Alliance > Media center > People Powered Blog

Entries tagged: Federal Policy

Now is our chance!

While we continue to work to preserve federal funding for bicycling and walking, there is an opportunity this week to ensure that federally funded transportation projects accommodate the needs and safety of all users—including pedestrians and bicyclists. This would be a real chance to see Complete Streets policies enacted in every state.

On Wednesday morning, the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation will consider an amendment offered by Alaska Senator Mark Begich to provide safe and adequate accommodations for all users in all federally-funded street projects. This means safer roads for everyone, including those who walk, bicycle, ride transit, or drive cars.

According to the National Complete Streets Coalition: “This important amendment would ensure that future transportation investments made by state Departments of Transportation improve safety for everyone… More than 300 communities — including states, MPOs, counties, and towns of all sizes — have already said they will plan their streets in this manner. With additional guidance and support for Complete Streets from the federal level, these localities will have an easier time building the roads they want - roads that make their communities healthier and wealthier.” (Click here for additional details on the amendment.)

We need you to voice your support TODAY for the Senator Begich amendment to S. 1950 on “safety for motorized and nonmotorized users.” Please visit the Safe Routes to School National Partnership’s online action center — and share the link with your members and supporters. If your Senator is on the Commerce Committee, you will see a letter asking them to vote for the Begich amendment. If your Senator is not a member of the Commerce Committee, you will instead see a letter asking them to cosponsor Complete Streets legislation.

This is the first time in more than six years that our federal representatives will take a vote on Complete Streets language — please, take action TODAY!

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.

Yesterday, the Alliance hosted our partners at America Bikes for our latest Federal Policy Call. Mike Samuelson, our Members Services and Open Streets Coordinator, compiled these detailed notes…

Debt Ceiling: What it means for the new transportation bill
Any discussion or debate on the new transportation bill has been put off until after Labor Day, as Congress is focused on resolving the issue of the debt celling. The debt ceiling debate has increased partisanship, which will negatively affect everything else still on the table, including transportation. The increased partisanship will make it more difficult to keep transportation funding at SAFETEA-LU levels. Due to the time constraints between when Congress returns from the summer break and when the current bill expires on September 30, there is an increased likelihood that we won’t see anything new until the end of September. Then we may see some short-term extensions at the end of September. This is all assuming that the debt ceiling is raised in August.

Senate Bill
We did see some movement toward a new bill in the Senate this month. Senators Boxer (D-CA) and Inhofe (R-OK) announced that they have an agreement for a two-year bill at current funding levels (compared to the House bill, which would cut total funding by 35 percent). The main theme of the hearing was to let interest groups know that, if they want to avoid a cut in funding, they need to get behind the Senate’s bill.

In order to keep this level of funding, the Senate needs to find an additional $12 billion. Senator Baucus (MT), the Chair of the Finance Committee, is optimistic that he can secure this funding, but he can’t do it until the debt ceiling is resolved. Senator Inhofe has been very clear that he will not support a bill that is not paid for, so it is crucial that the Senate find the needing funding to preserve SAFETEA-LU levels.

At the hearing Senator Boxer said that, Safe Routes to School, Recreational Trails and “bike paths” will continue to have dedicated funding (meaning these programs won’t have to compete with road projects). We believe “bike paths” are referenced instead of Transportation Enhancements because that program will be under a new name. However, we still believe it will include dedicated funding. We have asked for equivalent levels of funding to what the programs receive now, which we believe to be the case in the Senate’s proposal. We thank Senator Boxer for her continued support of biking and walking and anxiously await the actual bill language. Until we see the language, we cannot be sure the bill adequately protects biking and walking.

In both the Senate and the House bills, there is language on streamlining projects, which could be a benefit for biking and walking projects — but again we still need to see language to be sure. There has been talk of penalizing agencies that don’t issue permits in a certain time frame, which would be good for our projects.

We expect to see language sometime in September, but it depends on several factors.

House Bill
Earlier this month, Rep. Mica (R-FL) released an outline of the House bill and had a press conference, which was followed by a Democratic response denouncing the bill. We are hearing the House version has no Transportation Enhancements, Safe Routes to School or Recreational Trails. Mica says he is trying to give as much flexibility to state DOTs as possible, and that these programs are still eligible for funding. Eliminating dedicated funding for these programs will make it difficult for them to secure any funding. (Please see the League memo on the difference between dedicated funding and eligibility.)

There may be something on performance measures related to congestion, state of good repair and safety. We are not sure how this will affect our projects, since these measures will be used to judge if DOTs are acting in the “national interests,” and Mica has come out and said that non-motorized projects are not considered part of this “national interest.”

We are looking for champions to get dedicated funding back into the bill. We hope to add an amendment at the committee level. The amendment would include all three programs (as opposed to separate amendments for each program). The bill is so unpopular that it will need to be moved through committee quickly and then to the floor, rather than a long sub-committee and committee process.

House THUD
Next up on House schedule for the 2012 budget is Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, which is currently funded at such low levels that leaders don’t want to address its funding yet. Given that the House needs to do a budget, they are more likely to move on to the transportation appropriations bill, which would authorize Federal Highway Administration. The transportation appropriations bill doesn’t set funding for each program, which is good for us because it means to defund our programs Congress would have to specifically call out no funding for biking and walking, which would be much easier for us to fight against than Mica’s bill.

We expect our programs to fair well in the appropriations sub-committee, but we are preparing for a possible fight at the full committee or floor debate. We are hoping to avoid that, but we may come back to Alliance groups in September saying there is an amendment in the appropriation process to cut bike/ped.

What is most likely to happen is we get a short-term extension on SAFETEA-LU and a continuing resolution on the budget for two to four weeks. We are looking at a fight on the extension, with the House saying they won’t do an extension without some cuts to funding, and bike/ped may be vulnerable to these cuts.

Outreach to Members of Congress
Please contact your member of Congress and ask them to support continued dedicated funding for biking and walking in both appropriations and transportation. At this point, it is too early to ask about extensions. We are asking local advocates to reach out to congressional members in August, when they will be in-district for most of the month.

It’s important to constantly be working on your relationship with your member of Congress. Here are some things you can do:

• Go to town hall meetings (Find out when they are by contacting your district office.)
• Invite them to events to show off a bike/ped facility or do a “study tour,” piggy back on another event, invite them to address a crowd of constituents at your event
• Media events/ op-eds/ articles/ etc
• If you have not met with your member of Congress, schedule an in-district meeting

It is also important to remember that you won’t always be able to get the member to attend your meeting or event, but it is still worthwhile to have a staffer attend in the member’s place. Staffers help formulate the member’s policy, so influencing staffers is key to influencing members.

Action Alert from America Bikes
America Bikes issued the first national action alert of the year on July 7th, after Mica’s press conference on the House’s new transportation bill. America Bikes asked that advocates contact their members of Congress to ask for dedicated biking and walking. We are showing a total of 56,000 messages to members. In the House, more than half the offices received 25 messages or more, while in Senate more than half of the members received 277 or more. Both California Senators received more than 3,000 messages each.

Thank you to everyone who responded to the alert and contacted their members of Congress. For more information on the response to the alert, contact Nathan at Nathan@americabikes.og. If you have additional data to share that didn’t go through any of the national partners, please contact Nathan, as well.

These action alerts play a huge role in shaping the national policy. An earlier push in California led to dedicated funding in the Senate bill by putting pressure on Senator Boxer. You are making a difference. Keep up the great work!

TIGER 3
Darren Flusche of the League of American Bicyclists attended a question-and-answer event with senior policy staff at USDOT on applying for TIGER grants. The staff said that adding a bike/ped piece to a proposal can make a project more attractive, but it is important to focus on how bike/ped is part of a larger transportation strategy and not just for recreation.

Remember to estimate the number of users for the new project. USDOT needs these numbers to calculate the economic benefits of project. And as simple as it sounds, it is so important to read the application guidelines and make sure your application meets those guides. Show how your project is a high priority. There is also $10 million minimum for application, so don’t bother applying for any projects smaller than $10 million.

TIGER 3 will total $527 million dollars, funding multi-modal, non-traditional projects that are difficult to fund through normal funding process. Multi-modal programs are very popular, and more than half in the past grant awards have included biking/walking. These include complete streets projects, bike and ped networks, as well as projects where biking and walking are included but not the central piece.

Rumble Strips
Since early 2010, the Alliance, League of American Bicyclists and Adventure Cycling Association have been working with FHWA Safety Office on concerns over rumble strip applications. In May 2011, the FHWA quietly distributed a new Technical Advisory (guidance) to district offices and state departments of transportation (DOTs) on the installation of rumble strips. Unfortunately, this guidance doesn’t meet the standards necessary to ensure the safety of cyclists, and we did not get a chance to review it before its release.

The new FHWA guidance on the installation of both shoulder and centerline rumble strips is significantly worse for bicyclists than the 2001 guidance. Not surprisingly, they did not notify us of the new guidance before sending it out to their district offices, even though we’d continually asked them to do so. Upon learning of the new guidance in mid-June, we immediately contacted FHWA and set up a meeting. On July 18, the Alliance, League and Adventure Cycling met with FHWA and USDOT staff to express our concerns with the process and the lack of accommodation for bicycling in the new guidance. As a result, we are submitting written detail of the specific points the bicycling community wants to see addressed in the new guidance.

We made it clear that we are holding back on raising the alarm with bicyclists across the country, but we are asking for a complete revision of the Technical Advisory and will track this process very closely in the coming weeks. If we don’t succeed we will let you all know and mobilize as needed.  For now, please wait to take any action.

America Bikes Starting a Bi-Weekly Newsletter for Hill Staff America Bikes is about to launch an e-mail newsletter to cultivate stronger working relationships and to share up-to-date information with our allies on the Hill. A major objective of the newsletter will be to generate more enthusiasm for bicycle issues in the Hill by spotlighting successful efforts to advance biking and walking at the state and local levels – especially those that demonstrate broad public support for biking and walking as a top priority.

Please make a habit of sending us stories on successful state legislative wins.  For example: Delaware bike advocates recently secured $5 million for bike-ped through a General Assembly bond bill which was endorsed by the Governor and enjoyed unanimous support on committee. We want to hear what’s happening in your state and community. Send your stories to Carolyn@PeoplePoweredMovement.org.

Last week, Congresswomen Doris Matsui (D-CA) and Congressman Steven LaTourette (R-OH) introduced HR 1780, the Safe and Complete Streets Act of 2011, into the U.S. House of Representatives.

The measure would help ensure safe travel for millions of Americans by directing states and regions to adopt policies to provide for the needs of all users of the transportation system, including people of all ages and abilities who are walking, bicycling, and taking the bus. According to the National Complete Streets Coalition: “A federal provision would lead to policies in every state and every Metropolitan Planning Organization that will transform transportation planning practices to routinely provide for everyone using the roadway – whether they are walking, bicycling, driving, or catching the bus or train. It would likely be folded into the federal transportation authorization bill.”

“We are so pleased to have Congressional champions who are committed to creating safer streets,” Barbara McCann, Coalition Executive Director, said in the press release. “They are being responsive to communities across the country that are adopting state and local Complete Streets policies and want to see a consistent commitment to safety reflected in federal transportation investments as well.”

To move this important piece of legislation forward, though, our partners at the Coalition need your help.

Go to www.completestreets.org/takeaction to use the online form to email your member of Congress to let them know you support H.R. 1780. Visit the Coalition’s resources page for additional information and talking points about the bill.

Members of Congress are in the thick of making important decisions that will affect billions of dollars in federal funding for biking and walking projects. The Alliance keeps you up-to-date on these critical developments through our monthly Federal Policy and Legislation Call. If you missed today’s session, with guests from America Bikes and NACTO, member services fellow Mike Samuelson has you covered with the following, detailed notes…

National Bike Summit Follow-up
Great job to everyone who came!  We held lots of productive meetings, including some with new members and with offices that we have not had access to in the past. We have been following up on Summit meetings, so it is very helpful when you complete your reports, which can be done on the League of American Bicyclists’ website. If you have not followed up to thank the Representative or staffers you met with, please do so ASAP. This is also a great time to invite them to an event in-district, like a large ride or ribbon cutting for a new facility. Representatives will be in-district during Bike to Work Day, so if you are participating in an event, invite your local Representative.

America Bikes: Report from Capitol Hill
We’re still waiting for Congress to pass a 2011 budget — that was the bill we saw a vote on in early February. We have already seen two short-term extensions and the current extension of the continuing resolution runs out on April 8.  Many members on both sides of the aisle say this will be the last extension. The bill will go back to both the House and Senate and rumor has it that transportation won’t be protected like it was previously, so we may see an amendment that goes after some of our programs. The fight is ongoing, but should be concluded by April 8.  If there are attacks on bike/ped funding, we will let you know.

The House is also working on reauthorization of the transportation bill. Mica is planning to write the bill in April and release it in late May or early June. It could look different from what we have seen before because the funding is so low: Mica is looking at each program to determine if it should stay, be cut or be consolidated. There’s a possibility that Transportation Enhancement could be moved out of the Highway Trust Fund, which would mean it would have guaranteed funding through the five- to six-year cycle of the transportation bill.  What we saw in February is that the programs that were not in the Highway Trust Fund were cut, so this is not a place we want TE to be. This would also make it tougher to have votes strictly on funding bike/ped, because it would require coming up with a funding source for the program, which, in turn, makes getting GOP support more difficult, because funding would come from the general fund.

In the Senate, Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA) has been a supporter of biking before but is working with Sen. James Inhofe (R-OK) who is not a supporter. The Senate is about a month behind the House in terms of when they introduce legislation. The chambers haven’t talked to each other about funding, so it will be very hard to pass a bill this year. But each battle is important in the grand scheme, so losing this year will make it tougher next year.

As for marker bills: We’re working to reintroduce the Complete Streets bill and trying to get more Republicans to co-sponsor the bill. Hopefully, Complete Streets will be introduced by April. Safe Routes to School will likely be the next bill to be introduced, and we should expect to see that introduced before the transportation bill. Next is the ACT (Active Community Transportation) Act, which will also likely happen in the next couple of months.

The current extension on SAFETEA-LU runs until September 30 and Rep. John Mica (R-FL), chair of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, is claiming that it is the last extension he’ll do. He is pushing to do a 6 year bill. However, he has an uphill battle given that the House and Senate will have to agree on funding for the bill.

Categorical Exclusions
The Obama administration, including the US Department of Transportation, is looking at regulations and how to make them more efficient. We are collecting examples of where categorical exclusions are being used well or poorly.  If you have an example, please contact .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).

Equity Caucus
The Equity Caucus — an initiative within Transportation for America — is proposing a National Conversation on Transportation Equity, with a series of local events to be held around the country in late April and May 2011.  Any groups interested in participating in one of these events should contact Erica Swanson: swanson@civilrights.org; (202) 263-2859.

NACTO Urban Bikeways Design Guide
This guide came from discussion among advocates, engineers and planners regarding what is needed to advance bicycling at the design level — given constraints posed by current design guides like the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD). This NACTO guide takes the most innovative practices from the US and the world and puts them in one place. Currently it is only online, which allows people to post their projects and discuss the different techniques in the guide. NACTO is currently working on a print edition, which will allow engineers to use them in court, if needed. They hope to have that out this summer.

NACTO also worked closely with the Federal Highway Administration to try to get various designs accepted in the MUTCD. This can be a very long process, but since many of these techniques are already in use, we are hoping they can be expedited.  FHA went ahead and commented on most of these treatments to show that they can already be done.

How can advocates use this resource? This is a great resource to show local officials that these designs can be done and are being done legally in the US. With these tools, advocates can hopefully avoid applying for an exemption. This will be a resource for people in local DOTs, but will also help advocates push for separated cycle facilities. If people are claiming they can’t build a facility because it’s not in the AASHTO or MUTCD guides, this is something you can point them to. It is important to highlight that many of these items are not expensive and can be done in a very cost effective way.

Cities for Cycling, a NACTO program for politicians and officials to lend their expertise and also learn from others across the country, will be doing “road shows” in the coming months. Check out http://www.nacto.org for more information.

Notes compiled and blog contributed by Alliance intern, Camie Rodan

Yesterday, we all breathed a collective sigh of relief to learn that the first rounds of budget cuts in the U.S. House of Representatives did not affect biking and walking programs. But things are changing by the minute. Though we dodged this bullet, we all need to stay on our toes, ready to mobilize at a moment’s notice.

To keep you informed with updates on federal funding and the happenings on Capitol Hill, we hosted our latest Federal Policy Call yesterday with our partners from America Bikes. Here are the highlights from that call. 2012 Budget

President Obama released a preliminary version of the 2012 budget this past Monday. At this point, it is very topline. America Bikes will be meeting with members of the Department of Transportation to learn more details. We hope to have more information for you by the National Bike Summit.

What’s Happening on Capitol Hill

There’s been a lot happening on Capitol Hill. Nearly 600 amendments have been proposed to HR1. While none of these amendments attacked biking and walking programs, there have been brutal hits to transit, health and trails, including funding for the Centers Disease Control and Prevention. (UPDATE: The amendment we told you about yesterday, which would have zeroed out the Land and Water Conservation Fund, was defeated!)

We also could see amendments on the floor of the Senate in a few weeks. We will come back to you once the budget heads to the Senate, and will make sure you’re ready for any amendments that may come then.

On the transportation side, Transportation for America is still processing the budget information, but there are huge cuts in the budget for transportation itself.  The initial language includes cuts in New Starts, high-speed rail, and the TIGER program. If you’re not already part of Transportation for America, head over to their website to sign up and learn more.

March Forth Campaign status

Thank you all for scheduling in-district meetings. Not having an attack on the table comes from what you are telling your elected officials in your home district. We have a number of meetings scheduled and we’re looking forward to seeing what comes back as a result. These meetings are important in building relationships, as well as education. The Bike Summit is a great second step, and then we can follow up beyond that.

For instance: We heard from members in Wisconsin and New Hampshire, who both received positive feedback in their meetings. Strong support in Wisconsin is largely the result educating officials on the economic impact of biking, as well as the influence on tourism, both of which resonated with the elected officials there. Our members in New Hampshire also met with freshman Representative Frank Guinta’s in-district staffer, who was very receptive to biking and walking concerns. The staffer reported a good experience with the mayor of Manchester and bike paths, so hopefully he will channel that enthusiasm and support in his votes.

It is not too late to have in-district meetings with Members of Congress. Whether you are meeting with the member or a staffer, it’s a good idea to bring allies — a local bike shop owner or local elected official, for instance — to deliver a unified message. You may also want to think about upcoming events in March, April or May, during which you can introduce the elected official in a ribbon cutting ceremony, at the unveiling of bike lanes or opening of a new facility.

At this point, it’s imperative that we focus on general education and talking about the benefits of biking and walking. There are a lot of freshmen in the House and we need to educate them about how biking and walking is a vital part of transportation.

Feedback on Coordinated National Campaign and Importance of Unified Messaging

We’ve received feedback from our America Bikes partners that the biking and walking movement has been, by far, the most organized campaign in preparing for the vote in the House. We’ve found that economic and job analyses are very helpful and effective in getting our message across. America Bikes recently contracted with the Political Economy Research Institute at the University of Massachusetts on a new job-creation study focused on Baltimore, Maryland, which found that nearly twice as many jobs are created from biking and walking projects than regular road construction. America Bikes hopes to work with other cities and towns to get similar data. If you’re interested in helping facilitate such a study in your area, e-mail .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).

Chairman Mica’s Listening Sessions

Chairman Mica, the new Transportation and Infrastructure chair, is doing a series of listening sessions across the country that started earlier this week. Nearly every single listening session coordinates with a new Republican that serves on the transportation committee, so this is an excellent opportunity to introduce them to and educate them about various transportation elements.

Unfortunately, we’ve heard that speakers at these listening sessions are by invitation only. Local congressional offices are coordinating the speakers list, so if you have a great person to speak, call your local office and see if they can tell you how to get on the speakers’ list. You can also scan the speaker list and reach out to the speakers directly.

The sessions are open to the public, and, while speakers are only by-invitation only, some written testimony will also be accepted. Be sure to check out where you can submit written testimony to ensure that your thoughts are recorded.

We need to keep in mind that the listening sessions are essentially a place for new members of Congress on the transportation committee to hear from constituents on transportation issues. It is important that we get biking and walking representatives, because this will be first voices they’ve heard on biking and walking. The main point we want to get across in these listening sessions is that biking and walking is important in their district and communities.

At this time, we do not know the format of these events. We’ve heard through the grapevine that different events will have different formats, so if anyone does get to an event, please let us know. If you are planning on attending one of these events, please .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) at the Alliance for talking points that were designed for in-district meetings. The most fundamental point we want to be reiterating: Biking and walking programs are beneficial for jobs, tourism, and our health, solving multiple problems simultaneously.

Don’t hesitate to contact .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)at the Alliance for additional information and resources.

During our information-packed Federal Policy Call last week, our friends at America Bikes highlighted the importance of upcoming listening sessions being held by Congressman John Mica (R-Florida). Mica is the chair of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure and made clear that, before he starts to write the new federal transportation bill, he’ll visit the districts and hear from the constituents of all the new members of the T&I committee.

If you live in one of these cities or regions, mark your calendars and attend a listening session. This is a vital opportunity to make sure our issues are heard.

Listening session locations:

February 14 – West Virginia
February 17 – Philadelphia, PA
February 18 – Rochester, NY
February 19-20 – Columbus, OH; Indianapolis, IN; suburbs of Chicago, IL
February 21-23 – Portland, OR; Vancouver, WA; Fresno, CA; and Southern California

Yesterday, the Alliance hosted our latest Federal Policy Call with America Bikes. Just in case you missed it, Mike Samuelson, the Alliance’s member services intern, has you covered. Here are the highlights and take-aways from the discussion:

Congress still needs to pass a 2011 budget and extend SAFETEA-LU before the end of the year, which will probably in the same piece of legislation. The House passed a resolution to keep spending at the 2009 level. Within the past few days there has been fighting about the Omnibus, which may lead to a short-term resolution of the budget. If this resolution does happen, there could be an attack on bike/ped issues by February. A fight on an appropriation bill could stop the flow of money to projects we care about. We will know what happens by the end of the year, at the latest.

SAFETEA-LU: Whatever passes will likely include a nine-month extension. SAFETEA-LU authorizes spending and the appropriation actually assigns the money for the projects. Even if SAFETEA-LU is extended, an appropriation fight could stop the flow of money to a project.

Other threats:

Eric Cantor’s You-Cut Program — A vote every week to cut a program that is wasteful or duplicative. We expect SRTS and TE to be on this list. We have no control over what is on the list; it’s generated from Republican staffers and then anyone can vote on Cantor’s website.

Budget fight for 2012 — Will start in March of next year.

Cut as you go – Whenever a new program is introduced, something has to be cut to make funds available. This program does not consider the idea of raising funds for a new program.

If we fight against these attacks well in the beginning, we won’t have to do as much later. We are already lining up leaders who will speak for us on the floor, but we also need local advocates to engage with their politicians to let them know that these programs are important and that people care about them. We had a strategy session here to define who in the House we can work with. We are likely going to reach out to local leaders to ask them to arrange a time to meet with local Representatives to deliver a message promoting bike/ped.

Examples of successful advocating:

Lois Moss (Cleveland) – The local representative, Congressman LaTourette came out against Transportation Secretary Ray Lahood’s policy on biking and walking. In order to reach LaTourette, Lois looked for areas where they had common ground. LaTourette was a big supporter of businesses and she owned several bike shops in the area at that time, so she mentioned this connection when they met. She then rallied bike advocates in the area to let LaTourette know that they didn’t like his comments against biking, and followed that up with offering him several invitations to biking and walking events in his district. Even though LaTourette was unable to attend any of these events, Lois was still able to get a meeting with a staffer in the fall of this year. She brought business leaders from the district to emphasize how biking affects LaTourette’s constituents, and brought an business magazine highlighting the bike industry in Minnesota. A few weeks later, Lois was one of the first people to be informed that LaTourette had co-sponsored the federal Complete Streets bill. She then made sure to get lots of local advocates to contact his office and let him know how happy they were with his support for biking issues.

Nick Mason (Minnesota) – Amy Klobuchar (Senator) was always supportive of bikes but a year ago she voted to make Transportation Enhancements optional. Nick met with her a number of times and made numerous calls/emails to her staffer to set up an appointment with the local staff. She has now become a vocal ally, in part because she knows that there is a statewide group with members who is following her and what she does.

Keys to good advocacy:

Establish a relationship and a hook to find common ground with the politician. Invite them to events so they can see the numbers of people in the movement, and be persistent if they don’t immediately respond. Find key words or short phrases that are easy to remember and rally around. Stress safety and mobility as a right. Other themes we should employ are business and economic growth of cycling, getting politicians on bikes to show them what they are missing, showing them what other cities/states are doing to foster competitiveness, and let them know that their constituents care about this. Perception is everything. Avoid talking about climate/environment, since this is a non-starter with conservatives.

Putting together fact sheets about the number of jobs and money that bikes bring to a district or state is also a powerful force.

Messengers to politicians – Think outside of your organization and who might have a connection to a politician. Complete a power-mapping exercise to figure out how you can have some kind of influence. Get a diversity of people to speak to politicians. Get kids involved!

District Fact Sheets:

America Bikes wants data from your district (like a list of federal projects in your districts) and information about your representative’s voting records. What does the member like about biking? What does he/she not like? This info will be available to show how biking and walking has affected each district. You can already find information about TE at the National Transportation Enhancements Clearinghouse, and America Bikes are working with SRTS to get a similar list. NBDA can also get information on bike shops in a district.

Thanks, in part, to some dedicated advocates in Cleveland, the federal Complete Streets Act is now a bipartisan bill.

For many, the name Steve LaTourette is familiar. This spring, U.S. Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood made headlines when he jumped on a table at the National Bike Summit in animated support for bicycling and walking. LaTourette caught some media attention too, when he jokingly quipped that LaHood must be on drugs to suggest cycling deserved significant federal funding.

While that off-the-cuff comment went viral on the internet, LaTourette quickly wrote a public clarification, noting his “ardent support” for bike facilities. Now, another story is spreading across the country. The Ohio Congressman is getting some deserved attention for putting that “ardent support” into action, leading his conservative colleagues and proving that complete streets is a concept that transcends politics.

Last week, LaTourette signed on to the Complete Streets Act — a bill now in Congress that would ensure that communities across America design, build and operate their roadways with all users in mind, including bicyclists, public transit users and pedestrians. Because of his position on the prestigious House Appropriations Subcommittee on Transportation, LaTourette’s opinions on transportation policy and infrastructure spending are critical. Not to mention, the Congressman is the first Republican to join the growing ranks of lawmakers who support complete streets.

So what nudged LaTourette to add his name? Action from advocates at Walk+Roll Cleveland and local bike shop owners.

First, the Ohio advocates kickstarted communications and meetings between LaTourette and national organizations like Bikes Belong, the Alliance, the League of American Bicyclists and the National Complete Streets Coalition.

Next, they showed LaTourette the numbers. Walk+Roll’s founder, Lois Moss, and owners of Eddy’s Bike Shops and Solon Bicycle met personally with the Congressman’s staffers. They came prepared with copies of Minnesota Business magazine, which reported that bicycling has added millions to the state economy and that many thousands of Minnesotans use bicycles for transportation, despite the chilly climate. They also cited stats from the Outdoor Industry Association that show bicycle facilities create jobs — in fact, generating more jobs per million dollars spent than massive highway and bridge reconstruction projects.

Then, they rallied the community. On September 17th, more than 1,000 residents walked, rolled and bused to Cleveland’s Progressive Field for an “Access for All Party,” a festive event promoting complete streets. Lo and behold, a few days later, LaTourette was signing on as a Complete Streets co-sponsor.

“Congressman LaTourette has historically been generally supportive of recreational bicycling,” Moss said in today’s press release. “Agreeing to co-sponsor Complete Streets demonstrates an understanding that bicycling and walking can also be transportation.”

Check out the National Complete Streets Coalition to learn more about the federal bill.