Advocacy Alerts

The US Senate is debating the future of national transportation funding right now, and Missouri's Kit Bond is on the committee working on the federal transportation bill.

Please take a minute to ask Senator Bond to support a bill that promotes sustainable transportation like bicycling and walking, reduces the impact of transportation on the environment, gives America energy independence, and enhances the livability and economic vitality of our cities and towns.

Send a message to Senator Bond right now.  It will only take a minute of your time.

This campaign is organized by Transportation for America, a national coalition that includes the Missouri Bicycle and Pedestrian Federation. Visit their web site to learn more about the federal transportation bill and how you can support a more sustainable transportation system.

Friday, June 11th, 2010, the St Louis Board of Aldermen will vote on a bill to create a Complete Streets policy for the city.

How you can help

Best thing you can do to help support Complete Streets in St Louis is to write the St Louis alderman and ask them to support the bill.  Sample message:

Please support the Complete Streets bill, Board Bill 7 sponsored by Alderman Cohn. 

The full list of Board of Aldermen and a link to send each an email message is here.

Details about the St Louis Complete Streets proposal

See the full text of the St Louis complete Streets proposal here.

According to the West End Word article:

“This has already been adopted at the federal level as part of their funding requirements,” said 24th Ward Alderman Shane Cohn, the bill’s main sponsor. “It’s incumbent and imperative on us to get with the program.”

While the bill has received wide support and had 17 co-sponsors, some of the aldermen had concerns about implementing the policy citywide. . . . 

Mayor Megee of Greenwood is introducing an ordinance to provide much stronger penalties for the harassment of bicyclists.

Bicyclist harassment has been an issue in this part of Jackson County, and now an elected leader willing to take real action about it.

The Greenwood ordinance is based on the law the Columbia, MO, recently passed (full text of the Columbia law passed last year here).

We are planning a ride from Lee's Summit to Greenwood, leaving at 6PM from Summit Park in Lee's Summit (it's about 8 miles each way and you'll need lights as it will be dark on the return trip; contact director@mobikefed.org or 816-695-6736 if planning to ride with us).

You can also help support by writing a brief, polite email of support and sending it to two key alderman: Alderman Chris Seagraves (chris@boanheating-cooling.com) and Alderman Nic Cover (nic.cover1@gmail.com).  

Here is one way you can help move bicycling forward in Missouri that is both easy and effective:  Ask your city council member or mayor to issue a resolution or proclamation declaring May as Bicycle Month in your city or town.

Most of these proclamations and resolutions are made by a citizen simply contacting a city council member or the mayor, asking the city to make the proclamation or resolution, and including some sample text for the proclamation or resolution.

Here are some sample proclamations/resolutions that you can modify and adapt for your city and ask your city council member to issue the proclamation or pass the resolution:

• Sample resolution/proclamation for Bike to Work Week
• Sample resolutin/proclamation for Bike Month

You can include Bike Month, Bike to Work Week, and/or Bike to Work Day in your proclamation or resolution (the language from the samples above will work for any or all of those possibilities with some slight adjustment).

It's a great way to get your community started supporting better, safer bicycling and with just a couple of weeks left until National Bike Month (May) now is the time!

 Today Jim Sayer of the Adventure Cycling Association wrote: 

Something extraordinary happened recently to boost cycling in the USA -- and now we cyclists need to step up and support a new, influential hero who happens to work for all of us -- and is under attack for supporting cycling.

Our hero's name is Ray LaHood and he is the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT). He leads the federal agency responsible for setting policy and dispensing billions in funds for all forms of transportation.

What's extraordinary is that a couple of weeks ago, at the National Bike Summit, Secretary LaHood -- a former Republican Congressman from Illinois -- made an impromptu visit to the Summit and told an enthusiastic crowd that the status of cycling and walking will be dramatically elevated in federal transportation planning.Specifically, he said: "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."

The Missouri Division of Tourism has cut all state support for the 2010 Tour of Missouri.

We're asking fans of the Tour of Missouri to contact key elected officials to ask them to support the Tour of Missouri in 2010--it will take only a small amount of state support to make the Tour happen again in 2010, but if the Tour disappears for 2010 it will be gone forever.

The following letter can serve as a model that you can copy, paste, or adapt as you like when you call, email, write, or fax your elected officials asking them to support the 2010 Tour of Missouri: