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Dapper dandies and elegance over exertion, indeed. Kansas City’s first-ever Tweed Ride will take place on April 3, 2010. In the spirit of “The Golden Age of Bicycles” the Groody Bros.…

Today the U.S. Department of Transportation announced $1.5 billion in Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery grants, known as TIGER grants. The money was intended to go to important and innovation projects that are difficult to fund through traditional channels. They received 1,400 applications for $60 billion worth of projects. Knowing that, the $1.5 billion that was awarded looks small and inevitably disappoints the strong applicants that were not funded. Bicycling advocates, in particular, had high expectations, thus there is a certain let down accompanying the announced projects — even though 16 projects explicitly include bicycling components.

The grant’s four criteria were 1. Long-term outcomes (helping achieve a state of good repair; stimulating economic competitiveness; improving safety; enhancing livability; developing sustainability), 2. Job creation and economic stimulus, 3. Innovation, and 4. Partnerships. You can see the breakdown of application categories here.

A few themes emerged among funded applications. The funding for bicycling projects frequently included:

Multi-modal transportation facilities – access and storage
Bridge crossings
Completing bike/ped networks, and
Lanes along main corridors

The first bullet reinforces a recommendation we also make regarding CMAQ applications, that proposals connect bicycling to transit to extend transit catchment areas and increase the length of the car trips that can be replaced by bicycling to mitigate congestion and emissions.

Some disappointments:

Portland, OR applied for 21 different grants and had big ambitions for bicycling projects, but only one got funded – it will add a streetcar line and bicycle and pedestrian facilities.

Kansas City, MO/KS put together an excellent application. You can see how they calculated the miles, trips, benefits, and cost in the appendices using resources on the economic impacts of investing in bicycling. They calculated a ten to one return on investment for their proposed project. Kansas City received badly needed funds for sidewalk access to bus stop in what they call a Green Impact Zone. Unfortunately, the bicycling component was stripped out. Brent Hugh from Missouri Bicycle & Pedestrian Federation believes Kansas City’s focus on recreational riding hurt their application’s chances.

The good news is there are now dozens of strong projects conceived of and proposals written that can be worked on in the future. (UPDATE: The other good news, which I may have not sufficiently trumpeted earlier, is that there are now 16 projects that include bicycling components and another nine that fund pedestrian projects that would not have been funded without this grant. This is a brand new infusion of funding that we would not have seen without the stimulus. That is a very good thing.)

Here is the complete project list from the DOT. America Bikes has a press release and a list that include pedestrian projects. Read more below to see the successful applications that include bicycling components. It is well worth a look at the following list.

Come work at the best job in bicycling! Title: Membership Director Salary: Negotiable, dependent on qualifications and experience Date: February 16, 2010 Reports to: Executive Director The League of American…

BikePortland reports on an upcoming study on injuries to bicycle commuters. The study finds that road conditions contributed to 20 percent of “traumatic events.” Great to see some data on…

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On Monday, February 1, the Obama Administration Released its budget for 2011. Highlights from the Transportation section include: Transportation gets slight increase in spending $527 million for livability partnership (with…

The 2010 National Bike Summit kicks off in Washington, DC on March 9-11, 2010. So why should YOU be there? We can think of a few good reasons: Do you…

Ever want to know how your city and state stack up compared to others in levels of bicycling and walking? Or which state has the lowest rate of bicycle and…

The Club Leadership Training in Boca Raton, FL this past weekend was a big success! Bike club leaders from across the country met in 80 degree weather – a nice…