Bikes Belong Action Alert

Your help is needed now to protect funding for bicycle projects in your state. The federal government is requiring state Departments of Transportation (DOT) to return a percentage of the money they were awarded for transportation projects in SAFETEA-LU—the $286.5 billion federal transportation law passed in 2005. The bicycling community worked hard to get a portion of this money for bicycling projects, much of it in the category of "Transportation Enhancements" funding. Now, the U.S. DOT is requiring state DOTs to return transportation money already awarded, a process called rescissions. A recently released accounting of 2006 rescissions shows that bicycling lost several hundred million dollars of potential funding—most of it unobligated, unspent money from the previous (2001) federal transportation law. The 2007 rescissions threaten current funding. We can't let this happen again. You must act fast. State DOTs will make their decisions by April 18. Here's what you need to do: Click here to customize the form letter drafted by the League of American Bicyclists. In the last paragraph, substitute "bicycle industry leader" for the words "concerned citizen and local advocate." If you have time, mention projects in your state that Transportation Enhancements have helped fund. Click here to search for projects in your state For more information please visit www.bikesbelong.org