LaHood: ‘This Is the End of Favoring Motorized Transportation’

Following last week’s National Bike Summit, Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood announced today a “sea change” in American transportation policy.

Proclaiming the “end of favoring motorized transportation at the expense of non-motorized,” LaHood sent the following recommendations to state departments of transportation as well as local governments and groups:

• Treat walking and bicycling as equals with other transportation modes.
• Ensure convenient access for people of all ages and abilities.
• Go beyond minimum design standards.
• Collect data on walking and biking trips.
• Set a mode share target for walking and bicycling.
• Protect sidewalks and shared-use paths the same way roadways are protected (for example, snow removal)
• Improve nonmotorized facilities during maintenance projects.

Of course, these are just recommendations, and you won’t see LaHood scrap the Highway Trust Fund in favor of a cycling fund. But this announcement does represent a tangible manifestation of a new direction in transportation policy that’s making Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore.) look more mainstream by the day.