Some exciting news!

DOT Secretary announces “2-foot NM” policy to reduce GHG emissions
Washington, D.C. – 4/1/09: U.S. Department of Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood vowed to become America’s first green transportation czar, narrowly edging out California Governor and fellow Republican Arnold Schwarzenegger who reportedly planned to make a similar announcement at 7:30 a.m. PDT. Speaking during the morning rush hour from Union Station, one of Washington, DC’s busiest transportation hubs, LaHood proclaimed: “To curb greenhouse gas emissions, USDOT calls on Americans to curb their cars. Alternative fuels alone won’t give us the climate change results the American people now demand.”

LaHood criticized environmental groups and Al Gore for an “appalling lack of vision” in merely returning to 1990 GHG levels. “Thirty-eight state DOTs including California have already agreed to reduce transportation-related GHG emissions to 1890 levels by December 31st,” LaHood confirmed today in announcing USDOT’s compulsory “2-foot NM” rule, which will require all trips of two miles or less be made using two feet with no motor.

“Persons with disabilities can continue to use motorized wheelchairs and other assistive devices, and of course USDOT is working to make clean-fuel public transit a convenient option for every American,” he said. LaHood promised to rely on voluntary compliance. Indeed, widespread acceptance is expected after last week’s gas tax hike of $19.99 per gallon, hastily passed by Congress and signed by the President to pay for earlier bailouts/stimulus packages. The gas tax was required to remedy what experts throughout the world called a glaring omission: the lack of a stimulus “green screen” to assure support for green jobs, environmental stewardship, and life on the planet.

The 2-foot NM rule takes effect April 16th pending adoption of administrative rules expected to tax car parking benefits at 200% of value while giving bicycle commuters an additional $200 per week in tax-free bicycle shop vouchers. Mark Fenton of the PBS TV-show America’s Walking speculated, “2-foot NM is a shoe-in to build a robust walking industry finally capable of demanding similar commuter benefits for people who walk on America’s main streets. It’s about time.”

The National Bicycle Dealers Association immediately applauded LaHood’s proclamation. NBDA’s advocacy spokesperson Roland Wheel said NBDA anticipated this day and was poised to hire and train 200,000 former GM factory workers to build bicycles. Workers who complete their retraining and remain on the job for 90 days will receive a fully outfitted American-made bicycle as an incentive/health care benefit, a provision strikingly similar to GM’s proposed union contract.

Acting Surgeon General Rear Admiral Steven K. Galson also saluted the new rule. Stepping up to the microphone after LaHood’s announcement, Galson predicted that Americans who make most of their daily trips on foot or by bicycle will drop at least two sizes by 2010. “The 2-foot NM rule is an affordable prescription for America’s obesity epidemic. It might also stimulate the slumping fashion industry,” Galson noted.

Portland, Ore., Bans Motorized Traffic
Portland, Ore. – 4/1/09: Portland Mayor Sam Adams announced today that the city will ban all non-commercial motorized traffic from its streets effective May 1, 2009. Commercial vehicles will be allowed access to a limited number of roadway sections at certain times of day. Transit vehicles will not be affected by the measure, which is expected to prompt a boom in the bike trailer industry as people scramble to find alternatives for moving stuff around. Although critics complained that the measure was too stringent, Adams defended it. “This will cement Portland’s status as the premier bicycle-friendly city in the U.S. Let’s see if Davis can top this,” he said.

Nationally, reactions to the ban were mixed. Perhaps the most extreme came from Houston, where the city council acted quickly to prohibit citizens from walking farther than their garages and put a bounty on bicyclists. (Many here see the bounty as merely official recognition of de-facto circumstances.) Long-time resident Tex Ohlman explained, “We don’t want people to walk or bicycle here anyway. Houston’s economy depends on oil, so by stimulating demand we’re acting in our own self-interest. Besides, we’re really cheesed off at those green freaks in Oregon.”

~From the APBP News~

On a local note, representatives from the BTA met with GEARS and City of Eugene transportation planners to make Eugene’s own “motorized vehicle ban” and to talk about the effects of the 2-foot NM Policy.

It’s been a busy time for the local bike scene, you can tell spring is coming!  Folks have started to dust off their bikes from the winter and getting in shape for the spring and summer riding season.  There’s also a lot of activities going on.  This past week Ray Thomas was down from Portland to give a presentation on bicycle and pedestrian laws to a group of about 50.  GEARs was a sponsor of that visit and some great information was exchanged.

Last night Willie Weir spoke at the UO Lawrence hall to a packed audience.  It was his 9th time speaking here and it was sponsored by the University transportation group, LiveMove and the UO Outdoor Program (who runs the Bike Loan program on campus). He’s an animated and energetic presenter with a lot of wonderfully funny and touching stories to go along with his great photos. He talked a trip he and his wife did in Columbia and Venezuela. He wrapped touching on one of the things that made Columbia a better place to ride than Venezuela- higher gas prices. Because of this higher gas there is a lot less driving, pollution, and trash in Columbia and instead of their downtowns being congested parking lots they are lively city centers with loads of people out and active.

Bogota, Columbia is the birthplace of Ciclovia which inspired Portland’s Sunday Parkways and Eugene’s soon to be Meet in the Streets which opens the streets up to the people by closing them off to motorized traffic. GEARs is helping to organize Meet in the Streets and will be at two other events this weekend sharing information with others. The first event is tonight at Hutch’s (on Charnelton) from 5:30-9. They are calling it “The Best of the West” and it will highlight some NW bike businesses and help folks get jazzed up for a great riding season that is just around the corner.

The other event we’ll be at is the Neighborhood Summit held for local neighborhood leaders at the fairgrounds on Saturday. We’re excited to present the Meet in the Street project to this group that will be an important part of making it happen since the general idea is to highlight local parks, streets, and pathways and their connections.

There’s a lot more going on in the coming weeks too, be sure and keep up to date by checking the “Happenings” section or the local calendar on the GEARs site.

Happy Friday!

It might be less than hoped for but it’s better than the $0 amount Congressmen DeMint called for.  The Rails to Trails Conservancy announced today that  $825 million was set aside for Transportation Enhancement projects that include walking and biking.  Here’s a bit from an email sent out today.  For more see the Press Release.

You spoke up, and Congress listened.

Our congressional representatives recognized the role walking and biking play in a balanced transportation system, and allocated $825 million to TE. While this is less than two percent of transportation funding in the recovery package, it represents a doubling of TE spending for communities in the next year.

These hundreds of millions of dollars for TE will allow communities across the country to create jobs by building trails and other infrastructure immediately, while simultaneously addressing congestion, environmental concerns, the obesity epidemic and economic challenges in the long-term.

We’ll see how much of that money makes it’s way to the Eugene area.