Leaving all that oil behind

From Grist :

10 ways cities and towns can kick the offshore-oil habit

No suprises here - these solutions have been known for quite a while. Build densely and in ways that fully accomodate a wide range of transportation choices. In other words, build places that are walkable, bikeable, and transit oriented.

When we create places that can only be accessed and traversed by private automobile, surprise! - we become desperately car (and thus oil)-dependent.

Demand a more livable future, not only for your own neighborhood, but for the thousands of people, and other creatures, that your daily decisions and errands impact.

Lost city of Atlanta?

Here's a thought provoking preview of what may be the end game to the sprawl-dependent economic model so prevalent in the southeast:

Detroit, the very symbol of American industrial might for most of the 20th century, is drawing up a radical renewal plan that calls for turning large swaths of this now-blighted, rusted-out city back into the fields and farmland that existed before the automobile.

Operating on a scale never before attempted in this country, the city would demolish houses in some of the most desolate sections of Detroit and move residents into stronger neighborhoods. Roughly a quarter of the 139-square-mile city could go from urban to semi-rural.

Bicycles as a boon to state budgets

"A new study by University of Wisconsin-Madison graduate students says bicycling generates more than a $1.5 billion economic impact in Wisconsin, exceeding the impact of even the deer hunting industry," reports the Greenbay Press-Gazette.

Among the policy recommendations included in the report are to: accelerate investment and development of bicycle routes, lanes and paths throughout the state for safety and convenience; encourage people to replace short automobile trips with bicycling trips; and develop a culture of bicycling for recreation and transportation, especially among the younger generation.
...
With the current economic climate, the report said promoting bicycling tourism could encourage visitors from places like metropolitan [cities] who choose to forego more exotic vacations. Increasing nonresident bicycling by 20 percent has the potential to increase spending by more than $107 million and create 1,528 full-time equivalent jobs.

Town of Menasha resident Tom Ales, who bikes about eight miles year-round to his job as a research scientist at Kimberly-Clark Corp., estimated he spends $500 to $1,500 annually on bike equipment, apparel, tools and components.

While biking 8,000 to 10,000 miles a year, Ales spends money at "local convenience stores, the mall, movie theaters" while avoiding other costs. "I save a ton on gas and only put 2,000 to 4,000 miles on my car a year as a result," he said. "I ride all year-round and from March to the end of November I ride everywhere I can."

There's no reason this article couldn't be written about Georgia in a few years. Our road-building, suburban sprawling fiesta is over, our elected leaders & transportation planners need to realize that immediately, and we need to actively engage in (re)building a responsible state worth caring about.

GA loses out on even more transit funding

As if the loss of high speed rail funding wasn't painful enough, AJC comes in with this late hit.

The Federal Transit Administration on Tuesday published a list of 27 transit projects recommended for $1.8 billion in federal funding. Georgia wasn’t on it.

It couldn’t be. Georgia had no proposals up for consideration, FTA spokesman Paul Griffo said.

In contrast to the high-speed rail grants last week, these recommendations would fund development of local transit projects such as new bus and streetcar lines.
...

Rail advocates last week blamed Georgia’s loss of high-speed rail money on the state’s past indifference to rail transit.

"If you don’t have operating money, nobody’s going to give you the money you need to build lines," said Lee Biola, president of Citizens for Progressive Transit. "Other states are investing in other ways of traveling [than by car] and they are becoming competitors when it comes to luring businesses and high-tech workers to their states."

If it wasn't clear before, it's clear now: Georgia's old boy network of back-slapping car dealers, sprawl builders, and road pavers will keep us mired in gridlocked traffic, smog, and ugly landscapes until we demand something better.

Bad news/Good news

The bad news:
Our great state's short-sighted, issue-neglecting leaders have squandered the chance for millions in high speed rail money.

Georgia appears to have won as little as $750,000 from the $8 billion pool of high-speed rail grants.
...
Last fall, U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told a number of states, including Georgia and Florida, that they had better get their act together on rail transit or risk losing out on the high-speed rail grants.

In a special session weeks later, Florida voted additional annual funding for one transit rail line and expedited buying track for another.

What did Georgia's legislators do? Not a thing. And what are they doing now? Talking about more tax cuts for big business (and campaign contributors) and ethics re-form.

All of which nets us, the traffic and air pollution-beleaguered residents of the state, with .0094% of the federal funding available for high speed inter-city rail.

The good news?

Maybe folks will finally get fired up about the ridiculous priorities of our state government and demand some actual governance, the kind that faces reality and seeks informed solutions to our common problems.

Gov. Perdue sure likes talking the talk. Will we ever see any action? That's largely up to us. We'll have to drag our highway-loving legislature kicking and screaming, but we can make it happen.

Let your legislator know how disappointed you are!

U.S. Trans Sec rightfully disses GA

Via Blake Aued's blog:

For decades, Athens residents have despaired of ever seeing a much-needed and much-discussed commuter train to Atlanta move forward while our leaders pay lip service to the concept.

Georgia is the largest state in the nation that does not fund mass transit. Do not expect any help from the Obama Administration – which has set aside billions for light rail – until state officials make a commitment.

“The Northeast (high-speed rail) corridor has its act together,” U.S. Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood told AJC columnist Jay Bookman. “The Midwest corridor has its act together. The governors there have set aside their own egos and their own ambitions” to work together on bringing high-speed rail to those regions.

“If the people of Atlanta think it’s OK to sit in traffic for an hour and a half on the way to a doctor’s appointment, so be it,” LaHood said (hat tip to JMac).

Come to think of it, just about every politician I’ve ever interviewed, from governor on down to county commissioner, has been in favor of the Brain Train. Yet it never gets done. Funny how that works.

Indeed. Haha.

Climate Ride 2009

**The 2nd Annual Brita Climate Ride invites you to pedal your way to a new energy future!**

More than two hundred cyclists will join together from September 26 - 30, 2009 to embark on a journey from New York City to the steps of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, DC. We’ll be making a powerful statement about the need for renewable energy and climate change awareness throughout this beautiful 300-mile bicycle ride.

As a valued member of the green community, we invite you to participate in this historic event. Here are five good reasons why you’ll want to sign up:

• Be Part of a Grassroots Effort – You’ll meet everyone from knowledgeable renewable energy experts, scientists and climate activists, to recent college graduates and everyday folks committed to making a difference.

• Make an Important Statement – As you wind through the Delaware River Valley, Valley Forge, and Amish Country, your congressional representatives await your arrival at our nation’s Capitol. There, you’ll have the opportunity to voice your concerns and encourage action.

• It’s a Climate Conference on Wheels – Hear informative talks each evening after a day of enthusiastic cycling through beautiful countryside. Discuss climate science, green technology, and solutions to the climate crisis while re-energizing for the next day’s ride.

• The Time is Now – We’re at a climatic tipping point. With the upcoming COP15 United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen in December, the 2009 Brita Climate Ride is more timely than ever.

• It’s Fun! – This unforgettable, fully-supported event allows you the chance to unite with fellow cyclists while having the time of your life. Experienced leaders mind all the logistics, so you can strike up new friendships, network, and engage in stimulating conversation.

Are you ready to ride? Take five minutes to explore the Climate Ride website . We've posted photos and videos from the 2008 Ride that will entice and excite you – we guarantee it! Mark your calendar and register here. For a limited time, early registrants will receive a discounted sign-up fee of $60 (regularly $100) through May 1st. We have a number of fundraising prizes and incentives this year including an all-expense paid trip to the COP15 Conference in Denmark!

The Brita Climate Ride supports essential climate projects at two beneficiary organizations. Focus the Nation and Clean Air – Cool Planet . When you become a 2009 Climate Rider your fundraising effort (minimum $2,400) helps support their projects. In order to accommodate more riders, we’ve doubled the number of available openings to 250. They will fill up fast, so register today, and we'll see you there!

Austin, TX bike sharing program

Our big sister city is introducing a new bike-sharing program for city employees. Good idea!

Transportation Sec nominee

Ray LaHood, nominee for an important cabinet position, is being discussed.

UPDATE:
from the inbox...

This came across the Thunderhead list. Sounds like La Hood
should be a positive choice for bicyclists. As was mentioned before,
he is a big supporter of funding Transportation Enhancements and CMAQ,
which have been critical for bike/ped in my state. It also sounds
like he is favorable towards Complete Streets.

Eric Rogers
Board of Directors, Missouri Bicycle Federation

------------------------------

----------

Dear Thunderhead members,

Please pardon the length of this post, but I want to provide
information on our incoming USDOT Secretary, Ray LaHood, a moderate
Republican Congressman from central Illinois who was retiring from his
seat this year. In summary, he's been great for us! He is an active
supporter of bicycling and trails, and he has very visibly gone
against the wishes of his party leaders on our issues:

In a letter dated April 28, 1997, LaHood joined 5 other Republican
House Transportation & Infrastructure Committee members in expressing
support for both Enhancements and CMAQ to the committee chair, Bud
Schuster. He also spoke to the Illinois Valley Wheelm'n bicycle club
about his support of both of these funding sources, which he said
"have provided many benefits to the environment and local communities
(e.g., bicycle and recreational trails). I believe in the importance
and value of these programs." Congressman LaHood's leadership was
pivotal in ensuring that Enhancements would continue in TEA-21 (1998).

On July 11, 2003, a House Appropriations Subcommittee, led by Rep.
Istook (R-OK), passed a fiscal year 2004 transportation budget that
redirected the $600 million slated for Transportation Enhancements to
highway construction. Zeroing out TE threatened it not only for that
year, but for the reauthorization bill that became SAFETEA-LU. An
effort to restore dedicated Enhancements funding barely failed in full
committee, where LaHood was one of only two R's voting for it. In a
tremendous and powerful 327-90 victory that solidified TE's status, a
bi-partisan amendment won 327-90 on the House floor. LaHood stood up
impressively to make a floor statement in support:

--------------------------------

Ray LaHood's House floor statement, September 2, 2003:

"Mr. Chairman, I am a member of the Committee on Appropriations, and
I think I am one of two members on our side who voted to support this
effort to restore this program the way that it has existed for several
years. I know it is probably not fashionable for me to be up here
talking in favor of this amendment, but I feel strongly about it. I am
a jogger. I have been a jogger for almost 30 years. I have taken full
advantage of the Rails to Trails Program that exists in my
congressional district and other parts of Illinois. I think it is a
marvelous program. We have promoted around here a new caucus that has
been formed by the Members to get Members to exercise more, to get
Members to stay in shape. Part of the way that some of us do it is
disembark from the Rayburn Building and jog down the Mall. It is not
really a Rails to Trails, but it is a marvelous place to jog."

"You see people jogging all over this part of the country. You see
people jogging along the parkway from Old Town all the way down to
where George Washington once lived. These are Rails to Trails. These
are opportunities for people that would not have existed without this
program. The last thing I want to do is to turn this program over to
the Governor of my State. Every State in the country has a deficit. I
guarantee you what these Governors will do is not turn this money into
Rails to Trails or other amenities or other enhancements. They will
use it to fund other things."

"We have got a $5 billion debt in Illinois. We have got a Governor
who has been in office now 6 months, a new Governor, who has not been
able to figure out how to do that. But I guarantee you that if you
hand him a bag of money from the enhancements, from the Rails to
Trails, he will find other uses for it. As we are encouraging people
all over the country to exercise, to be fit, to eat right, to exercise
and to do things that will continue to make people healthy, there is
no better way to do it than to have this program. I am encouraging
Members to support this amendment. This is a good program. It is a
program that works. It is not broke."

"I want to, too, mention what the gentleman from Oregon talked
about, the whole issue of obesity. There has been more written about
obesity in the last 6 months or so or last year. If we really want
Americans to be fit and healthy and get in good shape, the way to do
it is to allow for the enhancement program that has worked so well,
that allows people to get outdoors, to ride their bikes, to jog, to
walk. What better way to bring people in a community together. This
program has been a marvelous program. We should not change it. It is a
program that works. It is not broke. I encourage Members to support
the amendment and continue the fine program we have had."

-------------------------

Other items:
- In the SAFETEA-LU legislation, he pushed for higher funding levels
for our programs and earmarked $670K for two major trail projects in
his district
- At the 2004 Bike Summit, we presented him a certificate of
appreciation, in person. I vaguely recall that he seemed in favor of
routine accommodation (Complete Streets), an opinion reiterated by his
transportation staffer at the 2008 Summit.

I think we should all be pleased by Rep. LaHood's selection.

- Ed

Ed Barsotti
Executive Director
League of Illinois Bicyclists
2550 Cheshire Dr.
Aurora, IL 60504
630-978-0583
ed@bikelib.org
www.bikelib.org

So... he's possibly pro-bike but anti-transit.