Volunteer bike and pedestrian counters play a critical role in helping build our collective knowledge of bicycle and pedestrian activity and behavior. You may have already participated in the city of Portland's annual bike count, and now you have a chance to contribute to a larger movement to collect, analyze, and understand this data on a national scale.

If your Oregon community is participating in the project, please send us information for interested volunteers so that we can add it to the list below. Email Margaux or call 503-226-0676 x28.

Gresham
Counts conducted at 18 locations on September 14th, 15th, and 16th from 7 to 9 a.m. and 5 to 7 p.m., and September 18th and 19th from 9 to 11 a.m. Download pdf with more information and a map of locations.

Contact Jonathan David, Transportation Planner at the City of Gresham
Phone: 503-618-2321
Email: jonathan.david@greshamoregon.gov

Portland
Counts conducted at various locations during the week of September 13. See website for more information and map of count locations.

Contact: Nick Falbo, Transportation Planning Intern
Phone: 503-823-9284
Email: Nick.Falbo@portlandoregon.gov

Clackamas
Counts conducted at 3 locations on September 14th, 15th, and 16th from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m., and September 18th and 19th from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m.  Download the pdf for more information and volunteer training opportunities.

Contact: Katie Dunham, Planner for North Clackamas County Parks and Recreation District
Phone: 503-742-4358
Email: kdunham@co.clackamas.or.us

The Transportation Bill: The Senate Environment and Public Works (EPW) Committee plans to have a draft of the bill as early as September; however, the bicycle and pedestrian pieces are yet to be written.

The Oil Independence Act: A bill introduced by Senators Merkley (OR), Carper (DE), Udall (NM) and Bennett (CO) just this week. The bill addresses oil consumption through transportation with the initiative to reduce US oil consumption by 8 million barrels a day by 2030 (roughly equivalent to the amount of oil we import). Title IV of the bill will require state and local governments to work toward emission reduction goals by improving infrastructure to increase transportation options.

The Complete Streets Act: The National Complete Streets Coalition is still looking for more support from Senators in the Environmental and Public Works Committee by getting the few members not already co-sponsors to sign on to the Complete Streets Act. Senator Jeff Merkley, representing Oregon, is one of these senators. Visit the Complete Streets website for more information on the act, and find talking points and sample letters so that you can take action to get Senator Merkley on board and garner more support toward making our streets accessible to all users–ages 8 to 88.

Here's more from the Alliance for Biking and Walking:

Today, the National Complete Streets Coalition is thrilled to join with Transportation for America, America Bikes, and the Safe Routes to School National Partnership to bicycle down Pennsylvania Avenue, America’s main street, and publicly express our thanks to Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood for all his hard work to make sure that walking and biking are on equal footing with other modes for safety, convenience, and accessibility.

DOT’s new policy is a step forward, but if we’re going to make our streets safer for all users, we need Congress to change federal law to make complete streets the standard — not the exception. Only through a strong federal complete streets policy can we end the project-by-project fight for safer roads for people who are bicycling, walking, and taking public transportation.

Join us in support of complete streets and take action: Tell your Members of Congress to co-sponsor the Complete Streets Act of 2009! [http://action.smartgrowthamerica.org/t/6237/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=81]

The Complete Streets Act would ensure that future federally funded transportation projects take into account the needs of everyone using the roads – old and young, bicycle riders and drivers, pedestrians and public transportation users.

We are making great progress, but we need your help: Tell your representatives that you value streets designed for all modes – that includes bicycling, as well as walking and taking public transportation. [http://action.smartgrowthamerica.org/t/6237/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=81]

National Bike Month has been an exciting chance to celebrate and encourage more active transportation. Thanking Secretary LaHood will be a great way to end a landmark month.

Thank you in advance for taking action!

Clean transportation for healthy kids

Transportation accounts for nearly 30% of US greenhouse gas pollution. It also consumes 70% of the 20 million barrels of oil we use every day.

In order to mitigate our greenhouse gas pollution the bill may include a ‘carbon fee’ to be paid on transportation fuels. The fee is referred to as a ‘linked fee’ because the price of the fee will be linked to the price of carbon under the utility cap and trade system. It is important that the policy language from the Boxer-Kerry bill (Sections 112, 113) remains in the new bill, helping to align our transportation policies with energy independence and climate goals.

This funding would provide an important boost to clean transportation projects around the country, reducing our oil dependence, create jobs, and help families save on transportation costs.
Please take action.

Call Senator Wyden's office and encourage the Senator to communicate to the authors of the Climate Bill the importance of funding clean transportation choices.

Portland: (503) 326-7525

Eugene: (541) 431-0229

Bend: (541) 330-9142

LaGrande: (541) 962-7691

Medford: (541) 858-5122

Salem: (503) 589-4555

BTA advocates Susan Peithman and Gerik Kransky will join 700+ bicycle advocates in Washington, D.C. next week for the National Bike Summit, where the ACT Act is sure to be a major topic of discussion. The attendees of the National Bike Summit are going to advocate to their respective Senators and Representatives to support the ACT Act.

The Alliance for Walking & Biking has made it possible for people outside of Washington to help lobby the bill. The Virtual Lobby Day is everyone's opportunity to take action on the ACT act and demonstrate the need for such legislation.

More details from the Alliance for Walking & Biking below:

TAKE ACTION
Given the timing of the bill's release, we have a unique opportunity to conduct a Virtual Lobby Day and present a strong and unified voice on Capitol Hill, Thursday, March 11th. In conjunction with the National Bike Summit we ask that you call your representative next Thursday at the same time that over 700 Summit participants will have in-person meetings in congressional offices.

TALKING POINTS
Please call your representatives on March 11th to ask them to co-sponsor H.R.4722: "The Active Community Transportation Act."
Tell Them:

• Bicycling and walking are part of the solution. Half of all trips in the United States are three miles or less, yet the majority of these short trips are made by car. Shifting more of these short trips to biking and walking would not only reduce congestion, air pollution, greenhouse gas emissions, and our dependence on oil, but will also improve physical activity, safety, and livability.
• Investing in bicycling and walking infrastructure works. Commuting by bicycle has increased 43 percent since 2000 – and by 69 percent in designated Bicycle Friendly Communities that have invested in infrastructure improvements.
• Please co-sponsor the Active Community Transportation Act (H.R.4722).

Bonus: Watch Earl speak up for his hometown from the House floor in response to an anti-Portland article from Newsweek columnist George Will in May 2009.

This is welcome news, but the real solution is to pass new transportation re-authorization legislation to secure long term funding. To learn more about federal transportation funding issues, visit our partners at Transportation for America.

US Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood describes the situation as a political game.

I am sorry to report that DOT will furlough nearly 2,000 employees without pay Monday.

This means DOT must temporarily shut down highway reimbursements to states worth hundreds of millions of dollars. This means we must temporarily shut down national anti-drunk driving efforts. And this means we must shut down construction projects across the country–maybe in your state or your county–because federal inspectors won't be able to do their jobs.

The shut down stems from Republican Senator Jim Bunning of Kentucky. He insists that federal transportation funding is not as important as the current budget deficit.

For more details about how Sen. Bunning is hurting local transportation projects, check out Transportation for America and Streetsblog.

We were crossing our fingers for Metro's innovative package of four non-motorized transportation projects totaling $98 million. Metro's forward-thinking proposal included building a complete bike network in North/Northeast Portland; linking bicycling and transit in Hillsboro; integrating bicycle, pedestrian and transit facilities in Milwaukie/Clackamas County; and connecting urban residents to natural areas with bike/ped trails from Boring to Estacada.

The BTA is disappointed that none of these projects were approved, but we applaud Metro and its partners for putting together an innovative project package that would leverage federal stimulus funds to balance current and future transportation needs and improve the health and wellness of our region. Metro has already begun looking to other sources of funding for these projects. The TIGER grant process also highlighted the importance of getting innovative bike/ped projects ready in order to be prepared when future funding opportunities become available.

Out of twenty one projects submitted from Oregon, the only one to receive TIGER funding was the City of Portland's application for reconstruction of SW Moody in the SW Waterfront area. The BTA is happy to see federal dollars coming to the region and to see the city highlight some innovative bike/ped facilities, including a two-way cycletrack, in the design. We encourage the City of Portland to focus on bicycle safety near tracks in their streetcar designs for all new streetcar projects.

From a national perspective, the TIGER funding process indicates that bike/ped projects are gaining ground with the federal goverment. Twenty four of the fifty-one funded projects integrated bicycle and pedestrian elements, and two were full bicycle and pedestrian networks (in Philadelphia and Indianapolis). The volume of active transportation projects that were submitted for the TIGER funds demonstrates the need for federal funding for projects beyond road resurfacing and highway expansion, which are currently the dominant outlets for federal transportation dollars.

Here's a breakdown from America Bikes of bike/ped-related TIGER funding. Download the full list of projects with bike/ped integration here.

* DOT received roughly 1400 applications of which 3% or 51 were funded.
* 24 of the 51 TIGER projects include some bike ped (see attached chart for descriptions)
* 26 (or 1.8% of applicants) were pure bike ped projects
* 2 bike ped networks were funded (~3% of all TIGER funding)- Philadelphia and Indianapolis
* Dubuque, IA was funded for a Complete Streets project
* Burlington VT waterfront was funded for a project that included a bike/ped trail
* Several of the road -bridge projects include bike/ped access

See the US-DOT's full list for information on all 51 projects.

More on the TIGER grants from US Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood's official blog, the Fast Lane.

The Alliance for Biking and Walking has issued an organizational letter of support for groups to sign. Once the bill is introduced, they will be asking for groups to sign onto a co-sponsor letter.

Download the letter and ACT Act draft legislation.

To sign on your support, respond to caron@americabikes.org with the name and title of your signatory and organization name by Wednesday, December 23.

Brookings vice president Bruce Katz, David Byrne, Congressman Blumenauer, and NYC Transportation Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan recently launched Cities for Cycling project in New York City.

Carie and the kids on their bakfiets. (Photo: Ethan Jewett)

In the story, Deena Prichep interviews bikey mama Carie Weisenbach-Folz, Clever Cycles co-owner Todd Fahrner, Metrofiets builder Phillip Ross, and even League of American Bicyclists Executive Director Andy Clarke about cargo bikes fulfilling families' kid and grocery-hauling needs.

Of course, cargo bikes are still quite expensive and, even in Portland, not every family lives in a place where they can be used easily. The story covers these concerns and America's psychological resistance to mode changes, as well. It's definitely worth a listen.

Maybe this time, when an old friend calls from Massachusetts to tell me they heard about Portland and bikes on the radio, they'll also say they've seen cargo bikes in their neighborhood or are even considering buying one!