When I hear the phrase “safe routes to school” I think of kids on bikes, kids walking and kids riding their scooters to and from schools.

It makes me think of the intersection in the front of my home that is three blocks from an elementary and middle school where I see dozens of kids everyday take advantage of the new roundabout that was put in to make it safer for them to walk and bike to school.

Safe Routes to schools funds infrastructure and educational program that make it safer to kids to get to and from school by bike and by walking.  It provides money from the federal transportation fund to support local communities building sidewalks, bike lanes and bike boulevards to make it safe for our kids to get to school by a means other than a car.  It also provides money for education, teaching elementary and middle school kids how to ride and walk safely.  It teaches them “good cycling and walking skills” they will use for the rest of their lives.  And of  course it helps educate adults; what better way is there to education parents than through the eyes of their children (and their PTA’s).

But this funding is in danger…

Currently 1.5% of federal highway funding goes to biking and walking programs (while biking and walking programs actually make up 12% of the total trips made in the US). But this modest percentage of funding is now endanger.  As part of cost cutting efforts members of both the house and senate transportation committees are threatening to cut this modest percentage of the budget that supports biking and walking.

House Transportation Chairman John Mica (R-FL) announced today that his transportation bill will eliminate dedicated funding for bicycling and walking, including Safe Routes to School and discourages states from choosing to spend their dollars on these activities that are “not in the federal interest.”

We in California are fortunate to have senators who have strongly supported funds for bicycling and walking.  Both Senators Boxer and Feinstein have expressed support for these programs.  But….they need your support and encouragement. We want them to know that their constituents support these important programs.  We also need our congressional representatives to know that their constituents strongly support these programs.

If you agree that programs such as safe routes to schools are important to your local community please go to the safe routes to school site to contact your senators and representative.

Need some good facts to bolster your argument?  See below for material from the League of American Bicyclists:

Not in the federal interest? Biking and walking make up 12 percent of all trips in the US – even as funding for biking and walking projects only accounts for 1.5% of the federal transportation budget. That is more than 4 billion bicycle trips and 40 billion walking trips a year, including trips to work, school, shopping and for recreation and tourism.

Frivolous? Two-thirds of all pedestrian deaths are on federally funded highways.  One-third of children’s traffic deaths happen when children are walking or bicycling and are struck by cars.  Bicycling and walking programs build sidewalks, crosswalks and bikeways—improving accessibility and saving lives.

The Facts

• Biking and walking are important forms of transportation, and funding for bicycle and pedestrian improvements is a very efficient use of federal transportation dollars.  Portland, OR built 300 miles of bike lanes and trails for the cost of one mile of highway.
• These projects create jobs and build local economies.  Building bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure creates 46% more jobs than building road-only projects per million dollars spent.  Cities that invest in bicycle and pedestrian projects turn downtowns into destinations, and capitalize on increased business activity.
• Eliminating the 1.5% of transportation funding spent on bike/ped would have no meaningful impact on the federal budget, but instead, decreases transportation options for American families in a time of rising gas prices and an uncertain economy.

Why Act Now? Both the House and Senate long-term transportation bills are being written as we speak.  We still have a chance of influencing the outcomes.  Let’s make sure that funding for biking and walking programs don’t disappear for many years.

We need every Senator to tell Senators Boxer and Inhofe that bicycling and walking are vital parts of our transportation system, and that there must be dedicated funding for sidewalks, bike lanes and trails to ensure that bicyclists and pedestrians are safe.  And we need every Representative in the House to tell Chairman Mica the same.

Please contact your Senators and Representatives TODAY to tell them that bicycling and walking are a critical part of a safe and equitable transportation system.  Ask them to tell Representative Mica and Senators Boxer and Inhofe that a federal transportation bill must continue dedicated funding for bicycling and walking.

Why is this important to you???

For those of you who feel that it is important for cyclists and pedestrians to have safe access to our streets and highways…the current DOT guidance gives you a strong lever.

Specifically the federal DOT guidance says:

“Due consideration” of bicycle and pedestrian needs should include, at a minimum, a presumption that bicyclists and pedestrians will be accommodated in the design of new and improved transportation facilities. In the planning,design, and operation of transportation facilities, bicyclists and pedestrians should be included as a matter of routine, and the decision to not accommodatethem should be the exception rather than the rule. There must be exceptional circumstances for denying bicycle and pedestrian access either by prohibition orby designing highways that are incompatible with safe, convenient walking and bicycling.

What AASHTO is recommending is that this guidance…as to what “Due Consideration means, should be eliminated.  According to AASHTO “This regulation presents an undue burden on states to justify exceptional circumstances when not including provisions for bicyclists and pedestrians in a project

How has this guidance been used

For those of you who have followed our efforts to ensure that a separated bike and pedestrian facility is included on the new billion dollar bridge connecting downtown Long Beach with the Port of Long Beach, you will know that the federal guidance for including bike and pedestrian facilities was an important part of our argument.  It is our feeling that one of the reasons the port and CalTrans agreed to add these facilities is because of the strong wording of the federal guidelines regarding including bike and ped facilities in federally funded projects.

Significant progress…don’t let them backslide now…

As The League of American Bicyclists stated in a letter to their members

This request is misguided. At a time when cities are building entire bicycling networks for the cost of one mile of urban four-lane freeway, bike projects are putting people to work, and benefiting business, this is not the time to move backwards. When more and more states – 23 and counting – are embracing Complete Streets policies, AASHTO should be a leading voice in shaping holistic and comprehensive transportation systems, not resisting them.

The League of American Bicyclists has requested that each of us contact our state department of transportation and they have provided both a draft e-mail as well as the e-mail address for the relevant person in your state.