I’m still processing my volumes of notes from the National Bicycle Summit, and working on posting summaries. For those who know me, I don’t TAKE notes, so the fact that I have 40+ pages of them should be seen as a sign.
In the meantime, there are some video embeds of Ray LaHood standing on the table at Thursday’s social with Congressional Staff and some core new policy changes, posted at the FastLane blog.
Something the Minnesota delegation emphasized when meeting with Minnesota lawmakers in Washington DC is that most road projects directly and indirectly subsidize automobile use and dependence on fossil fuels and foreign oil. We aren’t anti-car, but we want to see sane planning regulation and principles that give our families and communities safe choices, especially for the large number of daily trips that are within 1-2 miles of our homes.
The new policy guidelines announced today echo that position:
- The DOT is integrating the needs of bicyclists in federally-funded road projects.
- The DOT is discouraging transportation investments that negatively affect cyclists and pedestrians.
- Projects are encouraged to go beyond the minimum requirements and provide facilities for bicyclists and pedestrians of all ages and abilities.
Under the new guidelines, state DOTs and communities are being asked to treat walking and bicycling as equals with other transportation modes, protect and plow sidewalks and shared-use paths the same way roadways are protected, and improve nonmotorized facilities during maintenance projects.
This is all great stuff.
I’ll hopefully be posting my summary later today of the meetings the Minnesota attendees had with Minnesota’s members of Congress, and what you can do to support legislation that furthers these great policy initiatives announced today by Secretary LaHood.
