Keep it local is a statement typically seen in regards to food — but it seems equally as fitting for the transportation funds that contribute to each community’s safe bike routes and bicycle structure systems. The problem facing local bike funding is this, according to peopleforbikes.org:

“During recent negotiations on a new transportation bill, the House of Representatives proposed drastic cuts that would hurt bicycling. Their plan would allow states to take federal transportation funds that make roads safer for bicycling and divert them to other uses, without any input from communities like yours.”

The proposed bill would eliminate the funds necessary for your local community to propose and flesh out ideas for safer bike transportation, which would basically halt any future concepts and eliminate the potential for further growth and increased bike transportation options. Of course that’s not something any of us want, so here’s what you can do, right now: Follow this link to the peopleforbikes.org page that explains everything in a nutshell. Then, get in touch with your two U.S. Senators and one U.S. Representative by going here and entering your local information. You’ll be able to write an email urging government to take back the proposal, and send it all via the second link listed above. Send it now to take action and keep bike funding local!

PHOTO Via: peopleforbikes.org

Every Wednesday on Ditch Your Car we’ll be bringing you just another reason to spend more time on two wheels. Be it a photo, a statistic or an inspirational video, we want to keep reminding you about why riding is great!

Active Lifestyle, Advocacy, Ditch Your Car, Pedaling Change bike funding, ditch your car, government, transportation

If you build it, they will come… in the case of bicyclists, this just might be the case. Check out this chart that Reuters posted last month:

This is a chart of the number of bike commuters in New York. It’s known as the NYC Commuter Cycling Indicator, and it comes from surveys taken ten times per year at predetermined points around the city. It doesn’t give a good count of the number of bike commuters in New York, but it gives an excellent idea of the trends: bike commuting has essentially quadrupled in the past decade, and has doubled over the past four years. Which just happen to be the four years during which Janette Sadik-Khan has run the Department of Transportation.

This is important because it shows just how effective strong leadership can be, when combined with a dedication to creating good infrastructure…

The lesson of this chart, then, is that if you build bike lanes, cyclists will appear to fill them. That’s fantastic news, since cities with lots of cyclists are always the most pleasant cities to live and work in — even for people who don’t bike themselves.

Read more…

Have a lane that you love? Send us a photo! You can post it to our Facebook page, shoot us an email at blog[at]ospreypacks[dot]com or upload to our Flickr group and we might just feature it here on our weekly photo feature, Lane Love.

PHOTO via

Active Lifestyle, Advocacy, Lane Love, Pedaling Change, The Cycling Buzz bike lanes, infrastructure, NYC, transportation

Every Wednesday on Ditch Your Car we’ll be bringing you just another reason to spend more time on two wheels. Be it a photo, a statistic or an inspirational video, we want to keep reminding you about why riding is great!

Artist Kiuchi Tatsuro painted this image entitled “Car Free,” which pretty much sums up any cyclist’s ultimate dream.

Via: Treehugger

Ditch Your Car art, bike lane, car, transportation