Features

Election 2008 Update (11.05.08) Now that this historic election is behind us, the League of American Bicyclists looks forward to working with a new Congress, and a new Administration, in writing a new transportation bill. As we look ahead to the challenge of increasing opportunities for bicycling in the new transportation bill, we are fortunate to have many of our key Congressional supporters returning in the 111th Congress.

Key bike caucus members who were re-elected by strong margins such as Representatives Oberstar (D-MN) with 68 percent, Blumenauer (D-OR) with 75 percent, Petri (R-WI) with 64 percent, and on the Senate side Senators, Collins (R-ME) with 69 percent, Durbin (D-IL) with 67 percent, Mark Udall (D-CO) with 52 percent and Tom Udall (D-NM) with 61 percent.

Unfortunately, the Congressional bike caucus did lose a few members, most notably Representative Chris Shays (R-CT) after 21 years in the House. Congressman Shays was a key supporter of Complete Streets legislation. Two other Senate races, which have not been called yet and may influence the caucus, are in Minnesota and Oregon respectively. In Minnesota, all precincts have reported and the unofficial results show incumbent Senator Coleman (R) ahead of Al Franken (D) by a mere 676 votes out of 2.9 million cast. In Oregon, vote counting was halted with only 74 percent of the precincts counted (Oregon conducts all voting by mail). At this point, incumbent Senator Gordon Smith leads Jeff Merkley (D) by 10,000 votes.

Next Steps for Bicycle Commuter Act (10.07.08) Now that the bicycle commuter provision is law, the League is taking the lead to ensure that implementation guidelines are established prior to the provision's effective date: January 1, 2009. Continue to check our web site for new information, we will be updating it with answers to Frequently Asked Questions as we get the details. Click here to see full text of the tax provision, or here to read Congressman Blumenauer's explanation. Congressman Blumenauer has also compiled some of the press the bill has been getting (pdf).

Bicycle Commuter Tax Provision Passes House and Senate (10.03.08) After seven long years, the bicycle commuter tax provision has finally passed both the House and Senate as part of the financial bailout package. President Bush said that he would quickly sign the financial rescue package.

SmartCycling: Traffic Skills 101 (09.29.08) The League has released a new version of our core bicycle education curriculum: Traffic Skills 101! Formerly known as Road I, the new manual has updated graphics, photos, and text to help League Cycling Instructors teach cyclists to ride safely and smartly. Instructors: Order your copy today! Others: Sign up to take a class today!

New BFCs Announced ... Boulder Goes Platinum! (09.24.08) Ten new communities bring BFCs to 96 communities in 32 states! Click here or here to learn more.

Trash Talking (09.15.08) Every now and then, someone takes a potshot at bicyclists. Whoever it is, and whatever their motivation, we don’t like it! So we're going to keep track of who says what, and give you the data you need -- to talk back.

Serve as a State Ambassador (08.21.08) We're looking for state ambassadors. Click here to read more; here to apply.