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BIKE TO WORK BOOK
“This is the end of favouring motorized transportation at the expense of non-motorized.” RAY LAHOOD US Transport Secretary
environment in communities nationwide.” On Fastlane, LaHood said: “We have formulated key recommendations for state DOTs and communities: Treat walking and bicycling as equals with other transportation modes. Protect sidewalks and shared-use paths the same way roadways are protected (for example, snow removal). Now, this is a start, but it’s an important start. These initial steps forward will help us move forward even further. Welcoming LaHood’s “sea change” in transport thinking, Keith Laughlin, president of the Rails-to-Trails Conservancy, said: “The time has come for walking and biking...to be acknowledged as legitimate modes of transportation. Tremendous credit is due to Secretary LaHood for his leadership in catalyzing a “sea change” in federal transportation policy by recognizing the importance of walking and biking. And by introducing HR 4722, The Active Community Transportation Act, Rep. Earl Blumenauer has demonstrated how this sea change can be reflected in innovative federal policy. “With the interstate highway system completed, we now have the opportunity to build out the other half of our transportation system through investments to create a more balanced and diverse system that will provide Americans a variety of transportation choices. “Central to expanding transportation choices is the need to encourage ‘active transportation’by creating safe places to walk and bike. By connecting our communities with a seamless network of trails, sidewalks and bike lanes – and linking them to public transportation – we can give people the choice of mobility without an automobile. And for every car trip replaced by a walking/biking/ transit trip, we will spend less at the gas pump, easing the strain on household budgets and keeping dollars in America. By reducing traffic congestion, we improve the commutes of those who still choose to drive. And by replacing the gasoline in our cars with the energy in our bodies, we will burn calories, not carbon, simultaneously addressing the obesity epidemic and climate change. Washington DC bike commuter Rob Atkinson, president of the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation, said: “[One reason] more people don’t bike is because driving (and transit) are so heavily subsidized. A recent study of the Washington, DC, area by Resources for the Future found that if users were to pay the full cost of driving, including the costs of congestion, air pollution, and other externalities, drivers in large U.S. cities would have to pay an additional 24.4–33.7¢ per mile during peak times. On top of this, if you drive or take transit you can get $230 of pre-tax employer subsidy. Bicyclists now finally get something, but it’s only $20 a month. Defenders of the status quo will say bicycles shouldn’t get more since it doesn’t cost more to bike to work. But this completely misses the point. What possible rationale is there for using taxpayer dollars to reward people who drive to work ten times more generously than people who bike? “If drivers paid more to reflect their full social costs they imposed and bike commuters got the same commuter subsidy as cars, and the bike infrastructure was better (including requiring new office buildings to have showers and all office buildings to have an adequate number of secure bike racks) a lot of people would likely get out of their cars and onto their bikes. Moreover, biking is likely to exhibit ‘tipping point’ characteristics. One reason by more people don’t bike to work is that they don’t think it’s ‘acceptable.’ People still seem surprised when I say that I bike to my downtown DC office every day. But if more people start to ride it will become more acceptable for others and soon lots more people are biking.” However, not everybody is so keen on LaHood’s “sea change” in thinking. Bikes Belong executive director Tim Blumenthal said: “Secretary LaHood’s announcement was unbelievable, but there are still people out there that