Skip to Content
Streetsblog Los Angeles home
Streetsblog Los Angeles home
Log In
StreetFilms

From Minnesota to Mississippi, Telling Congress to Save Bike-Ped Programs

For more than 20 years, federal funding for bike and pedestrian safety has enabled American cities and towns to invest in transportation projects that state DOTs would otherwise have overlooked. Thanks to these programs, communities have helped main streets thrive, provided kids with safer routes to school, and made biking an attractive transportation option.

The most recent transportation bill, passed in 2005 by a Republican Congress and Republican president, continued to invest in safer biking and walking. As negotiations over a new bill grind on, however, these programs are in jeopardy. The Senate has passed a bill that by and large preserves the status quo, but the House of Representatives has tried to eliminate bike and pedestrian programs.

Last week more than 800 people from all over the country came to Washington for the National Bike Summit. On the Hill, they urged the House to follow the lead of Wisconsin Republican Tom Petri, who introduced an amendment to restore dedicated funding for bike and pedestrian programs. We caught up with Petri and Bike Summit participants to hear how bike/ped programs have made a difference in their hometowns. Here’s what they told us.

Stay in touch

Sign up for our free newsletter

More from Streetsblog Los Angeles

Eyes on the Street: Another Long Beach Development-Triggered Bike/Bus Improvement

Long Beach Boulevard has a new protected bike lane that runs at curb-level behind a new bus shelter.

May 20, 2025

This Week In Livable Streets

Metro board meeting, Ride of Silence, Monterey Park bike lanes, Marissa Roy, county bikeways, Bike Month, and more

May 19, 2025

CicLAvia Pico Union – Open Thread

Several thousand people - of all ages including many families with kids - took to a mile and a half of car-free Pico Boulevard

May 19, 2025
See all posts