ADVOCACY ALERT: Ask Congress to create a safe sustainable transportation system

The Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill (formerly known as the Bipartisan Infrastructure Framework) is moving fast — and so far it looks pretty good for people who bike and walk.

Is it perfect? No. While it is a great step forward that will build safer, more accessible communities — and while we celebrate the wins for bicycling and walking — we can take action today to make the bill better.

Join us and the League in contacting your Senators in support of amendments to the Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill that will mitigate some of the bill’s shortcomings.

We’re asking the Senate to support amendments that would:

  • Bring back key parts of the Bicycle Commuter Benefit (Brown 2236)
  • Require states to set road safety goals that actually reflect better safety outcomes (Klobuchar 2301)
  • Increase funding for the Reconnecting Communities Program to reverse harm caused to Black and brown communities by highway construction (Warnock/Cardin 2167)
  • Require states to fix and maintain roads before building new ones (Kaine 2143)
  • Collect data on greenhouse gas emissions from transportation (Cardin 2465)

Read more about these amendments on their blog »

Take action now to show that bike advocates want this bipartisan bill to be as transformative as possible not only for people who bike, walk, and roll, but for everyone.

Click here to sign on.

April Newsletter: Get ready for Spring!

It’s officially spring in Savannah, which means we’re getting ready for our Bike and Pedestrian Counts!

These counts help us keep track of how people are moving around the City — and help us plan for safer places for people to bike, walk and roll. We have shifts available from April 19 through May 15 all around the City, and you can sign up for a shift on our website.

We also have two action alerts for you this month, one of which is in our own backyard. Friends of Forsyth is soliciting feedback on their proposed designs for the Forsyth Park Master Plan, and you can take their survey at their website.

The other opportunity is a little more technical, and all your help is appreciated! If you’ve ever submitted a traffic calming request, asked the City for a crosswalk, or wondered how engineers decide what type of bike lane to install, you may be interested to learn that it’s not necessarily up to neighborhood residents — or even up to traffic engineer’s wishes.

Instead, these decisions are up to a technical document called the Manual for Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD). This manual is meant to create “uniformity” in the look of our road signs and symbols, including traffic lights, crosswalks and all kinds of street markings. Unfortunately, it is full of assumptions and value judgements that privilege driver’s convenience over the safety of people biking and walking.

But we have good news! The MUTCD is currently being revised by the U.S. Department of Transportation, and we have a chance to make it better. Our friends at The League of American Bicyclists have drafted a great overview on the MUTCD and areas of concern, and America Walks has prepared a comment template that you can use. We encourage you to visit their websites and submit comments on the MUTCD by May 14.

Stay tuned for our Bike Month events. See you out biking, walking and rolling!

Caila Brown
Executive Director, Bike Walk Savannah