide are jubilant over the Transportation Department's new policy urging states to include biking and walking networks into road projects. The policy, announced the same week the the city of Portland approved $20 million for a bike boulevard, comes amid renewed push to create "livable" communities.
The department is incorporating the needs of cyclists into infrastructure projects by recommending states treat biking and walking as equals with other types of transportation.
"Programs and facilities should accommodate people of all ages and abilities, including people too young to drive, people who cannot drive, and people who choose not to drive," the agency said in its policy statement.
Transportation Sec. Ray LaHood calls the policy a "sea change" in his blog. "Bike projects are relatively fast and inexpensive to build and are environmentally sustainable; they reduce travel costs, dramatically improve safety and public health, and reconnect citizens with their communities," he wrote less than a week after he surprised the National Bike Summit in D.C. with a rousing "tabletop speech" that can be seen on YouTube.
The blog WashCycle responded, "It is simply the strongest statement of support for prioritizing bicycling and walking ever to come from a sitting secretary of transportation."
The policy coincides with a National Governors Association's initiative to develop a new approach to transportation planning that focuses on "lower emissions, improve quality of life and make smart investment decisions."
"Many states confront a transportation system that is not meeting the needs of its citizens because it is out of date, stressed beyond capacity, financially unsustainable or inefficient," the NGA said on Wednesday.
LaHood's exuberant statements have earned him ridicule from fellow Republicans, according to the Courthouse News Service.
In a hearing on Wednesday of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, Republicans suggested that the secretary was taking drugs and asked what jobs would be created by a bike lane. They said such environmental projects have diverted hundreds of millions from other programs.
There is a growing effort to establish alternative ways of transport, spurred in part by the recession and higher fuel costs.
The Transportation Department already has a Safe Routes to Schools program, which provides states funding for education projects that have infrastructure and non-infrastructure activities promoting bicycling and walking.
The agency's new policy comes the same week the city of Portland unanimously voted to approve a proposal to use $20 million in savings of sewer rate money for a bike boulevard. The money could have been returned to sewer ratepayers but it would have saved them only 90 cents a year instead of creating at least 280 jobs.
Portland is home to the founder of the Congressional Bike Caucus, Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-OR), who says investments in bicycle infrastructure provide an immediate boost to local economies, public health, transportation needs and employment. Cycling also promotes tourism and supports small businesses, according to fellow advocate, Rep. Jim Oberstar (D-MN).
The District of Columbia is considering a proposal to create bike lanes along Pennsylvania Avenue and four other streets, more than doubling the miles of lanes for cyclists in the nation's capital.
The proposal has prompted criticisms from sports radio talk show host Tony Kornheiser, who said last week, "Roads were made for automobiles... They all wear... the little water bottle in the back and the stupid hats and their shiny shorts. They are the same disgusting poseurs that in the middle of a snowstorm come out with cross-country skiing on your block. Run 'em down."
Cycling advocates are up in arms over Kornheiser's comments. "Disgusting, ignorant, foolish. What a complete f-ing idiot," tweeted seven-time Tour de France champion Lance Armstrong.
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