March 2015 - CalBike

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

March 25, 2015

Contact: Melissa Balmer – Media Director/California Bicycle Coalition

Tel. 562-221-9672 Email: Melissa@calbike.org

Re: 120 Organizations encourage State to increase funding for cost saving/health saving walking and biking projects for safer streets and healthier neighborhoods

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Sacramento, CA – As the costs of car ownership, traffic congestion and chronic diseases—exacerbated by pollution and inactive lifestyles—continue to rise, for both individuals and the state, California is increasingly working to create better options to get residents out of their cars for errands, exercise and transportation. The State’s Active Transportation Program (ATP), at less than 2{850a63fa8a72bae4d6bfa3f1eda9f619cddace10f9053ede128e2914f9ca5a15} of the State’s transportation budget, provides opportunities for communities across the state by funding projects that make it safer, easier and more convenient for people to walk or bike rather than travel by car.

However, there is such a high demand for this type of healthy transportation funding across the state that presently the program is woefully under-funded. $800 million in shovel-ready projects were left unfunded in the latest round of ATP project funding in fall of 2014.

“We know that 20 percent of trips by Californians are on foot or by bicycle, but despite the overwhelming demand for projects that create safer streets, sidewalks, bike lanes, and pathways, the state Active Transportation Program still only receives around one percent of Caltrans’s annual budget,” said Jeanie Ward-Waller, Senior Policy Manager for the Safe Routes to School National Partnership. “Last year, 800 grant applications were submitted by communities for projects like these, but fewer than 150 were funded last year due to this funding shortfall.”

California has a tremendous opportunity to double walking and bicycling trips by 2030 by making strategic investments to shift car trips that are less than one mile. 120 organizations are calling on the California legislature to increase funding for the Active Transportation Program by $100 million. The request is being led by a coalition that includes the Safe Routes to School National Partnership, California Bicycle Coalition, California Walks, the Rails to Trails Conservancy, PolicyLink, Leadership Counsel for Justice and Accountability, California Pan-Ethnic Health Network, and California Park and Recreation Society. Other organizations supporting are the AARP, the American Heart Association, the American Lung Association, the Natural Resources Defense Council, the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network, Local Government Commission and Coalition for Clean Air (see full list included below).

“Bicycling is seeing rapid growth in popularity in cities across California, but most places are still not safe enough for everyone who would like to travel by bike,” said Dave Snyder, Executive Director of the California Bicycle Coalition. “The ATP has the potential to create safe and attractive bikeways that are easy to navigate in all communities, but not without much greater investment by the State.”

Not only are these projects highly popular, they save the state money. Active transportation projects are cheaper, cleaner, and require less maintenance than car-centric infrastructure. Further, these projects often have an added benefit of boosting local economies as well as demonstrated in the brand new “Safer Streets, Stronger Economies” report by Smart Growth America and the National Complete Streets Coalition. Safe, inviting neighborhood streets become safe and inviting places to shop right in residents’ very own neighborhoods. While many great projects received funding last year, the lack of adequate resources to finance all of the good projects that apply for funding is stagnating the program’s effectiveness in some areas and precluding some areas from gaining access to the program at all.

“In San Francisco, we have ambitious goals to make our streets safe for all road users. We also want to improve congestion, reduce our impact on the environment, and re-invigorate our neighborhoods by encouraging people to walk or bike as transportation. We’ve made progress, but there’s lots of work left to do. Without additional funding from the state, many of our safety projects will be slowed down, putting people’s lives at risk. If the state wants cities to meet the environmental and safety goals they have encouraged us to set, they need to provide the funding to make it possible.” – Tyler Frisbee, Policy Director, San Francisco Bicycle Coalition.

120 organizations support three key asks to improve the ATP:

Increase funding for the Active Transportation Program (ATP) by $100 million.
Integrate green infrastructure such as shade trees and planers and increase access to parks and green space into ATP projects to make it more comfortable to walk and bike.
Ensure substantial ATP investments in projects that provide meaningful benefits to low-income communities.

Those interested in supporting these three asks are urged to add your voice to influence legislators and Governor Brown as budget hearings begin in early April. Please sign in support at the following link: https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/increaseATPfunding. For more information please contact Jeanie Ward-Waller – Safe Routes to School National Partnership. Tel. 401-241-8559 Email: jeanie@saferoutespartnership.org

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The 120 organization’s supporting the increase in Active Transportation Funding include:

A World Fit For Kids!
AARP
Active4me
Alliance for a Healthy Orange County
American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network
American Heart Association
American Lung Association in California
Amigos de los Rios
Asian and Pacific Islander Obesity Prevention Alliance
Ballona Creek Renaissance
Bike East Bay
Bike San Gabriel Valley
C.I.C.L.E.
California Bicycle Coalition
California Center for Public Health Advocacy
California Convergence
California Pan-Ethnic Health Network
California Park and Recreation Society
California Public Health Association-North
California ReLeaf
California Rural Legal Assistance Foundation (CRLAF)
California Student Sustainability Coalition
California Walks
Center for Climate Protection
Central CA Regional Obesity Prevention Program
ChangeLab Solutions
Chico Velo Cycling Club
Circulate San Diego
City of Highland
City of Redlands
City of Santa Monica
City of South El Monte
Climate Resolve
Coalition for Clean Air
Community Arts Resources
Community Health Councils
Community Mobility Work Team
Cowgirl Bike Courier
Crenshaw Walks
Davis Bike Park Alliance
Distracted Driving Awareness & Complete Streets
Downtown Pasadena Neighborhood Association
Durant Avenue Task Force
Ecology Action
Environmental Council of Sacramento
Environmental Justice Program – Catholic Charities, Diocese of Stockton
Fresno Cycling Club
Friends of Caltrain
Friends of El Dorado Trail
Ghost Bike Foundation
Go Bike USA
Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy
Green Youth Alliance
Greenbelt Alliance
Health Education Council
Housing California
Inland Empire Biking Alliance
Investing in Place
Kids Campus Youth Center
LA2050
LAE Associates, Inc.
Larkspur Bicycle & Pedestrian Advisory Group
Lassen Land and Trails Trust
Leadership Counsel for Justice & Accountability
Local Government Commission
local motion
Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition
Los Angeles Neighborhood Land Trust
Los Angeles Organization of Ultimate Teams (LAOUT)
Los Angeles River Revitalization Corporation
Los Angeles Walks
Merced Bicycle Coalition
Mission: Readiness
Move LA
Napa Valley Vine Trail Coalition
National Health Foundation
Natural Resources Defense Council
NeighborWorks Orange County
North Natomas TMA
Pasadena Complete Streets Coalition
Pathways to Right-of-Ways
Peninsula Family YMCA
People Power
POGO PARK
PolicyLink
Prevention Institute
Public Health Institute
RAD
Rails-to-Trails Conservancy
Red Bike Medicine
Redwood Community Action Agency
Regional Asthma Management and Prevention
Ron Milam Consulting
Ryan Snyder Associates
Safe Routes to School National Partnership
San Diego County Bicycle Coalition
San Francisco Bicycle Coalition
San Luis Obispo County Bicycle Coalition
Santa Barbara Bicycle Coalition
SF Bay Walks
Sierra Club California
Sierra Nevada Alliance
Silicon Valley Bicycle Coalition
Silicon Valley Bicycle Exchange
Sunday Streets/Livable City
T.R.U.S.T. South LA
Tahoe-Pyramid Bikeway
The Coalition for Sustainable Transportation
The L.A. Trust for Children’s Health
The mob shop
The Trust for Public Land
Town of Danville
Trails for Richmond Action Committee
TransForm
TRIPwise, Transportation Solutions for CSU Monterey Bay
VALLEY LEAP
Walk ‘n Rollers
Walk Oakland Bike Oakland
Walk San Francisco
WALKSacramento
Wheelies

With Republicans in charge as Congress considers the next six years of federal transportation funding, this year’s National Bike Summit and Women’s Forum took on a new urgency. From Tuesday to Thursday last week, approximately 50 delegates from California met to share best practices in bicycle advocacy, emphasizing the importance of equity and inclusion, and meet with Representatives and Senators to highlight the importance of federal support of bicycling in our communities. And we are on the verge of a hugely important win.

In previous years, Summit meetings had a decidedly partisan feel, with Republicans generally opposed to federal support bicycling and Democrats generally in support. This year, with one party in charge, the Summit presented the huge opportunity to overcome the partisan divide in bicycle politics. There’s no reason Republicans shouldn’t support more bicycling, and in fact, Republican mayors usually do. California delegates delivered letters from mayors across the country, and made the case that bicycling is good for our economy, good for health, and that local (smaller) governments should have as much control as possible over transportation spending. These in-person meetings were convincing, we hope, as surveys indicate that such meetings are the most effective ways to get your point across to a Congressional representative.

If the current Congress can be convinced that bicycling is key to our national interests, we will have overcome the partisan divide that has hindered the improvement of bicycling in communities throughout the country.

The stakes are high, because a faction in Congress wants to set us back 25 years when federal transportation dollars were restricted to the highways. President George Bush overturned that rule in 1991 when he signed the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act to allow federal money to be spent where states thought it was needed most, not necessarily only on highways. California needs the flexibility that current transportation bills provide because we will use that flexibility to fund transit, pedestrian and bicycling improvements. That debate will continue for months and we will keep you informed

The San Francisco Bicycle Coalition was one of two California organizations taking home awards from the “Oscars” of bicycle advocacy. Here, its former and new executive directors Leah Shahum and Noah Budnick celebrate winning “Advocacy Organization of the Year” award. Another California winner was Bike East Bay who took home the “Best Campaign of the Year” award for their victory on Measure BB, a sales tax that will generate a half billion dollars for bicycling in Alameda County.

Representing one of the most populous counties in the country, Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition Policy Director Eric Bruins scheduled more meetings than any other delegate. Here he poses with executive director Tamika Butler outside Representative Sanchez’s office.

Broad coalition demands increase to Active Transportation Program

National Bike Summit 2015 Report

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