Defend Bike Paths as Transportation Infrastructure

August 17, 2007 on 3:58 pm | In National |

This post was originated by The League Of American Bicyclists:

On August 15, the PBS NewsHour with Jim Leher interviewed DOT Secretary Mary Peters.

Peters, when asked about a possible gas tax increase, repeated President Bush’s response - No, there can be no tax increase because Congress is wasting the money they already get. Peters cited “bicycle paths” as a prime example of the waste because bicycles are not a transportation use of the gas tax money.

It is disappointing that the administration is attacking Jim Oberstar for his efforts to get the Minneapolis bridge repaired along with raising the funding for transportation maintenance, by using Oberstar’s support for bicycles as a weapon.

The League of American Bicyclists feels strongly that this should not go without a response and we have sent a letter to Secretary Peters voicing our view. Click here to view our response.

For those of you who feel strongly about bicycling issues, we would also urge you to contact the Secretary to share your personal viewpoints.

To listen to an audio copy of the PBS interview click here

BioWheels sent a letter to Secretary Peters via the Bike League website. Here is the letter:

Dear Secretary Peters:

I was very disappointed to hear your comments about bicycle paths in your recent interview on the MacNeil Lehrer NewsHour.

I own a bicycle business and sell bicycles and accessories on a daily basis to people who want to replace their cars entirely or limit their automobile use by using a bicycle as transportation. The number one reason I hear from my customers for not using their bicycles as transportation more frequently is the lack of bicycle paths & lanes.

Bicycles are the ideal “congestion relief”. More than 40 percent of trips in urban areas in this country are two miles or less; one quarter are just one mile or less, and most of these trips that could easily be made with a bicycle are made by car.

Bicycle use as transportation should be promoted and funded more vigorously by the federal government if it is sincerely interested in saving energy, cutting climate changing emissions, improving air quality, reducing congestion and improving the overall health of the American population.

Please publicly rescind your comments about bicycle paths being a waste of federal transportation dollars and respond to me about how the D.O.T. is going to promote and fund bicycle use so that I may pass the information on to my customers.

Sincerely,

Eric Krause
BioWheels
81 Coxe Avenue
Asheville, NC 28801