Active Trans sits at national table

By Rob Sadowsky

“Today, I want to announce a sea change. People across America who value bicycling should have a voice when it comes to transportation planning. This is the end of favoring motorized transportation at the expense of non-motorized.”

Those words came from U.S. Department of Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, following a motivating – and paradigm shifting – announcement he made at the 10th annual National Bike Summit in early March.

"I’ve been all over America, and where I’ve been in America I’ve been very proud to talk about the fact that people do want alternatives. They want out of their cars, they want out of congestion, they want to live in livable neighborhoods and livable communities," he told hundreds of advocates while standing on a table.

Active Trans was there advocating for livable communities alongside 700 bicycle advocates, business leaders and educators. The weeklong event, sponsored by the League of American Bicyclists, is a time to meet with Congress members and highlight our priorities for the coming year. It helps sets the stage for the year to come, and is launching pad to move forward on funding for trails, bike lanes, pedestrian improvements and enforcement.

This year was special for a few key highlights:

• Active Trans’ North Suburban Coordinator Lina Hoffman presented the efforts that Chicago high schools have done to combat distracted driving and improve transportation options for students. The lessons we learned in this program now serves as a national model.
• Southwest Chicago’s Rep. Dan Lipinski is stepping up to support our efforts nationally by signing on as a co-sponsor of the Complete Streets Bill and the new Active Community Transportation Act. He clearly gets a kick out of meeting with us, talking bikes and sustainable transportation, as well as telling us about his next ride.
• The Alliance for Biking and Walking, our national partner, awarded Active Trans with a 2010 Advocacy Award for Best Practices.

That’s some of the inside scoop. Of course, the big buzz in D.C. wasn’t about legislation, congressmen, or even the White House. The buzz was about the new Google maps features that allow you to map your bike ride. While reviews are still coming in on the effectiveness of the new system, keep in mind its only a beta version and these reviews and feedback are essential to improving the overall system.

Rob Sadowsky is Active Trans’ executive director.