At Interbike, SWFBUD called Florida senators Bill Nelson and Marco Rubio to advise them to oppose efforts to kill Transportation Enhancement funds that help build bicycle infrastructure -- and those phone calls helped.
Here is an update from Bikes Belong:
The U.S. Senate affirmed its time-tested support of bicycling Thursday by forcing Senator Tom Coburn of Oklahoma to withdraw his proposal to eliminate dedicated funding for the Transportation Enhancements program.
Peopleforbikes.org supporters and our advocacy partners influenced this outcome by sending close to 50,000 emails and making thousands of phone calls to their U.S. Senators in just 48 hours. Thank you!
As a result, funding for all federal transportation programs has now been extended to March 31, 2012. The key, cost-effective programs that make bicycling safer and easier -- Transportation Enhancements, Safe Routes to School, and Recreational Trails -- will continue to receive modest, dedicated support -- about 1.5 percent of the total federal transportation investment.
Every U.S. Senate office received an unprecedented number of well-crafted emails and articulate phone calls this week from people who bike. This powerful show of support for bicycling made a strong impression on Congress and influenced the positive outcome.
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