Additionally, the American Community Survey (ACS) recently released their 2008 report, which includes community bicycle mode share percentages from 2000 to 2008. We crunched the numbers and found that BFCs had higher levels of bicycle commuting than cities not participating in the program. The average BFC bicycle commuter share is 1.5 percent, 2.5 times the national average. St. Louis, MO, for example, is one of the 70 largest cities surveyed in the ACS and a new bronze level BFC. The community nearly doubled their number of bicycle commuters from 2000 to 2008. The city has completed several noteworthy projects within the past year, including 53 new miles of on-street additions to the bikeway system, a $10 million investment, and an expansion of bicycling education offerings for children and adults. This shows that like cities across the country, making smart investments in building a welcoming community for biking that will inevitably lead to more, healthier and sustainable transportation options and increased recreational opportunities.

We’ve seen the BFC program revolutionize the way states and communities evaluate their quality of life, sustainability and transportation networks, while allowing them to benchmark their progress and work toward improving their bicycle-friendliness. The application process to become a BFC is rigorous (though staff is on hand to assist!); currently only 124 of the 318 total applicants have a BFC four-year designation. The renewal process and four levels of the award – platinum, gold, silver and bronze – provide a clear incentive for communities to continuously improve.

Interested in learning more about how your community stacks up? Take a minute and rate it with our new quick scorecard, or get in touch with Bicycle Friendly Community program staff at info@bicyclefriendlycommmunity.org or 202.822.1333.

2009 Fall Bicycle Friendly Community Winners
(Bronze award unless otherwise noted)
Breckenridge, CO (Silver)
Anchorage, AK
Baton Rouge, LA
Calistoga, CA
Grand Rapids, MI
Greensboro, NC
Greenville, SC
Indianapolis & Marion County, IN
Iowa City, IA
North Little Rock, AR
Riverside, CA
Sioux Falls, SD
Sonoma, CA
St. Louis, MO
Tallahassee, FL
Boca Raton, FL (Renewal)
Chandler, AZ (Renewal)
Eugene, OR (Renewal, Gold)

2009 Honorable Mentions
Annapolis, MD; Baltimore, MD; Cedar Rapids, IA; Charleston, SC; Cumberland, MD; Emerald Isle, NC
Gresham, OR; Hamilton County, OH; Jacksonville, FL; Nashville, TN; New Orleans, LA; Norman, OK
Palm Desert, CA; Portland, ME; Rockville, MD; Sumter County, SC; Warrenville, IL

~Jeff Peel
League BFA Program Specialist

CMAQ funded 80 percent of the $1.35 million McDonald’s Cycle Center in Chicago’s Millennium Park.

When it comes to finding federal funding for bicycle and pedestrian projects, many people have heard about the Transportation Enhancements program, by far the largest, which provided 64 percent of the federal funding to bike and pedestrian projects between 1992 and 2008. However, a number of other federal funding programs for which bicycle and pedestrian projects are eligible are not as well known. As part of the Advocacy Advance partnership with the Alliance for Bicycle and Walking, the League has prepared a series of reports to inform advocates of these programs and provide guidance on getting bicycle and pedestrian projects funded.

The first report in this series is on the Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality (CMAQ) Improvement Program. CMAQ funds bicycle and pedestrian projects that replace car trips with biking and walking trips. The federal government covers 80 percent of most projects, with a 20 percent local contribution. For states that have areas (usually cities) that have not met air quality standards, CMAQ funds must be spend in those areas.

Advocates should know about CMAQ because bicycle and pedestrian projects are explicitly eligible and commonly funded. Thirteen percent of projects and 5 percent of total funding from CMAQ goes to bicycle and pedestrian projects. CMAQ funds have been used on a wide variety of capital projects including bicycle paths and lanes, racks and lockers, and for marketing materials and operating costs for bicycle sharing projects. The report includes about 20 examples of CMAQ-funded bicycle and pedestrian projects.

Read the whole CMAQ report.

~Darren Flusche
League Policy Analyst

Press release from America Bikes:

Washington, DC (10/22/2009) –

Federal spending on bicycle and pedestrian projects totaled nearly $1.2 billion in fiscal year 2009, according to an estimate released this week by the FHWA. This unprecedented investment—more than double that of FY 2008—comes at a time when bicycle commuting is growing swiftly nationwide. New U.S. Census Bureau figures peg this growth at 43 percent since 2000, and 14 percent since 2007.

America Bikes, a coalition of eight national non-profit organizations, has analyzed this new data and issued comments, as the group intensifies its efforts to make sure the next federal transportation bill properly supports bicycling facilities and programs.

America Bikes notes that bicycle and pedestrian project funding grew in part because of new money provided by the ARRA, which contributed $405 million to job-rich, green infrastructure projects such as building and improving sidewalks, curb ramps, bike lanes and multi-use trails. Independent of this stimulus funding, more than $780 million was invested in bike/ped efforts—an increase of 45 percent on FY 2008.

“State and local agencies are increasingly realizing that investing in improved conditions for bicycling and walking is good for their local economies, the environment, and for the overall quality of life,” said Andy Clarke, America Bikes board member and President of the League of American Bicyclists. “Broad-based support for bicycling has never been stronger—from the Administration, Congress, community and business leaders, health-care professionals, and individual citizens.”

Good News, But…

While America Bikes welcomes the increasing federal investment and growing participation in bicycling and walking, the Coalition cites ongoing concerns:

1. Last fall, America Bikes identified nearly $3.8 billion in cost-effective “shovel-ready” bike-ped projects nationwide, but less than 20 percent of them have since been funded.

2. While 71 percent of Americans say they want to bike more, some state Departments of Transportation aren’t getting the message and aren’t spending available bike project money. The proof: State DOTs this year returned to the federal government more than TWICE the required sum of Transportation Enhancement fund rescissions. (Transportation Enhancements rank as the single largest category of federal funding for bike and pedestrian improvements.)

3. America Bikes continues to be concerned about the lack of federal investment in making bicycling and walking safer. While cyclists and pedestrians account for 13 percent of annual U.S. traffic fatalities, less than one half of one percent of federal Highway Safety Improvement Program funding is spent on bicycle and pedestrian projects.

4. During fiscal year 2009, about two percent of federal transportation funds were spent on bicycling and walking—a figure that continues to fall far short of the 10 percent of U.S. trips that are currently made on foot or by bike. America Bikes believes that additional investments in bicycling and walking will make these activities safer, more convenient, and more popular, and will help our nation reduce obesity, road congestion, air pollution and dependence on imported fuel.

Randy Neufeld, President of America Bikes, said, “The increased federal spending this year is a great first step, but it’s still a fraction of the investment that is appropriate given the increase in use and utility of bicycling. Most Americans support increased spending on bicycle lanes and paths.”

America Bikes is a coalition of leaders from the bicycling community advocating for positive outcomes for bicycling in the federal transportation bill. America Bikes Coalition members include: Adventure Cycling Association, Alliance for Biking and Walking, Bikes Belong, International Mountain Bicycling Association, League of American Bicyclists, National Center for Bicycling and Walking and the Rails to Trails Conservancy.

Contact:

Caron Whitaker, America Bikes
202-215-3908
caron@americabikes.org

~Darren Flusche
League Policy Analyst

You can follow the proceedings on the Secretary’s bog Welcome to the Fast Lane and here for video. UPDATE: StreetsBlog DC reports that President Obama has signed an executive order prohibiting federal employees from texting while driving a government vehicle — or from texting on a government-provided device while driving any vehicle.

Chanda Causer of the Alliance for Bicycling and Walking asked Alliance Leaders what solutions they’d like to see advanced at the summit.

Dave Snyder, a San Francisco bike/ped advocate, recommends requiring the installation of a black box vehicle data recorder that would be accessible by law enforcement in the event of a crash and would help crash investigators know whether or not the driver applied the brakes at a reasonable time, was talking on the phone, listening to the radio, using their turn signal, etc. It wouldn’t require enforcement but it would be effective, as it would place responsibility appropriately.

Noah Budnick of Transportation Alternatives in New York City offers a complete analysis in the Executive Order report, which recommends 20 measures covering enforcement, adjudication, transparency, investigation and prosecution all aimed at changing driver behavior to improve safety.

Dan Persky of the Active Transportation Alliance in Chicago says their top priority on distracted driving is to stop use of electronic devices by transit operators. Illinois State Rep John D’Amico will be speaking at today’s Distracted Driving Summit, pushing this idea. They are also pushing the need for social marketing like Click It or Ticket for distracted driving. They call the campaign Drive with Care.

Kevin Cronin reports that ClevelandBikes was a part of a coalition that successfully advocated for a no text and drive law, which is not yet in force. The sponsor, Cleveland, Ohio Councilman Zachary Reed is also attending the Summit, representing the League of Cities. ClevlandBikes would go further, including hand-held and hands-free phoning as compounding the risk for cyclists, who are already vulnerable road users.

~Darren Flusche, League Policy Analyst

The League sent seven staff members to last week’s Safe Routes to School National Conference in the Pacific Northwest’s BFC Platinum paradise. We met with city staff and toured around to see how Portland carefully considers bicyclists when they design roads to enhance access, awareness and on street accommodation. Portland’s Bicycle Coordinator, Roger Geller, took some staff and other conference attendees on a tour of the city’s bicycle facilities and discussed the soon to be released Portland Bicycle Plan for 2030.

Port of Portland sign at the airport. Photo by Jeff Peel

Scott Bricker of Portland’s Bicycle Transportation Alliance was the MC for Wednesday night’s opening plenary. He introduced the leaders of the two national Safe Routes organizations, Lauren Marchetti of the National Center for Safe Routes to School and Deb Hubsmith of Safe Routes to School National Partnership. Both women applauded the efforts of the planners and advocates in attendance to make their communities safer and more pleasant for children to get physical activity on their way to school.

Much of the conference talk focused on children’s health and the need for a built environment that encourages active transportation. Robert Ping of the National Partnership reported that an alarming number of school principals do not allow children to bike to school because of liability concerns.

Another hot topic this year was school siting. New schools are often built on cheaper land located further from central residential areas, making it more difficult to walk and bike to school. During one “mobile workshop” – a conference session on bikes – attendees saw where a freeway was built, splitting a neighborhood in two and forcing students to bus or drive to school. The tour then went to a location where a highway was actually removed by the city.

The trip gave the League staff a chance to experience what it’s like to ride around a Platinum Bicycle Friendly Community. It also gave some of us a chance to ride around town in a group from the League that consisted of a tandem bicycle, a mountain bike with 29-inch wheels, and a Brompton folding bike. See some photographs below from the conference photographer Greg Conyers.

Riders on the “Dead Freeways” mobile workshop. Photo: Greg Conyers

Jeff Mapes, author of Pedaling Revolution, speaks to Safe Routes to School conference attendees. Photo: Greg Conyers

Portland. Photo: Greg Conyers

Executive Order tells the stories of bicyclists who have been killed in New York City and highlights the difficulties in penalizing the drivers and the lack of enforcement of traffic measures that could have prevented the deaths. Based on interviews with more than thirty experts and stakeholders, the report makes twenty recommendations to improve the safety for pedestrians and bicyclists and produced the following findings:

• The likelihood of getting a ticket for speeding in New York City is less than 1 in 12,698

• A driver could speed every day and get ticketed only once every 35 years

• Despite the extensive system of 100 red light cameras in New York City, police and cameras catch only 1 out of every 438 red light runners

• New York City’s 100 red light cameras were responsible for 95.5 percent of the red light summons issued in 2007

• The likelihood of being ticketed for failure to yield, the number two cause of crashes in NYC, is less than 1 in 579,983

• A driver could fail to yield every day and get ticketed only once every 1,589 years

• While the number of fatalities caused by drivers failing to yield rose 26 percent between 2005 and 2007, the number of summons issued for failure to yield decreased 12 percent during that period

• While the number of fatalities caused by speeding rose 11 percent between 2001 and 2006, the number of summons issued for speeding actually dropped 22 percent during that period

The report and TA’s on-going campaign to protect vulnerable road users was funded in part by an Advocacy Advance grant, part of a partnership between the Alliance for Bicycling and Walking and the League of American Bicyclists.

I got up to the Hill first (cos I was riding….!) and found myself standing in the security line next to the guy from the Discovery Communications empire that does Lance Armstrong’s website. Evidently it was Livestrong Day on Capitol Hill and Lance was in town with other cancer survivors to raise awareness for their issues.

The hearing itself was a long-drawn out affair – not because of the witnesses or even the statements from Members of Congress, but because of frequent lengthy interruptions for a series of quorum votes on the House floor. My five minutes of fame took about four and half hours to complete – like the last few minutes of a basketball game, I guess – but I did get a couple of questions from Members who were in attendance.

The nicest surprise was that Congressman Dan Lipinski (D-IL) from Chicago introduced himself as a League member, and then asked a couple of good questions about the Federal government’s potential role as a model employer for bicyclists.

And then before we’d even gotten back to the office we were contacted by the Association for Commuter Transportation – the ridesharing, vanpooling, commuter services people – to follow up our testimony and see if there are ways we can work together.

You can see from the NYCC cover story that Stan Oldak was a great cyclist and a tireless volunteer. He was the NYCC club representative to the League for a couple of years and had been a League member for many years. Our thoughts go out to his family, friends, and colleagues in the cycling world.

Stan’s death comes at that time of year when we should be celebrating bicycling. It’s National Bike Month, for goodness sake. The weather is turning nice (at least in the DC area). And bicycling is such a healthy, worthy, and enjoyable activity that people shouldn’t pay for enjoying it with their lives.

We don’t know all the details of the crash – except that, yet again, the driver couldn’t be bothered to stop. I don’t know what the actual numbers are, but it seems to me that each year more and more fatal and severe bicyclist and pedestrian crashes involve hit and run drivers. Given the pretty pathetic punishments handed out to many of those that do stop and face the consequences, this is even more disappointing.

What do we do? We express our sincere condolences. We hope the driver has the courage to turn themselves into the authorities. Maybe we join a Ride of Silence (May 16) and honor Stan and the other 700 cyclists we can be pretty sure will be killed this year on our nation’s roads.
Somehow it doesn’t seem like that’s enough.

We’ll carry on with our education programming and our exhortations to build better roads to accommodate cyclists. And we know that somehow we need to do more to instill in people in this country that cyclists are people too, with real talents, value, skills, family, and friends. Our lives should not be cheapened or diminished because we happen to wear Lycra on occasion and ride a bike. We must drive home the idea that driving a car is a responsibility, not a right, and that the privilege given people to drive can and must be taken seriously or be taken away. For real.