It's not just transportation activists who want active transportation.
More than 1,100 organizations and businesses — some obvious ones, but also some unusual suspects — are telling House Republicans that they don't want the same old car-centric surface transportation reauthorization this time around, but instead want to "enhance robust investments and safety provisions for bicycling and walking infrastructure" to keep America active and boost the economy.
Specifically, they urged Congress to protect the Transportation Alternatives Program, the largest source of federal funding for active transportation infrastructure in America, which is widely seen as the backbone of the movement to build walkable, bikable places.
The letter was written in response to statements from House Republicans like Sam Graves, who argued in June that average Americans want to get "back to [the] basics" of building highways — and said the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee bill he and his colleagues are expected to introduce later this month is "not going to be spending money on murals and train stations or bike paths or walking paths."
"Investment in active transportation infrastructure — such as sidewalks, bike lanes and trail networks — increases mobility choices; improves safety; creates strong, connected communities; provides economic opportunities and job creation; and saves money from health benefits and low-cost travel," the groups said in a letter to the leadership of the House Transportation Committee and the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee mailed earlier this month.
"Rural, suburban and urban communities alike seek the transformative benefits of these investments," added the letter. "Small towns often desire to enliven their downtowns or attract tourists, while urban areas need safe routes to jobs and essential services for residents, many of whom do not drive, as well as affordable strategies to reduce traffic congestion."
To bolster their case, organizers at Rails to Trails Conservancy and the League of American Bicyclists got sign-ons from new allies in a diverse array of sectors, including health, small business, tourism, education, law and government. The list of signatories reads like a who's who of ... well, all of America.
"That was a key part of this effort," Kevin Mills, the vice president for policy at the Rails to Trails Conservancy, told Streetsblog. "If all we did was say, 'Well, there's a robust trails, walking and biking movement out there and they want active transportation,' I don't think the message would come through as clearly that this is something that's fundamental to community success. So having community leadership itself, having small businesses, having these health and other sectors say, 'Yeah, this is part of our vision too' — it really underscores how extensive the need is in the country."
From a safety perspective especially, that need has never been more clear. The letter-writers pointed out that people biking and walking now account for more than 20 percent of the 40,000 or so people killed on roadways every year, and twenty people die while walking in America every day.
And small businesses need active transportation, too: A 2019 study found that active transportation infrastructure contributes more than $34.1 billion annually to the U.S. economy, an amount that could grow to $138.5 billion annually with improved connectivity, the letter states. That's impressive bang for the buck, given that the entire Transportation Alternatives Program has only cost taxpayers $17 billion since it was created in 1991.
Most importantly, people want the federal government to invest in more bicycling and walking infrastructure. A 2024 Ipsos poll found that 76 percent of respondents agreed with the statement, “My community would be a better place to live if bicycling were safer and more comfortable” — and the numbers were strong across the political spectrum (73 percent of Republicans and 82 percent of Democrats agreed with the statement).
And 89 percent of Americans surveyed said the amount of federal funding for biking and walking should be increased or stay the same — again, with no falloff among Republicans.
The Trump administration and its allies on the Hill, though, seemingly want to gut walking and biking infrastructure — even as Americans across the political spectrum stand up to demand it. At a recent event, U.S. Department of Transportation Sec. Sean Duffy made it clear that actively he wants to stop funding active mordes.
"He told AASHTO the other day that active transportation is not the federal interest until we have an "A" grade in infrastructure," Mills said, recounting Duffy's recent appearance before the state transportation group.
"There's a fundamentally different vision at work here; [they're] rejecting the notion of a multimodal system," Mills added. "[But active modes are] critical for the economy, and the return on investment can be greater than any of the others. Congress finally decided to go multi-modal in the 1990s, and this is not the time to go backwards."
Chris Bell, director of Federal Policy at PeopleForBikes, added that the groups aren't "asking for the moon here" but simply for "baseline funding to ensure that people have a dedicated source of funding for biking and walking, which everyone wants for their community."
Politicians, he said, often have a "disconnect" when it comes to bikes.
"Everybody likes bikes, but they don't see them in their conception of infrastructure," he said. "There's often a pushback — them not realizing or appreciating how many people get where they need to go on a bike every single day; what a huge economic generator cycling is; how it's affordable, improves congestion. [It's] part of a modern transportation system."
Signatories of the letter are urging members of the public to take action by calling or writing members of Congress. Find details here.
— with Kea Wilson
