Four House Republicans Join Dems in Hailing LaHood’s Support for Bike-Ped
Four House Republicans yesterday joined 24 Democratic colleagues in a
letter praising Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood for his public
support of federal bicycling and pedestrian investment -- a stance that
had generated some
bad blood between LaHood and the trucking industry.
Rep. Jack Kingston (R-VA),left, in the "congressional ride" during March's National Bike Summit.
(Photo: bikeleague
via Flickr)
GOP Reps. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (WA), Michael McCaul (TX), Jack
Kingston (VA), and Steven LaTourette (OH) signed on to the letter, which
was sent to LaHood late yesterday in advance of today's Bike
to Work Day events in the capital.
Referencing LaHood's March policy statement
urging state and local transportation planners to put cyclists and
pedestrians on the same footing as drivers in designing new
infrastructure, the lawmakers wrote:
We recognize, and appreciate, that your statement was notaboutproviding equal amounts of funding to all forms of transportation, orprioritizing bicycling and walking over other transportation modes suchas trucking, freight or public transit. Instead, your commitment toconsider all modes clarified that to give citizens a choice, ratherthan forcing them into their car, we must make sure that bicycling andwalking are as safe and convenient as other modes.
LaTourette's endorsement of that federal embrace of bicycling and
pedestrian access is particularly notable. He initially echoed the
National Association of Manufacturers and the American Trucking
Association in chiding LaHood for the non-binding bike-ped statement, wondering
"what job is going to be created" by bike lanes before later walking
back his remarks.
The House GOP quartet's show of force for
non-motorized transport projects also separates them from a recent
Senate Republican report that
criticized bike-ped stimulus spending as a waste of taxpayer funds.
A complete copy of the letter, also signed by House transport
committee chairman Jim Oberstar (D-MN) and Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-OR),
is available after the jump.
Dear Secretary LaHood:
We would like to thank you for the Department of Transportation’s release of the “Policy Statement on Bicycle and PedestrianAccommodation, Regulations, and Recommendations” announced on March 15.We support the policy statement’s declaration that bicycling and walking are efficient modes of transportation that have an important positiveimpact on our communities.
We were pleased to see the policy statement’s acknowledgment ofbicycling and walking as an important part of the transportation system. Bicycling and walking serve as cost-effective solutions to many of theserious issues facing our transportation system, including trafficcongestion, funding concerns and air pollution. Moreover, as 40 percentof trips taken in our country are two miles or less, bicycling andwalking should play an important role in providing transportationoptions in our small towns, suburbs and cities.
We recognize, and appreciate, that your statement was not aboutproviding equal amounts of funding to all forms of transportation, orprioritizing bicycling and walking over other transportation modes suchas trucking, freight or public transit. Instead, your commitment toconsider all modes clarified that to give citizens a choice, rather than forcing them into their car, we must make sure that bicycling andwalking are as safe and convenient as other modes.
We also appreciate the recognition of bicycling and walking asuseful tools to address many other issues facing our nation such asincreased oil consumption, air pollution, and our growing national debt. Investments in bicycling and walking have been shown to bringsignificant economic development to communities across the country, andto help families lower their own transportation costs. We believe thatcommunities should be able to move forward with projects they feel aremost advantageous to them, including bicycle facilities and pedestrianinfrastructure.
We hope to continue to see bicycling and walking as a centralpart of your livability initiative. Thank you for all of your hard workon this issue. We look forward to working with you in the future.
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