news

Today US Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood made a major policy announcement that moves the 'Complete Streets' agenda to the center of the nation's transportation policy.

One of the changes that has come about--as a result of the advocacy of thousands of you who have attended or supported the advocacy at the National Bike Summit over the years--is a tremendous change in the amount of support for bicycling and walking at every level of politics, but particularly in the various transportation agencies of the federal government.

The third day of the National Bike Summit is spent visiting congressional offices. The Missouri delegation visited the office of every Missouri member of Congress, holding many productive conversations with members of Congress and staff.

Day 2 of the 2010 National Bike Summit was filled with conference meetings, sharing information with other groups from around the country, networking, and organizing our Missouri delegation for our congressional visits on Day 3.

A group of us met with Dave Toomey of Senator McCaskill's office in the morning, because Dave had a conflict on Thursday.

The National Bike Summit 2010 had record attendance, with over 700 attending from 48 states. our Missouri delegation was also our largest ever with 15 attending.

Day 1 included the opening reception and the presentation of a special award to Columbia, Missouri, Mayor Darwin Hindman. Ian Thomas of PedNet addressed the group and introduced Mayor Hindman.

Springfield has one of the most extensive on-road bicycle route systems in Missouri, but the system has not expanded in the past several years.

Springfield's STAR Team brings together advocates from several different organizations, including Ozark Greenways, SpringBike, and the Missouri Bicycle & Pedestrian Federation, to work for better bicycling & walking facilities.

One result of the STAR Team's work was announced Monday:  For the first time, Springfield will include a small allotment for bicycle facilities in its capitol improvements tax.

The agenda items for this year's National Bike Summit have been finalized.

Eric Rogers, of the MoBikeFed Board, attended an organizing meeting at MoDOT District 4 headquarters today and reports this on the KCBike.Info blog:

Participate in the National Bike Summit's virtual lobbying day from the comfort of your own home or office.

On March 11th bicyclists from around the country will be on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC meeting with Congressional representatives to talk about the importance of bicycling for issues like transportation, recreation, public health, and economic development.