Blog Post
News out of the conference committee working on the federal transportation bill isn’t good. While Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA) and Rep. John Mica (R-FL) yesterday announced that “the conferees have…
Despite all the tumult with the federal transportation bill, one modest source of safety funding is likely to continue: the Highway Safety Improvement Program (HSIP). The program is used to…
Depending on who you listen to the effort to get a new long term transportation bill is either stalling out or discussions are on-going and deals are being made on some issues…
With $25,000 in grants, Advocacy Advance will boost the growth of young advocacy organizations and dramatically increase biking and walking in Mississippi and Tucson, Arizona. Since 2009, Advocacy Advance — a…
Adding a very powerful voice to the call for continued federal funding for sidewalks and bikeways, the U.S. Conference of Mayors passed a resolution at its annual meeting last weekend…
We are close to a milestone. Eight days from now will mark the 1,000th day since the federal transportation authorization bill, SAFETEA-LU expired. You can track the progress at Transportation…
So, I spent most of last night on Design Milk. If you haven’t been on it, it’s a beautiful site — basically a tumblr for design freaks who want to…
In bicycle advocacy, we often cite the troubling statistic that, while women make up 51 percent of the American population, we accounted for just 24 percent of U.S. bike trips…
By Lindsay Plante, BFA Communications Intern Thanks to the support and collaboration of advocates, government officials and recreational riders, the Adventure Cycling Association and the American Association of Highway and…
Tonight at a Gala event in Portland, Ore., local residents will say thank you to one of the nation’s most important champions of bicycling: Congressman Earl Blumenauer. Since he arrived on Capitol Hill in 1996, Blumenauer has been one of the strongest congressional leaders on cyclists’ rights and bicycle funding. But his 40 years of public service — and visionary support of bicycling — started long before he arrived in Washington, D.C.
As Jonathan Maus from BikePortland summarizes: “During his four decades of leadership, Blumenauer has presided over much of the bicycle and transportation legacy that our region is so well known for. From his position as head of the City of Portland Department of Public Works (what we now call the Bureau of Transportation) from 1987 to 1996, Blumenauer (with Mia Birk as his right-hand woman) oversaw an explosion in bikeway miles. From his office in Washington D.C., where he’s served as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives since 1996, Blumenauer is without a doubt the most influential and well-known champion for bicycling on Capitol Hill.”
Of course, League members know Blumenauer has also become a well-known presence at the National Bike Summit. In fact, the Congressman has participated in every single Summit, since the event’s inception in 2001. Thank you, Congressman, for your leadership and support over the year. Here’s to many more Bike Summits to come!
Blumenauer (left) and Congressman Jim Oberstar at the 2001 National Bike Summit
See more pictures of the bike-partisan Congressman from past Bike Summits…