Transportation For America » Tell Congress: Get America back on its feet with investment in healthy transportation!

Tell Congress: Get America back on its feet with investment in healthy transportation!

March 8, 2010
By Stephen Lee Davis

s_walk Originally uploaded by Transportation for America

In the last 15 years, 76,000 Americans have been killed while walking or simply crossing the street.

But help could be on the way. Rep. Earl Blumenauer introduced a bill last week to create a $2 billion competitive grant program to fund safe networks for biking and walking — giving states and cities the resources they need to start building projects they have waiting in the wings. This week, more than 700 bike advocates are descending on Capitol Hill to drum up strong support for the program while in D.C. for the National Bike Summit.

We need to back them up: Send a letter to your representative urging them to co-sponsor the Active Community Transportation Act (H.R. 4722).

This bill is a no-brainer. It will make America’s roadways safer, create jobs, reduce traffic congestion, cut emissions, and promote healthy living. It even pays for itself — as we make biking and walking safer and more accessible, we save billions of dollars on reduced healthcare, gasoline, and environmental costs.

And if we build it, they will come! Half of all trips taken in the United States could be accomplished with just a 20-minute bike ride, and a quarter are within a 20-minute walk. We need to make it safer and easier to make those trips on bike or foot. Polls have shown that Americans think their cities and communities should be more walkable.

Let’s get America back on its feet! Send a message to your representatives asking them to co-sponsor the Active Community Transportation Act.

Thanks to everyone who has already taken action today, retweeted the email alert, or posted it to Facebook to help us spread the word.