Obama Bicycle Policy Wins Love From Cyclists, Scorn From Trucking Industry

[mucifer]

JOAN LOWY | 04/14/10 08:16 AM

WASHINGTON — Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, a weekend bicyclist, might consider keeping his head down and his helmet on. A backlash is brewing over his new bicycling policy.

LaHood says the government is going to give bicycling – and walking, too – the same importance as automobiles in transportation planning and the selection of projects for federal money. The former Republican congressman quietly announced the "sea change" in transportation policy last month.

"This is the end of favoring motorized transportation at the expense of non-motorized," he wrote in his government blog.

Not so fast, say some conservatives and industries dependent on trucking. A manufacturers' blog called the policy "nonsensical." One congressman suggested LaHood was on drugs.

The new policy is an extension of the Obama administration's livability initiative, which regards the creation of alternatives to driving – buses, streetcars, trolleys and trains, as well as biking and walking – as central to solving the nation's transportation woes.

more at http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/04/14/bicycle-policy-ray-lahood_n_536791.html

[ShortnFiery]

1. If forced to make a choice as whom to side with, I'd opt for "truckers" every damn time ...

to what Denis Leary lovingly refers to the people who ride bikes in the middle of the city, i.e., biker a**holes. :blush:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6zHpoHFAPjY

[mucifer]

2. ummm maybe you didn't read the article. It says La Hood is encouraging bike lanes

Try to think about environmental impact of more bikes and less cars.

[ShortnFiery]

3. LOL, I forgot to add ...

Either tongue-in-cheek and or :sarcasm:

[jmowreader]

25. Who's against this is truckers, not car drivers

Try hauling 43,000 pounds of soymilk and veggie burgers--or anything else, for that matter--on a bicycle. You could do it with 860 very fit cyclists carrying 50 pounds of product each, or one truck.

This country needs more places for big trucks to park. I would be very pleased to take you out some night. We'll drive down the Interstate and look at all the trucks parked on offramps and onramps because there's no good place to park. There aren't enough truck stops, rest areas or other places for semis. And now we're going to spend the same amount on bicycles and pedestrians as we do on motor transport?

[Fruittree]

44. I believe you mis-read...

It didn't say they were going to spend the same amount but rather that projects for bicycles and pedestrians would get the same consideration. As for the soymilk and veggie burgers - maybe we have too much processed food that needs to be hauled long distances in the first place and we should move toward more local production of real food.
And finally - how about using more trains for long distance hauling? The rails are sitting there unused at times and think of how nice it would be to drive on a highway without having to worry about a humungous vehicle speeding up behind you..

[boppers]

55. Who needs 43,000 pounds of anything?

Oh, I forgot, outsourcing food to *external* communities is profitable.

[ClarkUSA]

4. What a great idea to "green" our transportation choices as they have in parts of Europe.

Truckers need to get a clue. The Americans paying for the infrastructure improvements that benefit the trucking industry should also benefit themselves.

Since the most common reason people choose not to rdie bicycles to work or to school is the lack of safe road systems, this move will help cut down on many kinds of pollution for the benefit of future generations. As a born and bred New Yorker who rode throughout the five boroughs as a kid and teenager, I applaud this move.

[jmowreader]

28. Move a sofa from Manhattan to Queens on a bicycle and get back to me

[Ron Green]

29. That's when you hire an electric truck.

Ought to be available within a 3-minute bike ride from any address in the city, rentable by the hour and with secure storage for your bike until you get back.

Yowza.

[jmowreader]

30. Got a link to that service?

[Ron Green]

39. Not yet. It's a perfect example of a market opportunity that'll exist as

transportation and zoning move into the 21st Century.

[ClarkUSA]

31. Seriously? From where in Manhattan to where in Queens?

If you managed that, then that's cool. That's almost as impressive as Chinese farmers who ride two-man rickety bikes carrying a 300 lb. live pig to market balanced in between them with a dozen live chickens hanging off the side by their legs.

[jmowreader]

32. I think you may have gotten the point, but then you turned facetious

There are jobs for which a bicycle excels. There are jobs for which you really need a truck.

One can carry 22 cans of soup on a bicycle from Food Lion to your home fairly easily. Carrying 22 tons of soup from the factory in North Carolina to a grocery warehouse in Pennsylvania is a different story.

The problem I see: If we had, say, Gerald Ford's tax rate, we could improve life for both truckers and bicyclists. Bicyclists need bike paths that cars can't use. Truckers need rest areas--right now it's so bad that in many places they've passed laws converting weigh stations into "Trucker Havens" with parking, vending machines, restrooms and sometimes even showers along with the scales. Very few truck drivers would voluntarily park in a weigh station, but beggars can't be choosers. Florida and Kentucky are among the leaders in the Trucker Haven movement. Until we get back to rational taxation, money will be spent according to who yells the loudest. Right now truckers have the Owner Operator Independent Driver Association, the American Trucking Association, and Walmart (don't laugh--they are one of the ten largest trucking companies in America) asking for tax dollars. Who do the bicyclists have?

[ClarkUSA]

40. Excuse me? I wasn't being facetious.

In the future, use the :sarcasm: tag if you don't want folks to misconstrue your :sarcasm:


<<Who do the bicyclists have?>>

Apparently, bicyclists now have the Obama Administration on their side.

[babylonsister]

5. I love this! Rec'd. nt

[zipplewrath]

6. It starts with sidewalks

I can't believe the disrespect sidewalks get. They are forever blocked off, or in horrible states of repair. They are disconnected in key places often, and little concern is given to them at major intersections. Pedestrian bridges are rarely built, much less focusing on the needs of the bicycle.

[elocs]

11. I can ride from one end of my city to the other mostly on sidewalks.

Outside of the business district it is perfectly legal here and bicyclists have the same rights as pedestrians in crosswalks. Here we do not have separately marked bike lanes and I feel much safer with a curb in between me and the traffic. To ride in the streets, particularly busy ones, is to have a death wish. The sidewalks here are in pretty good condition.

[zipplewrath]

12. That's a good start

Wide side walks, that are kept clear and in usable conditions can be used by cyclists. Most of us aren't interested in going so fast that we can't reasonably share them with walkers on wide walkways. But parked cars, interupted paving, and unnegotiable intersections defeat the purpose and "drive" us into streets and conflicts with the motorized traffic.

[ensho]

15. we can ride on the sidewalks here too, thank goodness and

politness is the rule of the day.

[lfairban]

35. Get off the sidewalk and into the street.

It is more dangerous to bike on the sidewalk than to bike in the street. You can get hit by a car from an alleyway, and dogs and kids popping up in front of you are a problem.

The only time I bike on the sidewalk is when I am bikewalking my dog at only 6mph or so. I don't think doing 17mph on the sidewalk is a good idea. Much better to use the street.

[elocs]

37. No way and I know from experience that I am far safer riding on the sidewalk.

Sorry, I don't even ride close to 17 miles an hour on the sidewalk. Do what you like, but I know from over 50 years of bike riding that I am much safer on the sidewalk than on a busy street with traffic.

[vaberella]

45. You're right and keep doing what you're doing.

The streets are ridiculously dangerous and most cars don't care for bikers and terrorize them and considering that many places are not evolved enough for bike paths...that's the safest bet.

[elocs]

47. Busy streets without a bike lane are an accident waiting to happen for bikers.

The problem is that our first accident with a motor vehicle may be our last. Although there may be a minimum amount of room to the right, there are always those trucks with the big mirrors sticking out to their right side.

My city is long and narrow and is between the Mississippi River and the bluffs so there are a few long and busy streets running north and south. Those are especially the ones on which I will ride on the sidewalk. I don't often encounter pedestrians, but when I do it is no problem since I am not riding fast (I ride a recumbent and it is all about comfort and not speed). The side streets are not busy and so are not really a safety problem for riding a bike.

The bottom line is that motor vehicles and bikes do not mix safely in close proximity. Since in my situation it is safer to ride my bike on the sidewalk on certain streets that is what I will do. It's quite the no-brainer.

[lfairban]

51. Why?

Why is riding a bicycle in traffic any more dangerous than riding a motorcycle in traffic?

[LisaM]

26. We don't even have sidewalks in much of my neighborhood

I'm in Seattle, north of 85th Street. People will tell you that there's no sidewalks since that used to unincorporated. Well, yeah, like 50 years ago!!!!! Yet there are people who fight sidewalks tooth and nail. The latest is that they are bad for rain runoff. Well, if that's true, then perhaps they should cut down on the oversized houses with driveways big enough for four cars that keep sprouting up all over, where sidewalks are supposedly bad for the environment.

I like to go running, and I walk my dogs in my neighborhood, and it's a pain to not have sidewalks.

[Jennicut]

7. My brother bikes 60 miles a day. His doctor told him he has a resting heart beat of a triathlete

His biggest complaint is lack of bike lanes. He bikes to work.

[global1]

8. What I Find Kind Of Interesting Is Just As China Is Moving Into It's Own With Cars.........

the U.S. is moving to bicycles. Just an observation.

When I was in China in 1995 it was a sea of bicycles on the streets and at intersections. Very few cars and the cars that were on the road were Rolls Royce's and Mercedes Benz's. Now I understand that with a middle class emerging in China - that cars are being sold like hotcakes.

It's an interesting juxtaposition.

[Hippo_Tron]

17. We're not really moving to bicycles

We can be a nation of automobiles and also be serious about alternative methods of transportation. Most of Western Europe does just that.

[Aristus]

27. That's why you can stand in the middle of downtown Beijing and not be able to SEE downtown Beijing.

The sooner we move to green energy, the better. Let China lead the world in air pollution for all I care...

[onehandle]

9. 'One congressman suggested LaHood was on drugs.'

Sounds like LaHood is doing the right thing, dipshit.

I live in the city (Atlanta) that every year is named as the most bike unfriendly city in America by Bicycling Magazine.

I hope this makes a Real difference, country wide.

[MatthewStLouis]

10. Fewer people on the highways = less traffic congestion

Anti-public transport people (like our local douche baggers) fail to realize that:
One guy on a bike (or the local metro) = one less car on the local highways = less traffic congestion

[kestrel91316]

13. GOD FORBID we make it easier for people to get around without

using fossil fuels!!!!!

Asswipes.

[ensho]

14. good news - hope the truck barons don't have enough money to

bribe and bully away bike lanes, etc.

[CK_John]

16. Time to buy, invest in rickshaws and learn to weld. n/t

[LiberalFighter]

18. They need to encourage more transport of goods via rails.

And hi-speed rails for passengers.

[TEXASYANKEE]

19. This can't happen soon enough.

I would love to use a bike to do my local shopping on the weekends, but there are no bike lanes. Riding bikes around my neighborhood (suburb east of Dallas) is dangerous. More bike lanes, more sidewalks. Make it convenient AND safe to walk and/or ride bikes.

[Blue_Tires]

20. i thought less cars and SUVs on the street was GOOD for truckers

since there is less traffic??

[vaberella]

22. It's Obama, so it's always bad. n/t

[vaberella]

21. White working class Americans...gipped by the man who only looks out for White elites.

Perfect.I can't wait to see this on Fox as a bad thing.

I love the idea, now if only I didn't get tired riding a bike for 5 minutes.

[lfairban]

36. Tired of which?

Get an e-bike. That's what I did. My wife loves hers.

[vaberella]

38. Thank you...

thank you, thank you. I never heard of one until your post, but i'm going to start saving for one. They're gorgeous.

[lfairban]

43. If cost is a concern, . . .

. . . you may wish to consider using a kit.

http://home.roadrunner.com/~LFAIRBAN/Electric%20Bike%20Kits.html

The information is somewhat dated, but there are a lot of useful links. That way, you can choose a bike that fits you.

[vaberella]

46. Oh my god...you're a god send.

Thank you so much. This is very useful. And much cheaper, this I can do.

[lfairban]

50. You are very welcome.

But your enthusiasm may dampen if I ever get my "Battery" page together.

Unless you go with heavy Lead Acid batteries, they can cost as much as the Kit.

[liskddksil]

23. Mr. Lahood, the Republican, is probably my favorite in the cabinet..

Who would of thunk it.

[Cha]

24. He was at a gathering at an Amtrak station in Rochester with

Rep Louise Slaughter on our local news..talking about High Speed Rail coming to New York(which is a passion of Louise Slaughter's it turns out).

I hadn't seen him before but I was quite impressed by him and Louise, too.

It's like some kind of unusual speciman..a likeable republican. I guess Pres Obama knows how to choose 'em.:)

[Jennicut]

33. I like him as well.

Makes me wonder why he was ever a Repub to begin with. He seems too...reasonable.

[John Q. Citizen]

34. Talk is cheap. Show me the beef. So to speak.

[madmom]

41. Perfect example of "I want it all" philosophy. What is wrong with sharing what is there?

[Lance_Boyle]

42. a weekend bicyclist is not commuting by bike - he's using infrastructure for leisure for free.

I have no beef at all with people commuting by bike. They are to be commended. But recreational cyclists do not belong on public roads - roads are for transportation, not leisure. LaHood is asking us to spend a tremendous chunk of change FOR OTHER PEOPLE'S LEISURE ACTIVITIES, not transportation. Maybe THAT'S why he's facing resistance on this. Leisure activities do not fall under the purview of the Transportation Dept., and Federal money should not be spent on them as if they were.

[mucifer]

48. I live in Chicago and since gas prices went up lots and lots of people use bike lane

to ride to work.

[WorseBeforeBetter]

49. Please. Are recreational drivers to be banned from public roads...

since that falls under "leisure"?

Biking IS transportation. Is riding my bike to get to <insert venue here> acceptable, or only if I get myself there by car? I'm often spending money at said venue, and my money is green whether I get there by car, bike, skates, or on foot.

I want all the decent roads and paths I can get...no resistance here. And they can throw in some streetcars while they're at it.

[Cleobulus]

53. So public roads are only to be used to go to work and back home, but no where else?

No joy riding? No going to parties or recreational events? No road trips? OK, what the hell is wrong with you?

[chollybocker]

52. Bixi bikes are coming to a major city near you....

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bixi

Rather than take a car for a short ride from here to there, rent and ride a bike!

Embrace and promote, progressives!

[ejpoeta]

54. i wish i had more ability to ride my bike without worrying about getting hit by a car.

We live in the country and just having a side of the road would be nice here. I'd be afraid to let my kids ride their bikes anywhere near the road. Funny how times change.... I used to ride my bike all over.... to work to get groceries.... but having kids changed everything!! Now i think about the drivers and how fast they are going and how they don't even pay attention!

[old mark]

56. I'm still waiting for the passenger trains to stop here in Reading, PA again...

to get a train north to Boston, we have to drive south to Philly.

We have a gret old railroad terminal in downtown Reading that neede to be re-done,and a lot of old track to be replaced but that would mean some jobs, wouldn't it?

Who loses on this deal? I could ride my bike to the train station, leave my SUV at home.

mark