“This is the end of favoring motorized transportation at the expense of non-motorized.”

That’s what Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood tweeted in reference to a new federal bike and pedestrian policy, which promises to, “Treat walking and bicycling as equals with other transportation modes.”

This is a big announcement. We encourage you to see the accompanying article at Mr. LaHood’s own blog, with more video, and links to more coverage.

Biking and walking have long been shortchanged by both federal and state governments. As the Alliance points out in their 2010 Benchmarking Report:

Ten percent of trips are by bicycle or foot, yet bicyclists and pedestrians make up over 13% of traffic fatalities and receive just 1.2% of federal transportation dollars.

So this new federal policy is a welcome change. Let’s think about moving people, not just cars.

L to R -- Jeff Ciabotti (Rails to Trails), Chris Scott (VBF), Senator Mark Warner, Barbara Duerk (VBF), Champe Burnley (VBF), Marianne Fowler (Rails to Trails)

Cyclists from across Virginia convened in Washington to meet with Virginia’s eleven congressmen as well as Senators Warner and Webb.  Meetings covered issues such as the upcoming transportation bill, Complete Streets, Safe Routes to School (extending this to include high school students), support for Congressman Bluemenaur’s Active Community Transportation Act, and of course, Rails-With-Trails.  

A number of citizens from across Virginia teamed up with VBF for these meetings –  bike retailers and manufacturers’ reps, mountain bikers and bike commuters, as well as cycling advocates.  The team offered a broad perspective on what is needed to improve cycling in Virgina.

Joining VBF for their meeting with Senator Mark Warner were the Rails to Trails Conservancy’s Senior VP of Federal Relations Marianne Fowler, and VP of Trail Development Jeff Ciabotti. 

“The Summit was a real success,” said VBF president Champe Burnley.  “We found most of the congressional offices very supportive of our requests to support active transportation in the Commonwealth.  I really feel optimistic that conditions in Virginia will continue to improve.”

“Streets are not just for cars.” — Jim Licinski, Google

At the National Bike Summit today, Peter Birch from Google announced the debut of bicycling directions for Google Maps. Cyclists can enter their starting point and destination, select “bicycling,” and get a route favoring bike-friendly roads and paths.

A partnership with the Rails to Trails Conservancy will help gather the best trail and path information. But crowdsourcing will be vital in keeping the maps and routes accurate. Cyclists can submit their own corrections and suggestions.

We must mention the Google Maps Bike There blog and petition, the rallying point for getting Google to provide this service. Apparently their job is done, but they have plenty of other stuff worth reading. We hope they will continue.

Try Google Maps bike directions for yourself. You may be surprised how well it works, even at this early stage. It will only get better and better, as more and more cyclists add their tweaks and suggestions.

VBF is at the Bike Summit every year, and this year will be no exception. So far, I’ve heard that Champe, Bud, Barbara, Sheryl, and Allen will be present, though maybe not all of them for the whole thing.

The Summit’s “main event” is meeting with Virginia’s senators and congressmen, and VBF arranges these visits. So if you’re coming to the Summit from Virginia, please Active Community Transportation Act, just introduced by Earl Blumenaur, along with other bike legislation on the League’s list. Stay tuned for more.

Of particular interest to me is the social media session at 2:30 pm on Wednesday. As bike advocates, communication is the essence of what we do. But we can all do better in getter our message out. Join the folks behind StreetsBlog.org, BikePortland.org, social media consultant Paul Miser and others to learn how.

See the agenda for more of what’s going on.

Bring your bike, ride to the days’ events, ride with all the rides that will crop up, and ride with the Congressional Bike Caucus, Friday March 12, 8:30-11:00 am.

We hope to see you there!

If you’re going to the Bike Summit next week, please ask your legislators to support H.R.4722, the Active Community Transportation Act.

From the Alliance for Biking and Walking:

Representative Earl Blumenauer introduced the Active Community Transportation Act, H.R.4722, on 3/2/10. This groundbreaking bill creates a competitive grant program with $2 Billion to help communities build bicycling and walking networks. For the first time, communities would be able to compete for multi-year funding to build active transportation systems, just as they do for transit and road infrastructure.

Though many of you will be coming to DC next week for the National Bike Summit, this is a great opportunity for other leaders and members of your organization not traveling to DC to participate in an important way. Working with our America Bikes partners, we encourage your organization to participate in a Virtual Lobby Day next Thursday.

“Too often we take for granted the value of being able to bike and walk to work,” said Blumenauer. “It’s unfortunate that many communities don’t have the infrastructure in place to make active and healthy forms of transportation more accessible. The ACT transportation grants will make it easier for people to get out of their vehicles and onto sidewalks or bikes, boosting both heart rates and community vitality.”

We thank Representative Blumenauer and the other original sponsors – Russ Carnahan (D-MO), Michael Capuano (D-MA), Steve Cohen (D-TN), Bob Filner (D-CA), Dan Lipinski (D-IL) and Jim Moran (D-VA) – for championing bicycling and walking.

TAKE ACTION

Given the timing of the bill’s release, we have a unique opportunity to conduct a Virtual Lobby Day and present a strong and unified voice on Capitol Hill, Thursday, March 11th. In conjunction with the National Bike Summit we ask that you call your representative next Thursday at the same time that over 700 Summit participants will have in-person meetings in congressional offices.

NEXT STEPS

On Wednesday March 10th we’ll send a second alert with a link to the League of American Bicyclists on-line action center where people can easily contact their representatives. We encourage you to use the talking points below to send your own alert encouraging your members to participate.

TALKING POINTS

Please call your representatives on March 11th to ask them to co-sponsor H.R.4722: “The Active Community Transportation Act.”
Tell them:

• Bicycling and walking are part of the solution. Half of all trips in the United States are three miles or less, yet the majority of these short trips are made by car. Shifting more of these short trips to biking and walking would not only reduce congestion, air pollution, greenhouse gas emissions, and our dependence on oil, but will also improve physical activity, safety, and livability.
• Investing in bicycling and walking infrastructure works. Commuting by bicycle has increased 43 percent since 2000 – and by 69 percent in designated Bicycle Friendly Communities that have invested in infrastructure improvements.
• Please co-sponsor the Active Community Transportation Act (H.R.4722).

Rueben Williams was a talented young artist from Roanoke, tragically killed this Tuesday while riding his bike home from work. This video tells the story, with additional commentary by our own Barbara Duerk:

Please see the accompanying page at WDBJ, with additional video and photos; and especially the Roanoke Times article that tells more of Williams’ story. Note that he was featured for his art while he was still in high school — on WDBJ, and by the Roanoke Times.

An unfinished life indeed.

Aaron Dykstra of Six-Eleven Bicycle Co. - photo by NAHBS

Roanoker Aaron Dykstra was awarded the “Rookie of the Year” prize at last weekend’s North American Handmade Bicycle Show in Richmond, Virginia.

Aaron, the owner of the Six-Eleven Bicycle Company, designed and hand built a beautiful Tuscan red and black track bike featuring design references to the famous 611 steam locomotive the Norfolk & Western railroad designed and built in Roanoke in the late 1940’s.

The NAHBS is the annual showcase for North America’s most highly regarded hand builders to display their best works for the public and the media. Over seven thousand spectators attended the three day show and 125 exhibitors showed everything from cycling apparel to five figure hand built bicycles.

A more active Legislative session than usual, with one good win, one that got our hopes up before it went down, and a number that failed but seemed to get a little closer to passing than ever before.

The win was with Senate Bill 546, which was patroned in masterful fashion by Senator John Edwards of Roanoke, and sailed all the way through both houses, with hardly a hitch. This bill specifically mentions the railroads as a landowner with limited liability when they permit recreational users to cross their owned, or easement acquired, property for recreational purposes. Though primarily pushed for by the paddlers and fishermen, and spearheaded by Roanoke’s Bill Tanger of the Friends of the Rivers of Virginia, VBF joined the coalition of groups supporting this bill in order to help the railroads remove the “liability” argument they have often used when access along, or across, their tracks has been requested.

We got our hopes up with the major bills we were working on which would change the Code of Virginia to require that motor vehicles pass a bicycle by three feet (instead of the present two feet) and not follow a bicycle any closer than is “reasonable and prudent”. Senate Bill 566, patroned by Senator Patsy Ticer of Alexandria, sailed right through the Senate, after the “following too closely” provision was objected to and stricken in the Senate Transportation Committee. However, upon crossing over to the House it was assigned to the Militia, Police, and Public Safety Sub-Committee, where it was tabled by a 2-1 vote. The companion bill, House Bill 1048, patroned by Delegate Kaye Kory of Falls Church, actually survived a more difficult start, being reported out of a House Transportation Sub Committee by a 5-2 vote, out of the House Transportation Committee by a 12 – 9 vote, and then failing on the House floor by 54 – 43. This was a big let down since it was obvious that the bill would have cleared the Senate had it only survived this hurdle.

Other bills that we have supported previously, and again saw go down to defeat, were both the House (which didn’t get out of the Transportation Sub-Committee) and Senate (which passed the Senate, only to fail in the same House Sub-Committee after it crossed over) versions of “Stop for Pedestrians in Marked Cross-Walks”. Also failing, but getting further along than ever before, were several bills to ban the use of cell phones, except in hands free mode, by the drivers of moving motor vehicles.

Two other bills for which I testified were defeated rather early in the process. One which was sought by the Motorcycle interests, but which named bicycles also, would have permitted motorcycles, mopeds and bicycles to cross a red light traffic signal, with caution, if they had waited 120 seconds and the light did not turn green. I supported the bill, but mildly so, since I didn’t feel it was a major problem for cyclists. The other was a bill I opposed, which would have banned mopeds from all highways with speed limits of 45 mph or above, and I was concerned that this might lead to bicycles being banned from some roads also, if it were to pass.

In conclusion, I would like to thank all the RABA members, VBF members, and others across the state, who responded to my requests to contact their legislators in advance of the hearings for the bills we were supporting. Several legislators and their staff told me how they were impressed by the quantity and passionate nature of our contacts. It does make an impression and lets our elected representatives know that someone is interested in the issues we are supporting. I would also like to thank Bruce Drees of the Tidewater Bicycling Assn., who made several early morning trips up from Virginia Beach to lend his support to the cause. We did make some progress this session, and will be back again next year to try to keep moving the ball forward.

Take action now: write to the Fairfax Board of Supervisors.

In a flurry of budget-cutting and who-knows-what other politics, the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors wants to eliminate, permanently, the bike coordinator position, and all County bicycle programs. This is at odds with recent efforts to develop a bike master plan, to improve quality of life and transportation options, and make Fairfax a more desirable location for businesses.

30% of Fairfax residents do not drive motor vehicles. To simply stop development of other options is a big step backward indeed.

Politicians need to hear from their constituents. Kate Schwartz of the Potomac Pedalers Touring Club asks all cyclists in Fairfax County to write to their Board of Supervisors, and provides some language for doing so:

“Please act now to write to the FFX county board of supervisors and spread the word since bicycling programs are at risk of permanent elimination. This proposed budget cut will create a lasting loss of future cycling & pedestrian facilities, trails, equipment and resources.

I urge you to sustain Fairfax’s bicycling programs since the county’s future business viability depends upon these programs. Creating new and maintaining existing cycling and pedestrian facilities must remain permanent pillars of the county; they are essential to fostering more innovative transportation solutions in an area that’s desperate for transportation alternatives. The Board has always emphasized that Fairfax County must preserve its national reputation as an attractive location for businesses and their employees. Bicycling programs, such as trails and on-road bike accommodation directly improve businesses’, residents’ and visitors’ quality of life by reducing traffic congestion, pollution and obesity, boosting employee productivity, and increasing cardiovascular health & fitness. What other county programs and facilities can claim these wide-reaching benefits?

How can the Board of Supervisors reconcile Supervisor Cook’s position (“bicycles are not transportation devices”) with the Board’s December 7 meeting, where the board discussed the need for the county to explore new and innovative approaches to transportation?

Dedicated bicycle and environment facilities and staff partnered with private- and public-sector employers can formulate and execute new transportation solutions, as we witness today with Tysons Corner’s new multi-modal transportation solutions plus walking and bicycling facilities integrated into the replacement bridges during the Beltway HOT lane construction. Eliminating bicycling programs will only increase congestion, pollution and obesity, while slashing employee/employer productivity. Fairfax County’s future business viability depends upon having a dedicated & permanent bicycling program.“

Washington Area Bicyclist Association and Fairfax Advocates for Better Bicycling are on top of this story. Check with them for updates, and follow them on Twitter (@WABADC, @BikeFairfax).

Please help spread the word. Use the Share This link below to forward this to your mailing lists, and share it in social media.

As expected, Senator Norment’s SB517 banning cell phone usage by motor vehicle drivers, except in hands free mode, was tabled by the Militia, Police and Public Safety Subcommittee 2 by a 2 -1 vote. Athey & Cline for tabling; Shuler opposed; Cleaveland & Gilbert absent. After the vote was taken, Athey remarked to the Patron, “maybe next year” to which Sen. Norment replied, “see you then.”

Several seat belt bills, including Senator Blevins’ SB9, which would make failure to have the seat belt buckled a primary, rather than secondary offense, were similarly tabled with only Delegate Shuler from Blacksburg (the lone Democrat on the sub committee) voting against tabling (for the bill). The committee voted this way despite testimony from DMV that such a law in effect by Sept. 1 of this year, would make the state eligible for $16.5 million of federal Highway Safety funds.

I believe that closes out the VBF legislative agenda for this session, although John Saunders of DMV stated after the meeting that he was looking forward to working with me to improve the bicycling safety message in DMV’s motor vehicle driver’s materials and to include a question or two on the driver’s exam.