Cyclists are important users of transportation systems

On Wednesday, I had the pleasure of addressing the National Bike Summit. I was invited to speak as a member of the Obama administration, but I have been a supporter of bicycling for many years and was a member of the Congressional Bike Caucus when I was in Congress.

Still, I don't think the League of American Bicyclists knew what to expect when they invited me to their summit.

I hope they were pleasantly surprised because I am committed to investing in programs that encourage bikes to coexist with other modes and to safely share our roads and bridges. And there’s strong support in Congress for these goals as well.

In the Department of Transportation, bicyclists have a full partner in working toward livable communities. We're excited that the Federal Highway Administration is looking at best practices in Europe to improve safety and mobility for walkers and cyclists. We're excited that a federally funded pilot project to study the effects of improved walking and bicycling facilities in four communities is underway. I think I conveyed that excitement to the summit, judging by the early response (BikePortland.org, Streetsblog.org)

I welcome the vigor of the bicycling community in advocating for bike-friendly measures in the upcoming authorization bill, CLEAN-TEA. Bicycles are a critical part of a cleaner, greener future in American transportation, so keep those wheels spinning.

Comments

[Louis Fineberg]

This is excellent news! Thank you.

[Douglas F. Williamson]

As a cyclist who cycles for daily transportation, I fully support measures for augmenting cycling as a means of transportation. This country could look to Europe for many ideas on how to improve cycling conditions and shift transportation to more sustainable means. When I lived in Germany, I received a tax refund for mileage cycled to work. Bike lanes were designated everywhere and cyclists obeyed traffic rules. There were even traffic lights at eye level at intersections in the bike lanes. People paid attention to bike bells. Pedestrians and automobiles were sensitive to cycle lanes and cyclists. There are bike racks everywhere, many covered. However, making cycling a viable form of transportation in many parts of this country will require the implementation of more compact urban design. I hope it happens.

Thank you,

Douglas F. Williamson

[Jessica Thompson]

Thank you so much! It was refreshing to hear you speak at the Bike Summit. I am excited to see how things move forward.

Jessica Thompson
League of Illinois Bicyclists
http://bikelib.org

[Steve Sexton]

Thank you so much Mr LaHood. I commute to work 36 miles round trip whenever I can. Louisville is really trying to become even more user friendly for bikes and any support you can lend is appreciated.

[Cezar]

Thank you, this makes me very happy and excited for the future of my country and, one day, that of my children's.

Also, proud that you're from Illinois.

[Jonathan Krall]

Thanks for the positive comments about cycling. I hope that the DOT will follow through with policies and metrics that focus on reducing automobile-miles driven in metropolitan areas. I feel that active transportation (walking and cycling, supported by mass transit) is *the* viable approach to transportation for future urban and suburban communities.

[Danny]

Thank you for finally figuring out the easiest way to simultaneously divorce ourselves from mideast oil and obesity.

[Travis A. Wittwer]

I find this post to be promising, positive. Thank you for it. I find it encouraging that the whole spectrum of transportation is getting more consideration. Bike are viable means of transportation, bikes reduce the car traffic on the streets, bikes are low impact. I originally caught the link through BikePortland.

[Devin Quince]

Nice to finally see this after 8 years or more of inattention. The one comment I would like to make is that we need to realize that we cannot continue living at our current energy rate of consumption even with green energy, so we need to be promoting reduction in overall energy usage starting with cars.

[peter]

This is a refreshing comment from an national administration. Welcome to office. We're glad to see you.

BTW, it would be good to make sure those 68 Amtrak cars in the stimulus bill have places on them to carry bikes.

[Paul Cooley]

As an advocate of alternative transportation, and an instructor with the League of American Bicyclists, I welcome your support. Far too often, bicycles are treated simply as recreational items and are not considered seriously as part of the traffic flow. My family -- we have two children, ages seven and nine, has been carfree for almost five years now, and I run a beekeeping business by bicycle. It is ultimately practical to base a transportation system around a multi-modal approach. Our streets are much safer, more convivial, and more civilized when they are filled with a wide variety of users.

Thank you for your support.

[Casey]

Cycling advocates really appreciate your interest in bikes -- thank you!

I hope you are aware that many state and local transportation departments are doing little if anything to identify bike projects that would be eligible for TE money or other funding made available in the stimulus package.

If US DOT is serious about encouraging bike projects, you will have to give clear direction to the state and local governments that are charged with carrying these projects out. The people who run these agencies are typically so autocentric that their resist spending anything on bike infrastructure even when they are handed the money to do it.

[matt]

I'm very happy to see this post. Bicycles are the most economical and socially responsible way to travel. They avoid the biggest disadvantages of driving a car: impact on the environment, dependence on foreign oil, contribution to the energy crisis, travel costs, and I think even safety. Obviously the kinetic energy possessed by a bicycle at speed is tiny compared to most automotive alternatives. This thereby hugely decreases the risk to the most vulnerable travelers on the road: other bicyclists and pedestrians. I hope that your efforts to make the road safer for bicyclists will make more people realize that it is a viable and socially responsible method of transportation. I especially hope that the NHTSA will follow your lead toward safer thinking and begin to see that heavier vehicles are not the answer for safer roads.

I do have a question for you though. Will you also consider the safety and importance of motorcycles? Sometimes a bicycle just will not do, and motorized transportation is necessary. For all of the same reasons listed above, a motorcycle is the obvious next choice as an economical and socially responsible method of transportation. The previous Secretary of Transportation was a strong proponent of toll roads. My experiences in the city of Chicago have been that toll roads are not friends of motorcyclists. When I travel through Chicago, I'm charged the same toll as a eight thousand pound SUV, when I know that I could not be creating the same effect on the environment or wear on the road surface. This is clearly unfair and acts as a discouragement for people to adopt the better form of transportation. The transceivers used by the state of Illinois are huge and made to stick on a windshield. There's no alternative for a vehicle that doesn't have a windshield. Even if there was something to bolt onto the vehicle, there's nothing to keep someone from removing it in a parking lot and charging tolls directly to my credit card. The Illinois DOT actually told me over the phone that I should try carrying the transceiver in my pocket. Then I should take one hand off of the handlebars, remove it from my pocket, and hold it up to the toll station so that it can be read. All this is supposed to happen while I'm traveling on a crowded interstate! Clearly the safety of motorcyclists was not considered in the development of the system.

There may be better systems out there, but the one that I have used is quite disappointing. I hope that if you choose to pursue a similar direction for the rest of the country, you will keep these weaknesses in mind. Bicyclists, motorcyclists, and pedestrians are the people out there trying to make a difference in our world. They should not be punished for their efforts.

[Ken]

I'm very glad to know that you are so committed to our coexistance with motorized vehicles rather than just a "separate but unequal" system of bike paths.

[Keith Saggers]

Please build a bicycle and pedestrian multi-use path on the west span of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge, this will help relieve congestion on the bridge.
sincerely
Keith Saggers

[Refunk]

Thank you, Mr. Secretary!

Bikes ARE a valid part of the transportation mix, and it's about time someone acknowledged their real-world value beyond recreation. Your views integrating cyclists into multi-modal systems, especially roadway and rail, are very welcome. Thanks for having the common sense to embrace a more efficient, healthier, economical, safer transportation component that America is beginning to understand again.

[Peter Martin]

I'm pleased to see that we have a Secretary of Transportation who is actively interested in better integrating cycling into the country's transportation system.

One aspect of integration that I think does not get enough attention is the physical "bicycle-unfriendliness" of much of our public transit. Many -- most? -- trains and buses make no provision for stowing bicycles. If bicycle accessibility were mandated (or at least "incentivized") we would likely see an increase in the number of people willing to commute by public transit and bicycle. If the mandate or incentive were extended to planes, it would also make travel and touring by bicycle much easier and more affordable.

If reducing congestion, pollution, and energy dependence are considered sufficiently vital national goals, the Americans with Disabilities Act could serve as a template for an accessibility mandate. As for practical bicycle transport solutions, countries with large numbers of commuting cyclists offer a variety of examples. The important thing is that it be cheap, fast, safe, secure, and easy for cyclists to stow their bikes and use mass transit/transportation like any other passenger.

Thanks for taking the time to consider this input. Again, I'm gratified to have a Transportation Secretary who acknowledges cycling as a legitimate mode of transportation with distinct economic and environmental advantages.

[Bill Shaneyfelt]

Good to know cyclists are now being recognized, and maybe the many benefits of cycling will be promoted now.

[Erin Sturgis-Pascale]

There is much advocacy on the local level for increasing the safety and convenience of our public streets for all users--cyclists, pedestrians and transit users included. It is very exciting to hear that we might have a federal partner in these efforts.
Thank You!
Erin Sturgis-Pascale
Board of Aldermen
New Haven, CT

[Jason Stockmann]

I echo Refunk's point about public transit not always being accommodating to cyclists. America is moving away from near-complete reliance on the automobile and toward a multi-modal system in which buses, trains, bicycles, and cars mesh together in a seamless transportation network. Such a network would be a major coup for greenhouse gas reduction, energy independence, and public health.

Two important "seams" in this network are "bikes-on-buses" and "bikes-on-trains". While many local transit agencies have installed bike racks on their buses, they remain absent in many cities; the lack of bike racks on NY City buses is particularly troubling. On the rail front, agencies such as Caltrain and Metrolink have made great strides toward accommodating bicycles on commuter trains. I urge you to support the incipient work being done by the NY-area MTA to incorporate bike storage hooks into the railcars used by Metro North, one of the nation's busiest commuter rail systems. I hope you will also advocate for a repeal of MTA peak hours restrictions that effectively prevent cyclists from using their bikes to commute to work via Metro North and the Long Island Railroad.

The bicycle is an excellent way to solve the "last mile problem" of getting from home to the originating rail station, and then from the destination station to the workplace. Bikes are not only a healthy way of accessing stations, but their use obviates the need to install more car parking at rail stations.

[California Goose]

Why aren't bicycles allowed on trains? That would be the first step towards a better multimodal transit system. First step should be an Obama EXECUTIVE ORDER making them legal to have on trains, like they are in Europe.

[Peter Smith]

Physically-separated bike lanes (cycletracks), please! If the car speed is over 20 MPH ('Twenty is plenty'), then we have to have a physical buffer from moving traffic. 'Subjective safety' just as important as practical safety.

Best!

[Hal Ballard, Executive Director, WashCo BTC]

At one seminar I conducted for the League of American Bicyclists, one of the candidates in her presentation said "Bicyclists fare better when..." The class all commented on that word better as the original quote from John Forester is Bicyclists fare best..."

My point is that, thanks to LaHood's comments and attitudes, bicyclists are faring better, being treated as vehicles. As an educator, it is up to me to get them to "act as drivers of vehicles."

Thank you Mr Secretary.

[Alex]

THANK YOU! BUT - the interest of cyclists must be codified. All federally funded road/transportation projects should be required to spend no less than 5% of the total project cost on accommodating cyclists.

[Mighk Wilson]

I appreciate all that's being done at the federal level to ween us from single-occupant motor vehicles, but we will only nibble around the edges of this problem as long as tax policy rewards the "free" parking of automobiles nearly everywhere.

The combination of hyper-inflated minimum parking requirements in local government land development codes, and the writing-off of customer and employee parking as a business expense, have made most of our urban and suburban areas into huge parking lots that people figure they must use, since they're "free" (actually, the customer pays for it whether he wants to or not).

This is the largest single subsidy for motor vehicle use, and it needs to be changed if we're to get serious about mode shift.