Act now. Final agreement on the Federal Transportation Bill is only days away. The House and Senate are back in session today following the July 4th recess, and the committee members and their staffs are working hard on the final details of the transportation bill. They are working against a tight deadline—the July 19th expiration of the extension of TEA-21. If you haven’t made a final call to your members of Congress about the importance of including bicycling and walking provisions in the bill, now is the time. Mention one or all of these issues:

1. Please include the fair share for safety policy language in the Senate bill in the final legislation. This will ensure adequate funding is directed towards improving bicyclist and pedestrian safety.
2. Please adopt the House funding level (or closer to it) and policy language for the new Safe Routes to School program. The Senate bill has $312 million over five years compared to $875 million in the House.
3. Please adopt the House funding level (or closer to it) for the Recreational Trails program. The Senate bill has $280 million versus $503 million in the House.

For more information on each of these America Bikes priorities and additional issues, see the fact sheets on each key issue on the America Bikes website. You can reach your members by calling the Capitol switchboard at 202/224-3121. As soon as we have any news about the final status of the bill, and the bicycling and walking provisions, we’ll post it here. Bikes Belong has been the primary sponsor of America Bikes since its inception. about our efforts to maximize federal funding for bicycling.