National Bike Summit

Here's a report I wrote on the National Bike Summit. I wrote it with an Oregon audience in mind (posted it to several Oregon cycling e-lists), but there's still tons of good info in it, regardless of which part of the country you're in.

Susan

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I spent last week in Washington DC attending the 6th annual National Bike
Summit. http://www.bikeleague.org/events/ The Bike Summit is conducted by the League of American Bicyclists and is an opportunity for people in the bicycling community (advocates from around the country, state transportation officials, bicycle industry suppliers and retailers) to get together to discuss issues in bicycling advocacy and access. Attendees also spend a full day on Capitol Hill lobbying members of Congress.

The primary focus of last year's event was to discuss the impending reauthorization of TEA-21, and make sure the interests of bicyclists and pedestrians were represented. That reathorization, dubbed SAFETEA-LU, was successfully passed in mid-2005. SAFETEA-LU contained a number of provisions that bicycling advocates had been asking for, including a national Safe Routes to School Program, and a significant growth in enhancements programs to fund bicycling and pedestrian facilities around the country.

This year, like last, we spent the first day of the summit learning about events since last year's summit. We also attended educational seminars on
advocacy and the work yet to be done. There were a record # of attendees
at the summit this year – over 370 with many 1st timers!.

On Thursday, we broke into state delegations and spent the day visiting our
congressmen and senators. The League asked the we speak with our elected
officials on several key items, including:

1.The Bicycle Commuter Act http://www.bikeleague.org/educenter/hr1265.pdf , which would allow employers to offer tax advantages to bike commuters similar to what is currently available to users of mass transit and for parking.

2.The Conserve by Bicycle Program. The program was authorized by the Energy Policy Act of 2005. It authorizes $6.2 MM to study the energy impacts shifting from motor vehicles to non-motorized transportation. Now, we need Congress to appropriate the funds for the program. Yup, you have to fight the battle twice.

3. The Rivers, Trails and Conservation Assistance Program - This is a National Parks Service program that is threated under the proposed 2007 budget. We asked that the program be restored and that funding be increased.

4.High Priority Projects - SAFETEA-LU included $1 Billion (with a B) for projects that involve bicycle, pedestrian and trail projects. We asked that members of congress ensure that State DOTs implement these projects (and not divert funds for motorized projects).

5. Although not on the League agenda, the Oregon attendees also made sure to discuss the critical need to get funding for the Sellwood Bridge. The BTA attendees stressed the need to make sure that critical link in the transportation system is made bicycle friendly when the bridge is rehabbed or replaced.


Here in Oregon, we're fortunate to have a delegation (consisting of Senators Wyden & Smith, and Congressmen/woman Wu, Blumenaur, Hooley, Walden &
DeFazio) that are all supportive of bicycling and pedestrian projects. We are one of only two states that has every member of Congress signed on as members of the congressional Bike Caucus (Maine being the other). Nonetheless, we need to continue to make our voices heard so that we can continue the work - there's so much yet to be done.

We received a good reception from all the offices. In fact, Congresswoman Hooley's office emailed us within two hours of our visit with great news:

“I just wanted to drop you a quick note to say thank you for taking the time to come to DC to meet with me and discuss issues of concern with the Oregon bicycle community.* I also wanted to*make you aware that I've been in contact with Earl's office to let them know that Darlene would like to cosign the letter to the appropriators regarding the Bike/Conserve authorization and to cosponsor HR 807 (Bike commuter bill). “

Last year, Senator Wyden's office sponsored the Bicycle Commuter Act in the Senate. We asked that he re-introduce it as a sponsor this year
(Congressman Blumenaur has already re-introduced it in the House). His
office was very positive on the possibility of that happening. Senator Wyden's office gave us a strong indication that the senator would sign on as a co-sponsor if Wyden's office introduced it. All good news!

Congressman Wu's office was very positive as well. The staffer there asked that residents in his district let their opinions be known. PLEASE call or write to the Congressman's office and let him know that you support these programs! Contact information for Wu can be found here: http://www.house.gov/wu/

Finally, I'd like to say what a great organization the BTA is. 3 of the 8 Oregon attendees were from the BTA - Jessica Roberts (Metro Area Advocate), Evan Manvel (Executive Director) and Scott Bricker (Legislative Director). We should all be thankful that we have such dedicated advocates here in Oregon working so hard on our behalf. They are tireless in what they do. I hope you'll support them by making a contribution. http://www.bta4bikes.org/ The other Oregonians that gave their time and energy to the summit included Jerry Norquist (Cycle Oregon), Jonathan Maus (bikeportland.org), Mia Burke (Alta Planning & Design -former bike/ped coordinator for the City of Portland) and Jay Graves (Bike Gallery). All well-spoken and articulate people, and I was honored to be there with them.

Thanks you, Susan, for informing us of the proceedings, and for taking the time to attend!

Coming from the city recently voted WORST for cycling, I appreciate all the efforts!

I second a thank you for all the above information mentioned. I am currently trying to put together a letter that I will send to some of the politicians about improvements that need to be made for cyclists on Long Island.

~ JoAnn

I'm very happy I live in Portland. :)