DOT’s Dead-End Logic 

On September 9, 2025, the U.S. Department of Transportation canceled grants for bike lanes, safer intersections, and pedestrian facilities with a stunning rationale: they were “hostile to motor vehicles.” In San Diego, a safety project was rescinded because it “appears to reduce lane capacity and a road diet that is hostile to motor vehicles.” In Alabama, converting a lane into a bikeway was deemed “counter to DOT’s priority of preserving or increasing roadway capacity for motor vehicles.” In Boston, a redesign of Mattapan Square was rejected for daring to change the “current auto-centric configuration” because it might “impede vehicle capacity and speed.”

This is not a misunderstanding. It is a declaration: the federal government is explicitly draining funding from active transportation in favor of cars.

If Safety Is “Hostile,” What Side Is DOT On?

Let’s be clear: Cars aren’t the enemy. But traffic violence is. And when the nation’s transportation agency labels safety improvements “hostile,” it is taking the side of pollution, congestion, and preventable deaths over common sense.

If your definition of quality of life is simply more car travel, you’ve missed the point. More cars mean more pollution, more danger, and more preventable deaths. Real quality of life comes from streets where people can move safely, breathe clean air, and choose how they get around.

Safe Streets Are Not a Partisan Luxury

This isn’t about left or right. Florida, Texas, and Alabama — hardly bastions of anti-car politics — are expanding bike paths and trail networks. Families everywhere want the same thing: streets where children can walk to school, seniors can cross safely, and anyone can ride a bike without risking their life.

To label that “hostile” is an insult to communities across the political spectrum working to make daily life safer and healthier.

CalBike Will Not Be Deterred

At CalBike, we don’t need Washington to tell us what freedom looks like. You don’t either. We know what real freedom looks like: the freedom to walk to school, ride to work, or roll to the store without fear. The freedom to breathe clean air and live in neighborhoods built for people, not traffic. The freedom to choose how we move.

The Department of Transportation may cling to an auto-centric past, but we are building the future together. So let Washington call it “hostile.” We call it progress. We call it life-saving. And we call on our friends, our allies, and every Californian who dreams of safe, vibrant streets: stay in this fight with us, because the road ahead belongs to all of us.