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The Advocacy Advance team took a trip down to Atlanta for an Action 2020 Workshop this month and met with more than 50 advocates, agency staff, and elected officials from across the region.

The free, one-day training empowered attendees with a wealth of information about federal, state, and local funding sources and practices, and how to make bicycles and pedestrians a local priority. It also provided a unique and productive chance for professionals from different sectors to network and share ideas.

The workshop was hosted by the Atlanta Bicycle Coalition and the Atlanta Regional Commission. To provide some insight on the impact and take-aways from the workshop, Advocacy Advance staffer Matt Wempe spoke with Brent Buice, Executive Director of Georgia Bikes! and Fred Boykin, Decatur City Commission, District 1.

Advocacy Advance:  What did you know about federal funding coming into the workshop?

Brent Buice: I knew a lot about Transportation Enhancements (TE) and Safe Routes to School (SRTS), and an emerging awareness of the Recreational Trails Program (RTP). I had heard a little bit about Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality (CMAQ), but didn’t know anything else about the other programs.

Fred Boykin: I had some knowledge about TE and the local Livable Cities and Centers initiatives from the Atlanta Regional Commission (ARC). Outside of that, I wasn’t too familiar with the other sources that were presented. It was really beneficial for me to see the statistics and comparisons between Georgia and other states.

Read the full story on the Advocacy Advance blog.

Applications to host Action 2020 Workshops are due next Friday, February 24 at 5:00 p.m. (Eastern). Advocates, agency staff, and/or elected officials are required to work on and submit a workshop application together.

These workshops bring together advocates, agency staff, and elected officials and are designed to ensure that participants have the knowledge, skills and resources to access un- or under-utilized federal funding sources at the state, regional and local level to build bicycling and walking infrastructure and programs.

During the workshops, participants will:

• Learn about under-utilized funding sources that exist for biking and walking projects and programs, which the region has not yet tapped into;
• Learn the key characteristics, requirements, and opportunities of those sources and best practices from around the country;
• Discuss favorable factors for bicycling and walking investments;
• Understand the important role of advocates, agency staff, and elected officials in securing this funding
• Share knowledge and experiences in the local context, working together to develop a list of local priorities and strategies for funding bicycle and pedestrian projects and programs.

Download the application form on the Advocacy Advance website and contact .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) as soon as possible if you have any questions. These one-day workshops are offered for free, thanks to the generous support of SRAM.

PHOTO: Tucson Action 2020 Workshop

It’s time to ask both chambers of Congress to save our streets.

The current Senate transportation bill dilutes walking and biking programs. To improve the bill, we’re asking senators to vote for the Cardin-Cochran amendment on the floor to guarantee local governments a voice in transportation decisions, allowing them to build sidewalks, crosswalks, and bikeways that keep people safe.

In the House, we are asking representatives to oppose the House transportation bill. Despite the fact that walking and bicycling infrastructure is a low-cost investment that creates more jobs per dollar than any other kind of highway spending, the House bill eliminates dedicated funding for walking and biking.

Please contact your Representative and Senators today and ask them to save our streets. Click here to send a message to your members of Congress NOW.

As written, the Senate’s transportation bill removes dedicated funding for walking and biking and allows state DOTs to opt-out of safe street programs. The Cardin-Cochran amendment would improve the bill by ensuring that local governments can apply directly for funds to build walking and biking infrastructure.

Tell your senators:

• Local governments deserve a voice in transportation. The Cardin-Cochran amendment ensures that cities and counties have a voice in making transportation decisions for safer streets in their communities.

• Safety matters. Bicycle and pedestrian deaths make up 14% of all traffic fatalities, but only 1.5% of federal funds go towards making walking and biking safer. These programs provide funding for sidewalks, crosswalks, and bikeways that make streets safe for all users.

• Active transportation is a wise investment. Walking and biking infrastructure is low-cost, creates more jobs per dollar than any other kind of highway spending, and is critical to economic development for main street America.

Please take action TODAY.

On the other side of Congress, the House is considering a transportation bill (HR 7) that reverses 20 years of progress in making streets safer for people. Despite the fact that walking and biking make up 12% of trips but receive only 1.5% of federal funding, the House bill eliminates dedicated funding for walking and biking. It’s time to defeat this bill.

Tell your representative:

• HR 7 takes us back to the 1950s. HR 7 takes us back to a 1950s system by eliminating dedicated funding for biking and walking AND kicking transit out of the highway trust fund. We need a transportation bill to meet 2012 needs, not 1950 needs.

• HR 7 doesn’t invest wisely. Federal transportation laws should invest our finite resources in cost-effective, efficient infrastructure solutions that create jobs and keep the economy moving. The House bill eliminates walking and biking, despite the fact that walking and bicycling infrastructure is low-cost and creates more jobs per dollar than any other kind of highway funding.

• HR 7 makes streets more dangerous for kids. By repealing the successful and effective Safe Routes to School program, the House bill makes the streets more dangerous for kids on their walks and bike rides to school.

Congress needs to know that that finding effective, efficient transportation solutions to keep people safe on the streets should be a national priority. Please contact your representative and senators today. For more information and updates, bookmark America BIkes’ website.

Thank you for all that you do to keep the streets safe!

As we continue our efforts to preserve critical funding for biking and walking in the next federal transportation bill, it’s vitally important that policymakers and the press have the right information when it comes to the benefits and of active transportation. On that note: Andy Clarke has a great post over on the League of American Bicyclists blog debunking some off-base weekend remarks from House Speaker John Boehner.

The executive director of the League points out that: “Speaker John Boehner’s weekend claim that 25% of the highway dollars are ‘siphoned off for non-economic projects – such as beautification and bikepaths’ came as a bit of a shock. The nation’s bicyclists must have gotten a big raise over the holidays, because last November Boehner and his buddy Eric Cantor were claiming only ten percent of highway funds were ‘diverted’ this way. Neither figure is anywhere close to the truth, of course.”

And just one graph (right) from the Alliance’s 2012 Benchmarking Report proves it.

In fact, people who bike and walk make up nearly 12 percent of trips and 14 percent of roadway fatalities but get less than 2 percent — 2 percent! — of federal transportation dollars. If you haven’t already, download the 2012 Benchmarking Report and make sure your local policymakers understand the tremendous impact that tiny sliver of federal funding has on your community.

Read the full blog for Andy here. And stay tuned for future posts fact-checking policymakers statements and providing you the talking points you need to preserve funding for biking and walking during this critical time.

It’s so much worse than we thought.

Yesterday, the House released its transportation bill, the American Energy and Infrastructure Jobs Act. We expected the bill to be bad news for biking and walking, but we didn’t think it would go so far as to reverse all progress we’ve made over the past 20 years. (Check out the Top 10 Reasons the House Bill is Bad for Bicycling and Walking from Andy Clarke, president of the League of American Bicyclists, on the right.)

If your member of Congress is on the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, please take action TODAY. With a vote coming in the T&I committee TOMORROW, tell your Representative to preserve biking and walking. Click here to contact your Representative through the League’s Action Center.

House leadership is exerting pressure to completely cut bicycling and walking out of transportation. Lawmakers seem to have gone through the bill, line-by-line, to gut programs that make streets safer. The American Energy and Infrastructure Jobs Act:

• Destroys Transportation Enhancements by making the program optional
• Repeals the Safe Routes to School program, reversing years of progress in creating safe ways for kids to walk and ride bicycles to school
• Removes requirements for states to build bridges with safe access for pedestrians and bicycles
• Eliminates bicycle and pedestrian coordinators in state DOTs

There’s still a chance to save biking and walking. Tomorrow, in the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, Representatives Tom Petri (R-WI) and Timothy Johnson (R-IL) plan to stand up to leadership by offering an amendment that restores dedicated funding for Transportation Enhancements and Safe Routes to School. Petri and Johnson can only be successful if everyone with a stake in safe sidewalks, crosswalks, and bikeways contacts his or her Representative today.

This is as urgent as it gets. Even if we win this amendment, there will be a long road ahead. But if we lose here, we risk losing decades of progress.

If members of the Transportation Committee are going to stand up to House leadership by supporting biking and walking, they need to know their constituents are behind them. Please contact Congress TODAY and ask your Representative to preserve dedicated funding for biking and walking.

Take action NOW!

If you have a Representative on the T&I committee, please forward this action alert to your members and supporters. Pass it along to all your local partners — particularly high-level contacts like mayors, school board members, and business leaders — and ask them to weigh in, too. And thank you for all you do to advance biking and walking!

A new report from the Rails-to-Trails Conservancy dispels the commonly held notion that only residents of big cities bike and walk. According to “Active Transportation Beyond the Urban Centers” folks in rural areas travel by bike and on foot as much — and in some cases, even more — than people in major population centers.

“It’s a widespread assumption in popular media and politics that people in small towns and rural areas do not walk or bike for transportation purposes,” says Tracy Hadden Loh, co-author of the report and research manager at RTC. “This report demonstrates that, in fact, rates for walking and bicycling in rural areas are close to, and sometimes higher than, the national average.”

Some key findings in the report include:

• In terms of total trips, rural Americans bike at a rate of between 74 percent and 104 percent of the overall national rate, depending on the type of community in which they live.

• The share of work trips made by bicycle in small towns is nearly double that of urban centers. Within small towns of 2,500 to 10,000 residents, people walk for work purposes at a rate similar to the urban core communities.

• Federal investment in biking and walking benefits rural areas as much or more than urban centers. Rural areas receive almost twice as much funding per capita as urban areas from the federal Transportation Enhancements program

• Among a list of travel priorities, rural Americans selected sidewalks more often than any other transportation need and nine out of 10 cited the importance of pedestrian friendly communities.

The report couldn’t come at a more pivotal moment. Congress is moving on the next federal transportation bill and the current House bill guts all funding for biking and walking projects and programs. This report proves that short-changing biking and walking by eliminating programs like Transportation Enhancements and Safe Routes to School affects all communities across the U.S.

“Small communities need safe and convenient walking and bicycling facilities just as much as big cities,” says Kevin Mills, report co-author and RTC’s VP of Policy and Trail Development. “To meet this need, Transportation Enhancements has provided twice the funding per capita in rural America than in big cities. This includes rehabilitating walkable main streets in small town that have been bypassed by interstates.”

According to RTC: “In coming years, active transportation can play an even bigger role in making small town America more attractive for young families and business investment — improving economic vitality, traffic safety and overall health in smaller communities in every region of the country.”

Read the full report and check out the interactive map here.

By Mary Lauran Hall, Communications Coordinator, America Bikes

For the past 20 years, the federal transportation program has included dedicated funding for biking and walking. Over the course of twenty years and three federal transportation laws, federal support for bicycle- and pedestrian-friendly infrastructure projects has slowly ticked upwards. As a result, more and more communities feature safe roads for people who travel on foot or by bicycle.

In 1992, Congress passed ISTEA, the first federal transportation bill to include funding for transit, biking, and walking. As each consecutive transportation bill passed and continued dedicated funding for biking and walking, funding increased from $23 million for 50 new projects in 1992 to $297 million for 971 projects in 2000, to a record $1.2 billion for 3,010 projects in 2009.

But now a new transportation bill threatens to eliminate dedicated federal funding for biking and walking.

Next Thursday, February 2, the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee will vote on the American Energy and Infrastructure Jobs Act, a bill that eliminates crucial funds for biking and walking. Representatives on the T&I Committee are in a key position to save dedicated funding for biking and walking. If you live in the district of a T&I committee member (click here for a list), please take action today. Click here to send a message directly to your Representative through the League of American Bicyclists’ Action Center.

The American Energy and Infrastructure Jobs Act, the long awaited multi-year transportation bill, eliminates the two largest programs that fund biking and walking infrastructure — Transportation Enhancements and Safe Routes to School. Without these programs, communities across the country will lose resources to build the sidewalks, crosswalks, and bikeways that make biking and walking safer and more accessible.

We can’t let that happen.

Biking and walking are essential aspects of everyday transportation in the US, and turning off federal funding for projects that keep Americans safe would represent a significant step backwards.

Federal funding for biking and walking keeps people safe. Two out of three pedestrian deaths take place on roads built with federal funding, and new sidewalks, crosswalks, and bikeways help end preventable deaths and make roads safer for everyone. Moreover, biking and walking make up 12 percent of all trips and 14 percent of road fatalities, but only 1.5 percent of all federal transportation funding.

We at America Bikes are working with our partners to introduce an amendment that will preserve funding for biking and walking. During Thursday’s Transportation and Infrastructure Committee vote in the House, Representatives will have the opportunity to pass this amendment to save biking and walking. If you live in the district of a T&I Committee member, please take action today!

To learn more about this issue and keep up-to-date as the bill moves forward, visit http://americabikes.org/.

In a new report, Bicycling and Walking in the United States: 2012 Benchmarking Report, the Alliance ranks all 50 states and the 51 largest U.S. cities on bicycling and walking levels, safety, funding, and other factors.

This report comes at a critical moment, as Congress takes up the imminent passage of the next federal transportation bill, which dictates how billions of tax dollars will be spent over coming years. The Benchmarking Report reveals that, in nearly every city and state, pedestrians and bicyclists are disproportionately at risk of being killed, and currently receive less than a fair share of transportation dollars. While 12 percent of trips in the U.S. are by bike or foot, 14 percent of traffic fatalities are bicyclists and pedestrians. Pedestrian and bicycle projects receive less than 2 percent of federal transportation dollars.

“The Benchmarking Report shows that biking and walking are smart solutions to many of our country’s most pressing challenges when it comes to transportation, job creation and health,” Jeffrey Miller, Alliance President/CEO, says.

Click here to download the report and media fact sheet.

The report compiles persuasive evidence that bicycle and pedestrian projects create more jobs than highway projects, and provide at least three dollars of benefit for every dollar invested. The report also highlights the health benefits of active transportation, showing that states with the highest rates of bicycling and walking are also among those with the lowest rates of obesity, diabetes, and high blood pressure. “The data points to one conclusion: Investing in biking and walking projects creates jobs, leads to more people biking and walking, and improves safety and public health,” Miller says.

John Pucher, a professor at Rutgers University, emphasizes: “The wide range of environmental, social, and economic benefits of walking and bicycling, so clearly documented in this report, justify greatly increased investment in facilities and programs to encourage more walking and cycling, and to improve the safety of these most sustainable of all transportation modes.”

The 2012 Benchmarking Report compiles important state and city rankings, including:

Other highlights from the report include:

• In 2009, 40% of trips in the United States were shorter than 2 miles, yet 87% of these trips are by car. Twenty-seven percent of trips were shorter than 1 mile. Still, Americans use their cars for 62% of these trips.
• While bicycling and walking fell 66% between 1960 and 2009, obesity levels increased 156%.
• Seniors are the most vulnerable bicyclists and pedestrians. Adults over 65 make up 10% of walking trips, yet comprise 19% of pedestrian fatalities. This age group accounts for 6% of bicycling trips, yet 10% of bicyclist fatalities.
• Bicycling and walking projects create 11-14 jobs per $1 million spent, compared to just 7 jobs created per $1 million spent on highway projects. Cost benefit analysis show that up to $11.80 in benefits can be gained for every $1 invested in bicycling and walking.
• On average, the largest 51 U.S. cities show a 29% increase in bicycle facilities since the 2010 report. Cities report that 20,908 miles of bicycle facilities and 7,079 miles of pedestrian facilities are planned for the coming years (much of this contingent upon funding).

Bicycling and Walking in the United States: 2012 Benchmarking Report was funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and made possible through additional support from AARP and Planet Bike. To view rankings of the 50 states and 51 largest U.S. cities, and to download or purchase a hard copy of the report visit http://www.PeoplePoweredMovement.org/benchmarking.

Advocacy Advance – a partnership of the League of American Bicyclists and the Alliance for Biking and Walking – is now accepting applications for its Action 2020 Workshops.

The goal of Advocacy Advance is to double federal funding for biking and walking through increased spending at the state, MPO and local level where many funding decisions are ultimately made. The partnership plans to meet this goal by producing best practice reports, providing technical assistance, awarding grants and facilitating Action 2020 Workshops.

These workshops bring together advocates, agency staff, and elected officials and are designed to ensure that participants have the knowledge, skills and resources to access untapped or under-utilized federal funding sources at the state, regional and local level to build bicycling and walking infrastructure and programs. Applications to host a workshop are due Friday, February 24.

Read more about Action 2020 Workshops and how to apply on the Advocacy Advance blog.

Photo: Action 2020 Workshop in Tucson, Arizona

Undaunted by the massive storm that forced a last-minute rescheduling in November, more than 50 Connecticut advocates and officials from every single county in the state turned out for a successful Action 2020 Workshop in Hartford, Conn., last week.

Hosted by Bike Walk Connecticut and the Capitol Region Council of Governments, the workshop gave both advocates and agency staff the tools and strategies to harness underutilized federal funding sources for bicycle and pedestrian programs and projects.

“The workshop provided excellent resources, and most importantly, empowered the attendees to take action to improve the funding picture,” Sandy Fry, CRCOG Principal Transportation Planner, said. “There will be new efforts and initiatives as a result of this workshop and with the broad cross section of attendees, the efforts have a very good chance for success.”

Action 2020 Workshops are facilitated by Advocacy Advance – a partnership of the League of American Bicyclists and Alliance for Biking & Walking.

Read the full recap on the Advocacy Advance blog.

When I was 16 years old, my family moved from Bern, Switzerland to Houston, Texas. Talk about culture shock. While there’s a lot to celebrate about the Lone Star State, active transportation ain’t exactly on the short list.

But that’s changing fast — thanks to the efforts of a growing number of bike-ped advocates and supportive policymakers.

Last week, an Action 2020 Workshop in my previous hometown of Houston captured and built on that progressive energy. Presented by Advocacy Advance, a partnership of the Alliance and the League of American Bicyclists, the workshop attracted nearly 60 stakeholders from 41 different organizations to discuss how to increase funding for biking and walking across the Houston region.

Read a recap from Darren Flusche, policy analyst at the League of American Bicyclists, on the Advocacy Advance blog. Or check out the review from BikeHouston, one of the event hosts.

With more Action 2020 Workshops planned in the New Year, click here to see if Advocacy Advance is coming to your region.

Last week, America Walks released a document that represents its first steps toward making the United States a great place to be a pedestrian. For the national coalition, that journey will start with a strong presence in Washington, DC.

Based on the input of the organization’s steering committee and a group of 25 walking leaders, the new Federal Walking Policy Platform lays out three policy shifts that will make streets safer, healthier and more cost-effective for, not just walkers, but all roadway users.

• Core Policy 1: Improve pedestrian safety. To enhance walking safety, America Walks proposes changes to the Highway Safety Improvement Program and calls on the US DOT to “conduct a national campaign emphasizing the need to protect vulnerable road users… by reducing automobile speeds in high-crash corridors and special zones.”

• Core Policy 2: Develop performance measures and improve data collection related to walking. America Walks will push for performance measures and benchmarks for walking at the federal, state and local level; robust investments to collect and analyze walking trends, routes and issues; and traffic models that forecast and include the benefits of pedestrian travel in project planning.

• Core Policy 3: Incorporate health-related outcomes in transportation policy, planning and funding programs. America Walks will advocate for a clear, inter-agency alignment of health and transportation objectives, pushing for “public health criteria to be integrated into state and regional transportation planning and decision-making” and for federal agencies to set financial incentives for state DOTs to incorporate health planning in the development of new projects.

What do those broad goals mean for the near term? Most notably, America Walks will help lead the charge to protect dedicated federal funding for biking and walking programs, including Transportation Enhancements and Safe Routes to School. The national coalition will also strongly support federal complete streets legislation and a “Fix-It First” approach to transportation spending.

Inspired? Read the full document.

Have the resume to help? America Walks is seeking a Campaign Director to lead its efforts to get this platform implemented. Click here for the full job description.

Thanks to our partners at the Rails-to-Trails Conservancy for spreading the word about the positive outcome of the vote on the Rand Paul amendment we alerted you to last week.

According to RTC: Today, by a vote of 60 to 38, the U.S. Senate rejected an amendment by U.S. Senator Rand Paul (Ky.) that would have shifted dedicated funding for walking and biking infrastructure to bridge repair, thus eliminating a hugely popular program that has been shown to create jobs and efficient transportation choices for millions of Americans for the past 20 years.

Thank you to everyone who contacted their Senators!

Read more on the RTC blog.

After a mandate from members and a decade of dedicated work, Bike Pittsburgh celebrated last week as the local Port Authority announced 100 percent of buses now have bike racks.

The story starts way back in 2002, when BikePGH was just getting its feet wet as an upstart advocacy organization. Already, the Port Authority and City of Pittsburgh had received a $75,000 grant for “Ride, Rack and Roll,” an initiative intended to outfit 75 buses with bike racks. But, a year after the program was established, only eight routes had racks — and often, even on those lines, buses would arrive sans rack. So BikePGH got to work.

“[From 2003 to 2006] stakeholders represented by Sustainable Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh’s Department of City Planning, the Port Authority and BikePGH met on and off to try to figure out the issues regarding the Rack ‘n Roll service,” Erok Boerer, BikePGH Advocacy Director, explained on the group’s blog last week. “It was clear the only answer was to get more racks into the entire system.”

In 2004, the program got an influx of money — $290,150 from the federal Transportation Enhancements program — to grow the program to 12 routes. But still, service was spotty and riders had little confidence that their bus would arrive with a rack. So it wasn’t surprising that BikePGH members considered the bus situation a major frustration. “At a BikePGH strategic planning session, members expressed that outfitting 100 percent of Port Authority buses with bike racks should be a high priority campaign that we should pursue,” Boerer explained.

So, in 2007, when the Port Authority announced it was buying new buses without racks the advocates pressed for a new policy that could solve the problem: No new buses should be purchased without a bike rack. The Port Authority agreed. By 2008, the landscape started to change as old buses were retired and, from the get-go, the new ones hit the streets with racks attached. To make sure the Port Authority had the cash to complete the task, BikePGH worked with local officials to get funding from another federal source — the Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality program — and from a private foundation. By the end of 2009, they had secured the dollars to outfit the remaining 190 buses and the city promised to get it done by the end of 2011.

Finally, on Friday, the Port Authority and BikePGH had reason to party: All the city buses are now equipped with bike racks.

“This momentous development didn’t happen overnight,” Boerer wrote before the event. “It took a decade, with many different folks working to better the program. When it all came down to it, though, it was all about advocacy and leadership that made it happen.”

Read more on the BikePGH blog.

Pre-applications for the third round of Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) funds are due October 3. These merit-based grants support projects that are is multi-modal, non-traditional, and hard to fund through traditional channels.

The funds, totalling $527 million, will be balanced both geographically and modally, with at least $140 million to be used in rural areas. Among the other requirements:

• Grants for urban areas must be between $10 million and $200 million and require a 20% match
• Match requirement can be waived for rural projects
• Funds cannot be used for planning or NEPA
• No more than 25% of the funds ($131 million) may be awarded to projects in a single state

Read the recent League blogs for more information on how to win a TIGER 3 grant for bicycle and pedestrian projects and tips on submitting a TIGER 3 benefit-cost analysis.

Thanks to a new policy released today by the Federal Transit Administration, more money could flow to biking and walking facilities near transit stations.

The exciting change is mostly a matter of distance. Previously, the FTA allowed funding for biking and walking projects that benefited public transportation facilities if they were located within 1,500 feet of that transit location. Today’s announcement, dramatically widens the door for that funding.

According to the FTA: “All pedestrian improvements located within one-half mile and all bicycle improvements located within three miles of a public transportation stop or station shall have a de facto physical and functional relationship to public transportation.”

Read a full analysis from Darren Flusche over on the League of American Bicyclists blog.

In line with a goal to double federal funding for biking and walking, Advocacy Advance is awarding more than $100,000 in direct grants to four organizations.

Using the grants to tap into federal funding streams and build their political influence, recipients will work to triple bicycle mode share in Atlanta, Ga., dramatically improve infrastructure in Pittsburgh, Pa., empower Latino cyclists in Los Angeles, Calif., and create a new model to win state dollars in Delaware.

Since 2009, Advocacy Advance—a partnership of the Alliance for Biking & Walking and the League of American Bicyclists—has awarded more than $500,000 in direct grants to 25 state and local advocacy organizations. This year, more than 60 applications with proposals totaling more than $1.3 million were received in the two grant categories: Model Grants and Capacity Building Grants.

Model Grants provide multi-year support for efforts that significantly increase federal investment for biking and walking. Capacity Building Grants catalyze the growth of advocacy organizations. Based on the organizations’ successful track records and innovative strategies, 2011 grants will be awarded to Bike Delaware, Bike Pittsburgh, the Atlanta Bicycle Coalition and the Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition.

“We are excited to support these grantees, as they help lead the way towards a more equitable and rational use of limited federal transportation funds, especially as the lessons we learn will be applicable to accessing state and local funds,” said Andy Clarke, president of the League of American Bicyclists.

“Receiving this Model Grant is a testament to the decade of work we’ve poured into building strong relationships with key city, county, regional, and state transportation officials - and winning the cultural battle that bikes belong in the transportation mix,” Scott Bricker, Executive Director of Bike Pittsburgh, said. “Now it’s time to identify and fund specific projects that will keep bike riders safer and result in more people bicycling.”

Advocacy Advance Grants are made possible thanks to generous funding from SRAM and Planet Bike.

2011 Model Grants

Bike Pittsburgh
Receiving the largest grant ever awarded through the Advocacy Advance program, Bike Pittsburgh will use $40,000 per year, for three years, to leverage partnerships, identify key bicycle and pedestrian projects and get them funded. Advocates will work closely with the City of Pittsburgh on MOVEPGH - Pittsburgh’s first comprehensive transportation plan - to ensure the plan includes recommendations for bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure projects that are eligible for federal funding. Advocates will also work with county officials to get projects in surrounding municipalities in the queue for federal funding.

Atlanta Bicycle Coalition
The Atlanta Bicycle Coalition (ABC) will receive $35,000 per year, for three years, to double federal spending on bicycle and pedestrian projects and programs in the Atlanta region, and triple the bicycle mode share from 1 to 3 percent. To meet these ambitious goals, ABC will hire additional staff and work with the local metropolitan planning organizations, and the Georgia Department of Transportation, to tap into two federal funding streams currently underutilized for bicycle and pedestrian projects - the Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality program and the Highway Safety Improvement Program.

2011 Capacity Building Grants

Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition
The Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition (LACBC) will receive a $15,000 matching grant to hire a dedicated bilingual education/outreach staff member to empower Spanish-speaking residents who lack access to bike safety and advocacy tools, and build political power for improved bicycling in L.A. by better including populations of color.

Bike Delaware
Bike Delaware advocates recently won $5 million in new dedicated funding for bicycling in Delaware in 2012 - more money than the state has ever allocated in the past. A $10,000 matching grant will help Bike Delaware create a national model to increase state bicycle and pedestrian funding by creating an action plan for state bicyclists, advocating legislation, monitoring and communicating with DelDOT, and tracking progress.

In addition, Advocacy Advance will grant $25,000 in Rapid Response Grants throughout the year to help state and local organizations take advantage of unexpected opportunities to win, increase, or preserve funding for biking and walking.

Learn more about Advocacy Advance at AdvocacyAdvance.org.

Advocacy Advance – a partnership of the League of American Bicyclists and Alliance for Biking & Walking – is facilitating five Action 2020 Workshops through January 2012.

Action 2020 Workshops are designed to ensure advocates, agency staff, and elected officials have the knowledge, skills and resources to access untapped or under-utilized federal funding sources at the state, regional and local level to build bicycling and walking infrastructure and programs.

Upcoming Action 2020 Workshop locations and dates are:

• September 16 – Tucson, AZ
  Hosted by Living Streets Alliance and Pima Association of Governments
• October 21 – Atlanta, GA
  Hosted by Atlanta Bicycling Coalition and Atlanta Regional Commission
• November 4 – Hartford, CT
  Hosted by Bike Walk Connecticut and Capitol Region Council of Governments
• December 2 – Houston, TX
  Hosted by BikeHouston and Houston Galveston Area Council
• January 20 – Pittsburgh, PA
  Hosted by Bike Pittsburgh and Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission

We invite advocates and agency staff to register for the nearest workshop, which are offered for free, thanks to the generous support of SRAM.

Action2020 Workshop attendees will:

• Understand the funding process and the important role of advocates, agency staff, and elected officials in securing this funding;
• Learn about under-utilized funding sources that exist for biking and walking projects and programs;
• Learn the key characteristics, requirements, and opportunities of those sources;
• Learn best practices from experts in the field; and
• Share knowledge and experiences in the local context

Visit AdvocacyAdvance.org/Trainings to learn more and to register for a workshop near you.

For more information about Advocacy Advance and the Action 2020 Workshops, or to apply to host future workshops, contact Brighid O’Keane at Brighid@AdvocacyAdvance.org.

The Alliance for Biking & Walking is accepting applications for a fall intern to work with Advocacy Advance – the partnership of the Alliance and the League of American Bicyclists – to help boost local and state bicycle and pedestrian advocacy efforts.

The Advocacy Advance Intern will gain knowledge and skills related to federal funding for bicycle and pedestrian projects and the advocacy efforts to secure and utilize this funding at the state and local level nationwide. Work will include assisting with outreach to member organizations, development of a compendium of state profiles, sharing best practices of bike/ped organizations, and research of federal transportation funding.

This internship – based in Washington, D.C. – offers a flexible schedule with a fifteen-hour-per-week minimum commitment for three months. Applications are due by August 19th, 2011, with an anticipated start date in early September.

For a full position description and application information, click here.

We hate to be alarmists here at the Alliance and we know that, in recent months, we’ve been sending a lot of action alerts with urgent asks to help preserve federal funding for biking and walking. But we do it because we know local and state bicycle and pedestrian advocates have incredible power. Cascade Bicycle Club proved that in the latest round of rescissions.

You may remember earlier this month when the Alliance and League of American Bicyclists raised the alarm about states having to send a collective $2.5 billion in unspent federal transportation fund back to Washington, DC. In the past, many state Departments of Transportation have balanced these tough cuts on the backs of bike-ped programs, disproportionately raiding the pots of money that fund bicycle and pedestrian projects. Well, the advocates at Cascade Bicycle Club rallied their members to call for fair and proportional cuts. Clearly, the more than 1,000 e-mails sent to Washington Governor Chris Gregoire and to WSDOT Secretary Paula Hammond made quite an impression.

“Almost immediately after we started the campaign, we heard from WSDOT,” John Mauro wrote on the Cascade blog this week. “It’s hard to say exactly what we accomplished, because we don’t have a precise picture of what kind of send-backs they were planning before they heard from us. But in comparison to their August 2010 rescissions, nonmotorized transportation fared far better.”

For instance, in 2010 WSDOT sent back $16 million from the CMAQ (Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality) program. This round CMAQ only lost $3.2 million. Even better: In 2010, “Enhancements Set-aside” program — one of the largest sources of bicycle funding — lost $13 million. In this round, that funding stream was untouched.

“Aside from protecting this unobligated funding from being returned, we are also glad to have started a positive conversation with WSDOT about their process,” Mauro added. “It can’t be any fun to scramble around and send back $43 million, and we understand that they want to send back less flexible funds so they can be more nimble. I think they’ve heard from you that we don’t want to disproportionately ding nonmotorized transportation. And we’ll hold that line, because there are billions of dollars of needed bike and ped projects — $1.6 billion statewide of which sit unfunded on Local Transportation Improvement Plans (TIPs).”

Way to go, Cascade! Read more about their efforts on their blog.

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