US Senate to Bicyclists - GET OFF THE ROAD!!!

Sign the League of American Bicyclists Petition!

Yesterday, I quickly put up a link to a Streetsblog DC article that gave a good rundown of the major aspects of the proposed US Senate transportation funding bill.  While that article was good at giving a overall summary of this big piece of legislation, it did miss this small clause on page 226 of the Senate Bill:

(d) BICYCLE SAFETY.—The Secretary of the appropriate Federal land management agency shall prohibit the use of bicycles on each federally owned road that has a speed limit of 30 miles per hour or greater and an adjacent paved path for use by bicycles within 100 yards of the road.

No, your eyes aren't deceiving you.  This is a mandatory sidepath law that forces bicyclists off federally owned roads (mostly in National Parks and Forests and military bases) and onto bicycle paths no matter how poorly the pathways are engineered.

Luckily, the hard working folks at the League of American Bicyclists didn't miss this egrigious little detail and fortunately for all of us, they are not going to take this lying down (HINT! This is a great example of why you need to join the League!).  In his blog post (read it!), LAB President, Andy Clarke blasts this clause as "paternalistic," and a "pretty awful" precedent.

Well, you don't have to take this direct assault to your right to ride a bike on a public right-of-way lying down either!  The LAB has put together a quick and easy petition that takes no more than a minute to fill out.  As I write this over 2,100 have already signed this petition and about a hundred people have been signing it every hour.

Make you voice heard in the US Senate.  Remind them that, "You ride and you vote!"

Senate forwards Transport Bill WITHOUT bike/ped funding

The following is written by Tanya Snyder at Streetsblog.DC and is reproduced here due to the importance and urgency of this issue and as she has done a MUCH better job summarizing the issue then I have the time to. 

The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee voted unanimously this morning to pass a two-year transportation reauthorization bill, moving the bill one step closer to passage by the full Senate.

Unlike in the House, where the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee has full responsibility for the transportation bill, the Senate splits jurisdiction among several committees, so the saga isn’t over yet by a long shot. The Senate Banking Committee still needs to consider the transit part of the bill, Commerce will get its hands dirty on the rail portion, and Finance is going to figure out how to pay for the whole thing.

Non-Motorized Transportation Takes a Hit
Rarely have bike and pedestrian safety been so squarely at the center of a Congressional boxing match as during the debate over this bill. The fight over dedicated funding for bike/ped projects – much of it focused on the Transportation Enhancements program – threatened the delicate bipartisan consensus for this bill. What emerged was a compromise that placated even the most hardened TE haters like Sens. James Inhofe and Tom Coburn.

To continue reading this article follow the link to the complete story at Streetsblog.DC.

Also make sure you read Tanya Snyder's second look at the Senate Transportation Bill and why she thinks it's not as bad as it could have been.  Also make sure you read the reaction by Rails-to-Trails' Kevin Mills to Tanya's second article (his is the second comment).  He is not so optimistic.