BIKEPGH MESSAGE BOARD ARCHIVE

BTW, this really does work. When representatives get a lot of phone calls on an issue it really makes them pay attention. It's amazing what a phone call can do.

Link to "who's my legislator: http://www.legis.state.pa.us/cfdocs/legis/home/findyourlegislator/index.cfm?CFID=57042555&CFTOKEN=49718142

Please post if you called and/or emailed and share this alert with your social network. We need to show our reps how many of us exist and how much we care about this funding.

I just sent the following, feel free to plagiarize : Hi Mr. Readshaw, I just wanted to ask that you fight to keep the bicycle and pedestrian funding in the new state transportation bill that the house will be voting on soon. I am an avid cyclist regularly riding three to six thousand miles a year on local roads and I am also a frequent pedestrian. My fear is that a lot of your rural house colleagues see funding for bike lanes and walking trails as frivolous recreation that is easy to cut in these belt-tightening times. I think they think of scenic trails like the Great Allegheny Passage when they think of this funding. And while trails like the GAP are wonderful economic generators for tourist dollars for the towns they run through, they are but only one aspect of the non-car infrastructure needed to move the state forward. We need more bike lanes in our cities, more sidewalks along our busy roads, and the ability to go from point A to point B more safely for those of us that choose not to go by car. We need to start thinking about transportation funding for all state residents not just those that choose to travel by cars; we need sidewalks, bike lanes and better public transportation. Thanks

Thanks John!

I emailed my state rep, but forgot to copy the text (it's good to enter some text of your own in addition to the language provided by PA Walks and Bikes - that way they know it's more than just a form letter). Also, this bill is incredibly important for public transit in Allegheny County, so it's worth mentioning that too, and you can throw in the safety and usability of Pennsylvania's bridges for good measure. If anyone lives in Mike Turzai's district, or other Republican House leadership, then your call/letter would be especially valuable.

emailed!

I sent an e-mail. Hopefully this passes!

Emailed, called Frankel's office, talked to Gabriel. BTW email is good, but calls are better -- they count for more. So please call too.

Done.

I called today (Paul Costa's office).

WillB wrote:Also, this bill is incredibly important for public transit in Allegheny County, so it’s worth mentioning that too

I've been wondering--is this the same bill that will give the governor and House and Senate leaders appointments for members of the PAT board?

I emailed my rep and the bike/ped funding is nice, but like BB i'd like to know what kind of bad shit is in the bill too. PAT board changes? MFSoB funding? Other bad stuff? Anyone have a good summary?

I've been caught up in some other stuff in my life - is it too late? Can I write today?

Yes! Sorry for the poor wording. We can take action up to the day the House takes its vote. It may be in the next week and a half.

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buffalo buffalo wrote:I’ve been wondering–is this the same bill that will give the governor and House and Senate leaders appointments for members of the PAT board?

It's not the same bill; the comprehensive transportation funding bill is SB-1 and the Port Authority Board bill is SB-700. @salty, my understanding is that the priorities for specific projects are set administratively and then are carried out as funding becomes available. So, for example, the southern beltway, which is related to the MFX, would likely see some funds as a result of this bill, but not because it's specified in the bill. The MFX itself is, I think, still far too expensive for the funding from this bill to complete it. Here are a couple summaries of the bill, one detailed http://www.paconstructors.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/SB-1-Committee-Summary.pdf and one general http://pahighwayinfo.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/Rafferty-Chart-4-16-13.pdf One of this difficulties of this kind of bill is that many of the revenue sources that go to fund transportation (like gas tax) are constitutionally restricted to highway construction, so you have to get a bit creative to find money for transit, but so far transit and multi-modal advocates have been successful at keep funding for those things in the bill.

This article is a couple weeks old, maybe this crap didn't make into the bill but this is what scares me. This definitely sounds worse to me than $2M of bike/ped funding sounds good. http://triblive.com/neighborhoods/yourmckeesport/yourmckeesportmore/4109230-74/bill-hearing-mon#ixzz2WX15cO2M Another aspect of SB 1 is a proposed $85 million a year for Act 61 Mon/Fayette Expressway funding. Joe Kirk of the Mon Valley Progress Council said that $85 million can be converted into the authority to sell $1.3 billion in bonds toward a $4 billion expansion of Mon/Fayette from Jefferson Hills to Monroeville.

The PA House is probably going to vote on this tomorrow. We need folks calling and writing their reps AND the Governor (contact below) with the following message: House: "The $2.5 billion funding plan and concepts of Senate Bill 1 are necessary as the House considers this transportation funding plan. I support the multimodal fund to increase the safety of those of us who bike and walk as a mode of transportation." Governor: "The $2.5 billion funding plan and concepts of Senate Bill 1 are necessary as the House considers this transportation funding plan. I support the multimodal fund to increase the safety of those of us who bike and walk as a mode of transportation. The House potentially passing a bill that eliminates funding for the multimodal fund is unacceptable. Please reach out to the leaders in the House and tell them they need to keep the multimodal fund." governor@pa.gov 717-787-2500

Left a voicemail with Costa (emailed him a few days ago) and had a brief conversation with a Corbett representative; tried to emphasize that I use my bike to get to work and that bike funding makes that possible The trails! I love the trails!

@salty, I see no problem connecting the Mon-Fay to Monroeville. It's got to hook up somewhere. Connecting to Pittsburgh is a completely different issue (cost, legal barriers, etc.) and not in this bill.

Here's our latest blog post on the subject http://localhost/2013/06/25/action-alert-harrisburg-needs-to-hear-that-you-value-bicycling-and-walking/

The new targets are the Gov and House Leadership. Even if you took action last week, please click on the last link I posted and take action again. New targets!

sent: As a daily bicycle commuter, frequent pedestrian for work and shopping, and someone who just plain wants a more prosperous and livable community, I can not express my opposition to the House Amendments to SB1 removing all dedicated funding for bike/ped infrastructure strongly enough. Good bicycle & pedestrian infrastructure has been repeatedly proven to make communities safer AND provide real economic benefits at the local level. We need to ensure that as we move forward with the much needed rehabilitation of PA's infrastructure we take a forward-thinking, multi-modal approach and do not stay mired in the car-centric myopia of the last century.

Email Sent.

And for those of who don't know who the hell the leaders of the house actually are: http://www.legis.state.pa.us/cfdocs/legis/home/member_information/house/officers.cfm Both majority and minority leaders represent Allegheny Districts, majority leader might even represent Stu Forgot that Corbett lives in Shaler too His name is on the Sandcastle link and that department funded the Worf switchback, so he at least must be doing something right I'd recommend calling because if their email is anything like national representatives, it takes weeks for them to get back

Thanks everyone! Advocates at the national level are taking interest in this as well. The Alliance for Biking & Walking, The League of American Bicyclists and Bikes Belong have all sent action alerts to their members in PA.

One last action alert. Today is the day. Send one last email if you can! http://blog.bicyclecoalition.org/2013/06/sunday-is-good-day-to-email-harrisburg.html?m=1