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Missouri Bicycle Federation
Advocacy AlertsBicycle-related projects, legislation, funding requests, that would benefit from your action in contacting public officials, media, and other cyclists. |
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Advocacy: Paseo Bridge Bike/Ped AccessAdvocacy: Hwy 45 Bike/Ped AccessAdvocacy: Bicycling License Plate Join Advocate Donate Tour of Missouri Maps Trails Shops Clubs News Rides Safety Tips Links Search SiteMap iCal Rss Contact
Missouri Bicycle Federation, Inc.
Post Office Box 104871 Jefferson City, MO 65110-4871 MoBikeFed is a 501(c)(4) non-profit corporation Webmaster email: webmaster @ mobikefed .org |
Please send suggestions for advocacy alerts to webmaster [at] mobikefed.org
Click here to receive Advocacy Alerts by email 
MoBikeFed's Current Email Campaigns
Send an email message in support of these issues in as little as two minutes:
Advocacy:Paseo Bridge Bike/Ped Access: MoDOT is building a new quarter billion dollar bridge in the heart of Kansas City. It could provide the first safe bicycle/pedestrian crossing of the Missouri River near downtown Kansas City. We've been working on this for years and now it's going to move or die forever in the next month or so.Advocacy:Hwy 45 Bike/Ped Access: MoDOT is building a new highway through Parkville, Missouri. Guess what--their plans for accommodating bicycling and walking are inadequate, plus they forgot to include any funding for them.Advocacy:Bicycling License Plate: Many other states have 'Share the Road with Bicycles' license plates. Why not Missouri, too? In 1 minute you can show your support.
Monday, January 26, 2004
MoBikeFed has launched a campaign to make sure that the soon-to-be-appointed MoDOT Director and two new Missouri Highways and Transportation Commission members are bike/ped friendly.
Here is the easiest way ever to support an issue that has the potential to make a BIG difference in Missouri: Just clip & mail. Or, print & mail. ** STEP 1: Print two copies of this Kansas City Star Editorial (Jan 26, Page B4): ** STEP 2: Write a brief note ("I support this" would be enough) and mail or email it two places:
Wednesday, January 21, 2004
In early February 2004, the US Senate is scheduled to vote on the new transportation bill. The bill currently contains language creating a national Safe Routes to School program, providing money to communities to ensure children can bike & walk to school safely. But there is a move afoot in the Senate to strip this valuable program from the bill entirely!
Please call both your US Senators today (see contact info below). Say this: "Please support Safe Routes to School in SAFETEA, S 1072, and fully fund the program at $250 million a year." The Senate bill calls for only $70 million a year for Safe Routes, while the House bill calls for $250 million a year. S1072, aka "SAFETEA", is the Senate's version of the six year reauthorization of TEA-21, which allocates billions towards various transporation projects. The inclusion of a new Safe Routes to School program is an exciting development, but some who would build only highways are trying to eliminate it. The full Senate is currently scheduled to vote on the bill in the first week of February, so contact your Senators now! The national advocacy group America Bikes also has a lot of additional information on this subject. Click for contact info for Senators: MO, KS, IL
19 JAN 2004: MoDOT's new leadership must make Missouri friendlier for walking, bicycling, and transit
Monday, January 19, 2004
In the next 10-15 years, Missouri must rebuild its transportation system. This creates an historic opportunity to create a transportation system that meets the needs of all Missourians.
***In a hurry? Click here to find out what you can do about this issue.*** Recently Henry Hungerbeeler, Director of the Missouri Department of Transportation (MoDOT), and Ollie Gates, a member of the Missouri Highways and Transportation Commission (MHTC), which oversees MoDOT, have resigned. The term of another MHTC member, Barry Orscheln, is set to expire in March. The replacements for these three key MoDOT leaders will set the tone and direction for Missouri's transportation system for many years to come. Transportation policy across the country for the past decades has, to a great degree, been driven by an automobile- and highway-centered vision. The result, in many cases, has been a vicious circle in which wider, faster roads lead to sprawl, which leads to more motor vehicle trips, leading to more congestion despite ever more and ever bigger roads. Meanwhile, our communities have become progressively less walkable and more difficult to negotiate on bicycle. Mass transit coverage across the state is spotty. Obesity is increasing at a dramatic rate among both adults and children. A big part of the reason for this must be given to community design that makes walking and bicycling increasingly less pleasant and more dangerous. Missouri communities need to "Complete the Streets"--make streets that meet the needs of all Missourians, including the 60% who will ride a bike over the course of a year, the 100% who will be pedestrians when they park their cars or step off the bus, the 60,000 who walk or bike to work every day, and the 25% or so who don't have a driver's license. The new MoDOT leadership has a vitally important part to play in bring about a better transportation system in Missouri. MoDOT roads go through nearly every city in Missouri. MoDOT-controlled roads form the backbone of every city's road network. MoDOT policies and procedures have a strong influence on the transportation policies and practices of Missouri counties, cities and towns. For this reason, MoDOT leaders must fully support the creation of a true multi-modal transportation system that will serve the needs of all Missourians. The director and commissioners must be interested in and knowledgeable about the big factors that influence transportation planning such as sprawl, smart growth, public health, connectivity, and transportation choice. The governor should appoint at least one member of the MHTC who is a representative of the community of transportation alternatives--someone very knowledgeable about pedestrian, bicycling, and transit issues. These issues are vital for Missouri's future and need someone to speak for them at the highest levels of statewide transportation planning and policy. In the next 10-15 years, Missouri must rebuild its transportation system. This creates an historic opportunity: Missouri could come out of this rebuilding effort with a truly modern, integrated, multi-modal transportation system that will serve all Missourians well through the 21st Century. Or, using the excuse that money is tight and roads in such bad condition that we can't afford to spend money on "non-essentials," Missouri can take a automobiles-only approach that will leave the state with thousands of miles of shiny new roadways that will barely meet the needs of our motor vehicles and will not meet the needs of the people who drive them. Thousands of bicyclists, pedestrians, and ordinary citizens around the state support a MoDOT that will create transportation choice. MoDOT's new Director and new Commissioners must support real transportation choice, as well. What can you do? Missourians who believe that MoDOT policies and leadership must support real transportation choice can make their voices heard by contacting:
Tuesday, January 06, 2004
WHAT CAN YOU DO
If you live (or ride/walk trails) in Kansas, please contact your state representative immediately and let them know that you support trails on public lands in Kansas and oppose HB2583. The Kansas legislature has an online list of all House members with contact information. You can send an email or make a call in less than two minutes. Members of the Environment Committee (which will be holding a hearing on the bill Tuesday) are Environment: Freeborn, Chairperson; Tafanelli, Vice-Chairperson; Compton, Faber, Hayzlett, D. Johnson, Light, Powell, Powers, Schwartz, Sloan. Flora, Ranking Minority Member; Faust-Goudeau, Flaharty, J. Miller, Svaty, Thimesch.DETAILS: According to Ken Miner, Kansas State Representative of the International Mountain Bicycling Association, a bill has been introduced in the Kansas House of Representatives that threatens individuals and volunteer organizations that work on trails on public lands in Kansas. Under the terms of the bill, any adjoining landowner would be able to sue individuals or organizations that put volunteer time into trails on public lands. Many (most?) trails on public lands are at least partly built or maintained by volunteers. The resulting liability would essentially put a stop to such volunteer trail building in Kansas. The bill is scheduled for a hearing on Tues, Feb 10th, 2004. Click on the "Comment" link at the end of this article for more information from Ken, including the full text of the proposed bill. |