Following last week’s National Bike Summit, Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood announced today a “sea change” in American transportation policy.
Proclaiming the “end of favoring motorized transportation at the expense of non-motorized,” LaHood sent the following recommendations to state departments of transportation as well as local governments and groups:
- Treat walking and bicycling as equals with other transportation modes.
- Ensure convenient access for people of all ages and abilities.
- Go beyond minimum design standards.
- Collect data on walking and biking trips.
- Set a mode share target for walking and bicycling.
- Protect sidewalks and shared-use paths the same way roadways are protected (for example, snow removal)
- Improve nonmotorized facilities during maintenance projects.
Of course, these are just recommendations, and you won’t see LaHood scrap the Highway Trust Fund in favor of a cycling fund. But this announcement does represent a tangible manifestation of a new direction in transportation policy that’s making Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore.) look more mainstream by the day.
