Response to Bike Math

WPTZ Editorial
Friday, November 14, 2008
www.wptz.com/station/17979513/detail.html

The following is a Newschannel 5 editorial response.

Building safe places to walk and bike makes sense – especially now with high gas prices, climate change and an obesity epidemic.

A new federal transportation bill will be drafted soon, and groups like Local Motion are working to secure $50 million dollars in federal funds to connect our region’s sidewalks, bike lanes, and paths.

The investment would put Vermonters back to work building these facilities and get more Vermonters active, thereby reducing our health care costs. It would also revitalize our village centers and reduce emissions.

VTrans found 55% of area residents are using our tails every year, and the US Census found 18% of commuters are walking and biking to work in Chittenden County’s core. This is not about lycra-clad cyclists. This is about kids walking to school; it's about seniors strolling to the local store, and commuters biking to work. Active Vermonters are healthy Vermonters.

That’s how I see it.

This has been a Newschannel 5 editorial response.

Editorial Response by Chapin Spencer, Executive Director Local Motion, Burlington, VT

Original editorial: Local Motion Media File: Bike Math?

Bike Math?

WPTZ Editorial
Friday, October 31, 2008
www.wptz.com/editorials/17855711/detail.html

We all know hopping on a bicycle and pedaling around in the clear, crisp outdoors air is a good thing. But, to put it bluntly, it ain't worth fifty million dollars.

That's how much a local group wants the Federal government to fork over, though. The money's part of a program to improve and expand bike paths, and some folks think it would be swell to have that money for the spandex-and-pointy helmet-set in Chittenden County.

We say slow down.

Vermont's infrastructure has real issues that demand real attention and real dollars. Bridges are crumbling. Roads need repair. These critical needs are a bit higher on the priority list than building another bicycle path to nowhere.

If we want some earmarks from Senators Leahy and Sanders, we suggest asking them to help with our real needs. We think the pedal pushing crowd already has enough spaces for spandex. That’s our opinion. What’s yours?

Aired by President/General Manager, Paul A. Sands

Update: Local Motion Media File: Response to Bike Math

MPO- 2010 Campaign for Active Transportation

CCTV Channel 17
October 20, 2008
http://www.cctv.org/watch-tv/programs/mpo-2010-campaign-active-transportation

Description

CCMPO has been participating in a national effort for increased federal funding dedicated to walking and biking projects. This press conference will highlight potential projects and the benefits of more funding to our communities.

Speakers: J. Jeffrey Munger, Senator Bernie Sanders Office; Jeffrey B. Carr, Chair, CCMPO; David Reville, AARP Vermont; Charlene Wallace, Local Motion

www.ccmpo.org/BikePed/2010_campaign

www.railstotrails.org/2010

Upcoming Airtimes

• Friday October 24, 2008 at 6:00 PM

All Aboard Heel-Toe Express!

WPTZ Channel 5
October 20, 2008
http://www.wptz.com/news/17765260/detail.html

Alternative Transportation Gaining Traction

Chittenden County transportation advocates are looking for some big money to encourage walking and biking.

All Aboard Heel Toe Express!

The Chittenden County Metropolitan Planning Organization (CCMPO) has unveiled a list of 12 projects that it says could both ease traffic congestion and improve the environment.

"There's just a great opportunity for those federal dollars to be spent in a good way," said CCMPO planner Brian Davis.

The list of projects, which would cost about $50 million, comes as part of a larger national effort to encourage federal transportation officials to allocate money for alternative transportation efforts.

They include new bikeways across the Winooski River and around Lake Champlain, improvements to the Route 15 corridor and programs to encourage people to walk and bike.

Advocates say that despite falling gas prices, there is still demand.

"Even at these gas prices--there are a lot more people biking than we had two years ago," said Charlene Wallace, of Local Motion, a nonprofit group that supports alternative transportation efforts.

Campaign targets bicycles, pedestrians

Burlington Free Press
By Matt Sutkoski
October 21, 2008
http://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20081021/NEWS02/810210311/1009/NEWS01

WINOOSKI -- A county planning group and local advocates are pushing for up to $50 million in pedestrian and bicycle projects across Chittenden County that would help create a seamless nonmotor transportation network.

The 2010 Campaign for Active Transportation seeks to increase federal transportation funding for walking and bicycling in the next federal transportation bill.

Bryan Davis, a transportation planner with the Chittenden County Metropolitan Planning Organization, said he is optimistic federal dollars could flow toward bicycle and pedestrian improvements despite the sour economy.

The planning organization, which establishes transportation priorities in the county, is working with groups such as Local Motion, a pedestrian and bicyclists' advocacy group, to promote the campaign. Members of the groups announced the effort Monday at the traffic circle in Winooski. The location is near the Winooski River bridge between Winooski and Burlington, a spot the planning organization targets as ripe for work that would improve bicycle and pedestrian access.

Other areas that need improvements are Vermont 15 between Winooski and Jericho; U.S. 2 at Interstate 89 exit 14 and U.S. 2 between Burlington and Williston, according to a CCMPO report released Monday. Overall, Davis said the campaign would close gaps and improve unsafe areas in the county's pedestrian and bicycle network.

The report also states the Burlington Bike Path, paths in Charlotte and Shelburne, and the Colchester-South Hero Causeway need upgrades. The campaign also calls for education and enforcement to inform bicyclists and pedestrians of their rights and responsibilities on the trail.

All the improvements envisioned in the campaign would cost about $50 million to complete, according to the CCMPO's report.

Jeff Munger, a transportation policy adviser for Sen. Bernard Sanders, I-Vt., said hints are emerging that the federal government will become increasingly responsive to bicycle and pedestrian projects. As an example, he said the $700 billion bailout bill recently adopted by Congress has an interesting, little-known provision. Employees who use a bicycle to commute to and from work are eligible for a $20 tax-free reimbursement for bicycle related expenses, he said.

Metropolitan Planning Organization executive director Michele Boomhower said Chittenden County governments, transportation planners and advocacy groups overwhelmingly support broader pedestrian and bicycle access. She said increased federal funding for bike and pedestrian paths would satisfy these groups.

Contact Matt Sutkoski at 660-1846 or msutkosk@bfp.burlingtonfreepress.com.