[Industry_Hack]

Regardless of what kind of bicycle you ride, it's imperative that we all make our voices heard. If not, the already dismal amount of Transportation Enhancements money set aside for cycling and walking will be cut to zero.

See the article here.

[Industry_Hack]

The U.S. Senate affirmed its time-tested support of bicycling last week by forcing Senator Tom Coburn of Oklahoma to withdraw his proposal to eliminate dedicated funding for the Transportation Enhancements program.

IMBA supporters and our bicycle advocacy partner organizations influenced this outcome with 50,000 emails and thousands of phone calls to U.S. Senators in just 48 hours. Thank you!

As a result, funding for all federal transportation programs has been extended to March 31, 2012. The key, cost-effective programs that make bicycling safer and easier — Transportation Enhancements, Safe Routes to School and Recreational Trails — will continue to receive modest, dedicated support, about 1.5 percent of the total federal transportation investment.

A huge thanks go to the thousands of Americans, our supporters, who rallied quickly to contact their elected officials on this challenge. We will continue to keep you posted on key issues and opportunities that affect the future of bicycling in the United States.


Sincerely,

Jenn Dice, IMBA Government Affairs Director

[italcyclist]

To Jenn Dice:
I just read the news regarding Oklahoma Senator Tom Coburn withdrawing his proposal to eliminate dedicated funding for bicycle - transportation projects.
When is the next time the senate will vote on this funding? I'd like to call my senator and tell her to vote for continued funding of these bicycle transportation projects. I am a bicycle commuter, and I find the need for more dedicated bike lanes where I live to be necessary.

[photosbymark]

Depends on where you are, but I know Fort Worth VERY well. Depending on where you are in Ft Worth can make a big difference. If you are trying to bike in downtown Ft Worth there is no room for bike lanes. The road simply can not be widened. The side walk is about as narrow as practical. You can bulldoze buildings for a bike lane. The lanes are not wide enough to take some of the regular lane to have a practical bike lane. The Trinity Trail system alone makes getting around Ft Worth on a bike far easier than most cities.

A painted line on pavement is little more than a false sense of security. Paint will not stop a car. Putting up barricades along a bike route is cost prohibitive and impractical almost everywhere. When the federal deficit is over a trillion, bike projects are going to be way down the list. Jenn didn't win anything. She just postponed it a while. Some communities may choose to do the project with local funds, but most transportation projects are largely federally funded. The credit card is already at the limit.

Yet that doesn't mean cycling has to suffer, we are just going to have to do it sharing the road. People have been doing that since the beginning of bicycles. When I was a kid we commuted all over town over streets just as busy as they have in Ft Worth. We got where we were going, whether it was to the mall to watch the girls, or to the bowling alley or pizza parlor, but the bike was our transportation just as it is for a commuter. We had just as much fun and back then no one had even thought of a bike lane.

[rola643]

Originally Posted by Industry_Hack

The U.S. Senate affirmed its time-tested support of bicycling last week by forcing Senator Tom Coburn of Oklahoma to withdraw his proposal to eliminate dedicated funding for the Transportation Enhancements program.

IMBA supporters and our bicycle advocacy partner organizations influenced this outcome with 50,000 emails and thousands of phone calls to U.S. Senators in just 48 hours. Thank you!

As a result, funding for all federal transportation programs has been extended to March 31, 2012. The key, cost-effective programs that make bicycling safer and easier — Transportation Enhancements, Safe Routes to School and Recreational Trails — will continue to receive modest, dedicated support, about 1.5 percent of the total federal transportation investment.

A huge thanks go to the thousands of Americans, our supporters, who rallied quickly to contact their elected officials on this challenge. We will continue to keep you posted on key issues and opportunities that affect the future of bicycling in the United States.


Sincerely,

Jenn Dice, IMBA Government Affairs Director

This good! I know I took the time to do the email from the link you provided :» Help IMBA protect federal funding for bike programs - Industry Outsider. I'd like to think it helped!

[Industry_Hack]

I have to disagree with Mark. Here's why.

[photosbymark]

Hack in downtown Ft Worth many of the roads are only two lane to begin with, and though to help traffic many of them are one way streets, we see what happens when one closes for construction to fix pot holes. It isn't pretty for anyone and that is more of a hazard to bikes than a bike lane would fix.

Much of Ft Worth though is not too far from the Trinity trail system. Many commuters get pretty close to where they are going on the trail and then divert to streets near there destination. Frankly I would rather worry less about the pot hole than have a painted bike lane loaded with pot holes they don't fix.

But that's just me and everyone is free to disagree. Never take offense to a different opinion as long as it was delivered with offense as an intent. grin. IF bike lanes are going to continue to both happen and the maintenance on them continue, it is going to have to come from the local level and communities that place a value on them, not the federal level. That is were the support should have come from the entire time anyway.

[Industry_Hack]

We've got bike lanes in residential areas where I live.