Category Archives: Funding

Community & Transportation Advocates Call for More Funding for Walking & Biking

Investing in Place and Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition
Release Joint Statement: 

“Community and Transportation Advocates Call for More Funding for Walking, Biking and Safe Routes to School”

In response to Metro’s draft expenditure plan released the morning of March 18th, Investing in Place and the Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition released the following statement. Stay tuned for complete policy analysis on the draft plan to be shared for discussion at our March 29th partner meeting.

EXCERPT BELOW:
“This morning, Metro released the draft expenditure plan for their potential ballot measure identifying the agency’s funding priorities for over $100 billion in new sales tax revenue over the next 40 years…

Investing in Place and the Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition appreciate that, for the first time, funding for walking and biking has been included in the ballot measure. However, the need for active transportation is so great in the region that we call on Metro to increase this proposed investment to better match their peer agencies. Walking and biking are the most basic forms of mobility, particularly for low-income communities of color, people with disabilities, youth, and older adults – all of whom are at the greatest risk of being killed on unsafe streets. We encourage Metro to match the needs of Los Angeles County’s most vulnerable residents.”

Full statement is available on the Investing in Place blog.

Please contact Jessica Meaney for any questions.


Created in January 2015 as a new non-profit effort, Investing in Place works to support a constituency for equitable planning and build strategic relationships with agencies and efforts that invest in the built environment in Los Angeles County.

 

Call to Action: Bills to transform how California funds bikeways

Calbike FundingOur California Bicycle Coalition has two hugely important bills that will transform how California funds bikeway projects. Here’s what these laws would do:

  • Implement a Complete Streets policy for state funding: We are thankful to Senator Jim Beall for including sensible complete streets provisions in SBX 1-1 that will make the wisest use of road maintenance funding by including “new bicycle and pedestrian safety, access, and mobility improvements” in every project funded by the state. It calls for sidewalks and protected bike lanes or bike paths in transit-dense areas on most roads with a speed limit over 25 miles per hour.
  • Increase dedicated funding for biking and walking: Assemblymember Eduardo Garcia, Autumn Burke, and David Chiu’s ABX 1-23, doubles the size of the Active Transportation Program (ATP) with a $125 million increase. The ATP is the sole source of state funding dedicated to biking walking and Safe Routes to School projects. Last year, the ATP was underfunded by nearly $800 million for shovel-ready walking, bicycling and safe school access projects. ABX 1-23 also includes a bike network grants program that will support local agencies to build whole networks that connect every destination in communities like yours with an unbroken web of bike paths, protected bike lanes, and quiet bicycle boulevards.

Now we need your help. Contact your state Senator and Assemblymember now to let them know that you support implementing strong “complete streets” policies to ensure that state funding is being spent to build protected bike lanes, increasing the Active Transportation Program, and creating a state program to give cities large grants to build out entire bike networks.

Action Alert: Ask Your Senators to Support Bicycling

People for Bikes
Write a letter to your senators in support of bicycle infrastructure funding.
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Did you know that your senators are making decisions that will affect the future of bicycle infrastructure in California?
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Use this easy letter-writing tool to reach out to your senators and ask them to continue their support of bike funding.

The U.S. Senate is currently working on a proposal for TIGER grants, an important source of federal transportation funding for projects to build roads, transit, ports, and bicycle infrastructure. The House has proposed $100 million in funding for next year, far less than the $500 million that TIGER was funded at this year. Let your senators know that you support full funding of the program and the bicycle projects it helps make possible.

Thanks for taking action!

— The PeopleForBikes Team