Bike/ped bills in the 2012 Missouri General Assembly: Expanding & repealing trails & greenway district funding

Remember you can help move legislation like this forward, and make Missouri a better, safer place for biking and walking, by attending Bicycle and Pedestrian Day at the Capitol in Jefferson City April 2nd.  At Capitol Day we will be talking with our legislators about all of these bills.

Bicycle & Pedestrian Day at the Capitol

 

Since our last edition of 2012 bike/ped bills, we have several important updates:

 

UPDATE 1. HB 1504, sponsored by Rep. Todd Richardson, allows St Louis City, St. Louis County, and St. Charles County to hold a vote of the people to create a small sales tax that will support trails, parks, and the Arch Grounds.  The tax is similar in many ways to the current tax that created the Great Rivers Greenway District, but the new funding will allow the District to do more and different projects. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch has more details, and yet more.  The St. Louis Beacon also has coverage.

 

UPDATE 2. A group of cities and counties, led by Parks Department directors of several key cities, is working for adoption of abill allowing several counties in the Kansas City region to create a trails and greenways district similar to the Great Rivers Greenway District. This language will be similar to SB 364, introduced by Senator Pearce in 2011.

 

UPDATE 3. HB 1967, sponsored by Rep. Mark Parkinson, will allow leaders of St. Louis City, St. Louis County, and St. Charles County to call for a popular vote repealing the funding for the Great Rivers Greenway District. Although couched in language about government accountability, this--much like the bicyclist reflective vest requirement--is clearly a bid by opponents of the trails and greenway funding to create uncertainty and oppose the funding.  The opposition is coming from many of the same leaders in the western sections of St. Charles County who also worked in support of the St. Charles County Bicycle Ban.  The funding was approved overwhelmingly by voters in the district. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch has coverage of the bill and the issue.

 

4. HB 1937, sponsored by Rep. John Cauthorn, requires all bicyclists on state roads and highways to wear a reflective vest. Unfortunately, this approach to bicycle safety will only decrease the amount of bicycling while making no improvement in safety.  It is a non-standard requirement, not required in any other state or city in the U.S. and will be unenforceable. We would like to see the General Assembly take some steps that are best practices, tried, and proven to improve safety, such as bicyclist and motorist education, public outreach campaigns, law enforcement training and enforcement of existing laws according to best practices, and improving infrastructure--for instance, by adding shoulders to state highways.

 

Contact your own legislator (look up here). Let your legislator know that you support real, proven ways of improving bicyclist safety, but you oppose HB 1937, which will only discourage bicycling and bill be completely unenforceable.

 

Senator Stouffer may also work to have this language introduced into one of the omnibus transportation bills.

 

The issue of distracted driving is right at the top of MoBikeFed's Legislative Platform, so this bill is a high priority for us.

 

 

Contact Senator Stouffer, let him know that distracted driving is an important issue for you, thank him for introducing SB 717 and encourage him to push for its adoption.

 

Senator Stouffer is chair of the Senate Transportation Committee, so he has a lot of power to move this bill forward.  However, he also has many other priorities, so that will help most now is to let him know that this issue is important to you and will make a real difference.

 

Contact info for Senator Stouffer:

bstouffer@senate.mo.gov  

(573) 751-1507

FAX: (573) 751-9764

 

 

Anyone who causes death in this manner will receive an automatic 6 month driver license suspension and be required to complete a driver improvement training class.

 

This, again, is very much in line with the priorities of the MoBikeFed Legislative Platform.  We testified recently in support of SB 805 in the Senate Transportation Committee hearing.

 

7. SB743 and HB1839, solving the bike rack/license plate conflict. Right now, if your bike rack covers or partially covers you automobile's license plate, you are in violation of Missouri law.  A few bicyclists receive a ticket for this offense each year, and authorities have been offer no way to come into compliance with the law other than removing the bike rack.  This law will allow, but not require, anyone who has this problem to purchase a third license plate at low cost.  The third plate would be printed on tyvek type fabric, similar to Missouri's existing temporary license plates, and would be placed in the rear window of a vehicle when a bike rack or similar item obscures the regular rear plate.

 

Representative Jay Swearingen has introduced HB 1261, a bill to name the bike/ped path on the Heart of America Bridge after long time advocate and former MoBikeFed President Bob Watts. Find out more about Bob and his work for bicycle and pedestrian advocacy at the local, state, and national levels here.

 

Now Senator Luann Ridgeway has introduced a senat version of the same bill, SB 833.  That has been combined with other similar bills into SB 767.

 

 

A quick note of thanks to House & Senate sponsors would help a lot:

 

House: Jay Swearingen

Phone: 573-751-2199 

E-Mail: Jay.Swearingen@house.mo.gov 

 

Senate: Luann Ridgeway

(573) 751-2547