No, Seriously: Republicans Don't Get It
With this latest attempt to strip bike funding from the recovery bill, Republicans have once again demonstrated how out of touch they are with their pathologically short-sighted attacks on bicycles. To their detriment, they are continuing their trend from last Congress of using the most economical, energy-efficient, and healthy forms of transportation as their whipping post. Investment in bike paths will not only improve our economy, and take our country in the right direction for the future; it is exactly the kind of investment the American people want.
Moreover, bicycle and pedestrian paths are precisely the kind of infrastructure projects our country needs. These projects tend to the most "shovel-ready" and are more labor-intensive than other projects-- therefore putting more people to work per dollar spent.
We might have understood these attacks a decade ago, but today they ignore the explosion of bicycling in this country in recent years that has been nothing short of phenomenal. There are tens of millions of American cyclists and even more who want their children to be able to bike and walk to school safely and therefore support bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure projects.
American families have indicated time and again in the passage of bond measures across the country that they favor spending on alternative transportation, such as bicycles and mass transit, over spending on mere highway capacity. Americans want real solutions to the economic crisis, not just a band-aid fix. These investments will stimulate our economy now - when it counts and point our nation toward the economic and environmental realities of the future.
Recent transportation surveys indicate that 52% of Americans want to bike more than they do now - but don't, because of the lack of safe and connected bicycle facilities.
Think about it: More than 50% of working Americans live less than 5 miles from work, an easy bicycle commute. Already more than 490,000 Americans bike to work; in Portland, 8% of downtown workers are bicycle commuters. Individually, they are saving $1,825 in auto-related costs, reducing their carbon emissions by 128 pounds per year, saving 145 gallons of gasoline, avoiding 50 hours of being stuck in traffic, burning 9,000 calories, reducing their risk of heart attack and stroke by 50%, and enjoying 14% fewer claims on their health insurance.
Nationally, if we doubled the current 1% of all trips by bike to 2%, we would collectively save more 693 million gallons of gasoline - that's more than $5 billion dollars - each year. From 2007 - 2008, bicyclists reduced the amount Americans drive by 100 million miles.
Bicycling also has immediate and direct benefits for communities that invest in bicycle paths, bike lanes, trails, and secure bicycle parking. For each $1 million invested in an FHWA-approved paved bicycle or multi-use trail, the local economy gains 65 jobs and between $50 and $100 million in local economic benefits. Some communities are already showing the results of these investments. After investing less than 1% of their total transportation budget in bicycle facilities in the past eight years, the City of Portland has seen a 144% increase in bicycle use - and the growth of a $90 million bicycle industry that has added nearly 50 new businesses in just the past two years.
I can think of no other transportation investment that provides more benefits to American communities who so desperately need: more jobs, reduced transportation costs, increased personal health, a cleaner environment, reduced carbon footprint, and greater community livability. It's time the Republicans got the point about what Americans want. Investments in bike and pedestrian infrastructure will help us create jobs and build healthier more livable communities for the future - these projects are the gifts that keep on giving.
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Hey dude, how many people are in favor of the bailout? 35%. Who doesn't get it?
"For each $1 million invested in an FHWA-approved paved bicycle or multi-use trail, the local economy gains 65 jobs and between $50 and $100 million in local economic benefits."
Let's not confuse bicycle use for transportation with mountain bike use on dirt trails for recreation and thrill seeking. I'm all for the former, but have seen far too much destruction of natural habitat from the latter to support use of tax dollars to promote it. The mountain bike lobby has been effective in thwarting wilderness designation to large tracts, simply because vehicles (including bikes) are not permitted in such areas. Bikers can walk the trails as well as the rest of us, and get plenty of exercise doing so.
I live in Boston. It is EXTREMELY bike un friendly. There are only a couple bike paths in the whole city, and the streets and sidewalks are so cramped that pretty much your only option is to ride your bike directly through traffic, risking your life among our infamously aggressive drivers. There also are very few bike racks, though more have been popping up lately.
We are a very big walking/public transportation city, we always make the top 5 list for pedestrian friendly cities. But....
I literally cannot count how many times I've heard fellow Bostonians say "I really wish I could just bike to work, but it's not safe."
I used to live in Amsterdam, and ALL main roads (obviously not side streets and alleyways) are equipped with: a car path, a bike path, a walking path, and a tram path. It was just fantastic, everyone rides bikes and saves a ton of money, and traffic congestion was not 1/10th as bad as what you'd see in a similarly cramped, geographically small American city like Boston.
Another advantage- almost every Dutch person rides a bike at least most of the time.
In all my time there, I saw only a handful of fat Dutch people, and NO obese people.
Think of all the money in healthcare saved, and increased worker productivity, that results by having an in shape populace!
Hmm, bike paths as a stimulus. These kind of spurious thoughts can only come from one side of the aisle.
Blumenauer makes a very clear argument for the community benefits and ROI that bike paths bring to areas. Jobs, health, infrastructure improvements, safe transportation alternatives to enable people to make a difference in their own carbon emissions.
What's not to love? I don't see cycling improvements in the Stimulus bill passed by the Senate (please correct me if someone finds it in the 778 page PDF). If Republicans can't understand the benefits Blumenauer lays out as a real stimulus, or the benefits of bike commuting in general, they will continue to go the way of the dinosaurs, whose fuels they love so dearly.
Full disclaimer: Blumenauer is my rep and I couldn't be more proud of him.
LOL. Infrastructure? Do you really believe this will have any measurable impact on the development and exchange of goods & services? If you want to ride your tricycle to work, go ahead. Just don't expect that to help our economy.
Many people will not ride bicycles instead of drive for even very short trips because they don't feel safe.
If we got more people substituting bike rides for car rides, it would be stimulative in the short term because it would create jobs in the long term because more money would be staying in the US rather than going to other oil-producing countries. Not only does bike-riding not depend on the purchase of oil products, but it reduces congestion, which also reduces our dependence on foreign oil.
Nobody is suggesting that bike paths are an economic silver bullet, but they can be a very important part of the solution with very few negatives. Why is that so hard to understand?
I'll buy (literally) that there may be some long term benefits (emphasis on "may"). But hey, this is supposed to be a stimulus package that provides a jolt to our economy. The relationship between immediate, short term stimulus and this "make work, let's hope we all get healthy" bike path thing is a figment of the imagination.
Um, yes, these kinds of projects are indeed "shovel ready". Unfortunately, it's what's being shoveled here that's the problem.
You really need to calm down.
Maybe take a bike ride. That Hummer ain't doin' it.
Now all you need to do Earl is make some of the bikers follow traffic laws, because if that girl in the pink helmet cuts me off again I'm ramming her.
Great work, Mr. Blumenauer.
This is the kind of thing that keeps me voting for you.
Cheers!
My wife grew up in Holland on a bicycle. She is 65 and lives at sea level. This year she went to SW Colorado for cross-country skiing. One day she skied 7 miles at 11,000 feet. I'd like to meet a Republican who could do that at her age.
Rep. Blumenauer,
While I appreciate the positive comments about cyclists, your post is pretty short on details. Can we get some names or quotes from the republicans in question? Who wants to strip funding for bike paths? What do they list as their rationale? (no snarky assumptions needed, folks, it's a legitimate question).
Maybe it's silly to expect information from HuffPo, as this tends to be a heavily opinion-based site. Still, it would help to know what it is exactly that you're responding to. Maybe then, we could do something about it instead of just making "witty" comments in an echo chamber. You know....like contact said Congressmen and Congresswomen?
Thanks, and keep up the good fight. :-)
similarly, they seem to have no concept of the value of education or art
do they not realize that ART and ENTERTAINMENT are real industries, with real jobs, and real money flowing through from consumers.
It happens to be on of the few American industries actually still producing product -- and exporting, to boot.
No, they don't get it. Never Will! Time for the Elephant to go the way of the WoolyMammoth.
Evolve or Extinction
"Moreover, bicycle and pedestrian paths are precisely the kind of infrastructure projects our country needs. These projects tend to the most "shovel-ready" and are more labor-intensive than other projects-- therefore putting more people to work per dollar spent."
Is this the democrat version of "the mexicans do the jobs americans refuse to do"?
And Princess Nancy wants condoms for american women and abortions for everyone else. And how much of my tax money is going to "community reinvestment" aka ACORN?
The other question that arrises from this article is: WTF do bike trails have to do with "economic stimulus"? FDR did "make work" jobs for about 6 years and all it did was extend the depression.
Why are republicans against 75% of the bill under consideration? 1) To stimulate the economy, you cut taxes and give the average joe more money to spend. 2) Cut corporate taxes to increase the money they can spend on goods, services, and add employees. 3) Allow the weak businesses to fail and be replaced or bought out by the stronger. Unfortunately, number 3 will never happen because the weak businesses that are failing are liberal newspapers and the auto manufacturers drowning in legacy union expenses that have nothing to do with business operations. If you dont beleive me, just look at the steel industry 30 years ago. The unions killed the steel industry and the Fed didnt bail them out.
My Friend...you don't have a Clue as to what this Stimulus Bill is even about. If you look at the BIG picture you will see it's about reestablishing the priorities in this country to make things better for the MAJORITY of Americans and not just the few at the top of the heap. The Bush administration completely mismanaged and misaligned our priorities to favor only those at the top.Trickle down economics does not work as you can clearly see by this mess we are currently in.As in any business "you have to spend money to make money" and what better business to invest in at this time than the American People.
Your comment is exactly correct. The stimulus bill is about reestablishing power, not stimulating the economy.
Rethugs do not have any appeal in whatever they say nowadays...they got us here.
Yeah, how is that going for you?
"Amhet"
Believes that : "FDR did make work jobs for about 6 years and all it did ws extend the depression"
Leaving aside the fact that we continue to benefit to THIS DAY from the infrastructure and other projects completed under the CCC and the WPA...I would simply point out that......
for the families of those jobless and hungry folks so employed the depression ENDED the day thet went back to work! Ask any unemployed person in America today which would be more effective in THEIR house a "targeted investment tax credit"....or a JOB??
"Amhet" also posits that "to stimulate the economy you cut taxes and give the average joe more money to spend" Again, leaving all other considerations aside at the rate of over 600,000 "joes" a their families month said Joe's are becoming unemployed. Again ...ask Joe which would put more food on his table....a tax cut or a job?
"ahmhets" views are a snapshot of the kneejerk reactionary nature of Republican intransigence with regard to the stimulus.......and economic in general.
If it benefits the top tier its a "targeted incentive for growth"
If it helps ordinary working people it's "wasteful government pork"
The inherently SELFISH nature of this ideology is now on display for all to see:
In a nutshell it can be exprssed as "I've got MINE....to hell with my neighbors"
Sad, The greedy, like the poor ye shall have always with ye
tm
Speaking on behalf of the GOP. We are against eco-friendly cheap energy. We are against the make work jobs of the environmental movement. We are against anything that will put people back to work, with Democrats getting the credit. We are against any mortgage help for homeowners without the money going straight to the banks & mortgage. No foreclosure moratorium, that's welfare. The tax cuts of the stimulus bill do nothing for the working people earning $250K or more. What about the wealthy who need more tax shelters and the elimination of the estate tax. This bill is unfair to corporate America and promotes laziness and welfare. Bike trails are welfare.
lol souljah
lmao.
The sad thing - that's a pretty accurate analysis.
I hear you souljah, and this vetting b.s. has got to stop. Crooks have the best skill set to run a country. You have to be able to work outside of the law to govern properly. Do we have to constantly remind people that the Constitution is packaging and should not be taken too seriously. These underground lairs for the rich and their descendants are going to cost them a fortune to build, and build they will. That's why they need your money. It's not like these people are having any luck finding security companies that won't scalp them for services or turn on them one the paychecks are handed out. See the problem here people? Have you no heart?
I voted for Congressman Blumenauer because he's always had a good sense of where this country is heading and want what's best for Oregonians. He's a great guy. Although I'm not a bike fan, I appreciate the fact that the alternative to gasoline is so much better for everyone of us, and if someone wants to brave the cold and rain while biking, well, more power to you. In fact, I live less than 5 miles from work, have a bike lane in front of my house, bus service in front of my house and I still drive to work. However, that may change soon as the weather becomes warmer then I'll just walk to work.
The benefits totally outweight all the negativity the Republicans try to pen as wasteful. They may not get it but we do and it's up to us (as Obama has stated all along) put our government to work for our country and that our participation is the key.
Seriously, folks, bikes are the answer.
Not as long as the GOP is a wholyy-owned subsidiary of Big Oil. Anyone care to explain why gas pricvces are going up while the price of oil is now under $40 a barrel. As usual, Big Oil is creating an artificial shortage to screw us again. It's time for Congress, both sides of the aisle (though I won't hold out hope for the repubs) to nail Oil to the wall.
this is typical for republicans. they would rather spend a million dollars on raising and education poor kids rather than giving their mothers a .25 cent condom
For you, I would have coughed up the quarter!
Perfect. Obstructionists on most things innovative. Remember, folks, that these guys are the ones that gave us Big SUVs and the related gas mileage. Gee, let's not make trucks subject to CAFE Laws -- it's un-American. Well, their idea of Americans is "insolvent."
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