-=> Quoting Leah Rozhon to Ken Peck <=-
 KP> Dallas has some pretty heavy traffic, construction, and exhaust fumes.
 KP> My solution to all three problems is simple: ride a bicycle.  That
 KP> reduces traffic congestion, the need for construction, and exhaust
 KP> fumes. 
 LR> That would be fine if more than a handful of commuters used a bike.
Of course, as long as most bicyclists have that attitude there will never be
more than a handful of bicycle commuters.  In the end, it requires
individuals who decide to use bicycles as their means of transportation
instead of automobiles.  "Big brother" will not, indeed cannot, make that
decision for us.
 
 KP> There needs to be more battling on commuter trains and busses.  It is
 KP> absolutely ridiculous to try to combat air pollution and make it
 KP> impossible for folks to use bicycles to get to and from mass transit
 KP> terminals. 
 LR> That would be part of the plan.  But around here, the RRs say the cost
 LR> would be too high to modify a car to handle bikes.  And the Dept. of
 LR> Transportation says the same about bike lanes on the roadways.  Maybe
 LR> we need a lobby in the legislature? :-)
First, I would point out that right now one of the critical issues is before
Congress and involves the renewal of the Intermodal Surface Transportation
and Environment Act (ISTEA or "Ice-Tea").  At issue is the 1 cent per dollar
that local goverments are _required_ to spend on bicycle and pedestrian
transportation projects, which the "highway lobby" wants to go to the usual
expressway "solution."  For Chicago, that would be a substantial amount of
money available for just the kind of projects you are talking about.  And you
DO have already a lobby at work on this . . . The League of American
Bicyclists.  What you need to do is join up with them and get other
bicyclists to join up with them in the effort to keep ISTEA bicycle and
environment friendly.  Also write your Congressman and Senators.  And get
your bicycling friends (and wannabe bicyclists) to write them too.
Texas has a lobby group known as the "Texas Bicycle Coalition," which started
when various municipalities attempted to prohibit bicycling on public
streets.  TBC has been able to slow that sort of thing down (although it
still depends on bicyclists in a community to bring pressure on their city
councilmen).  TBC has also gotten some bicycle friendly legislation through
the legislature (allowing bicycles to use shoulders, including bicycle rights
questions on the Texas Driver's License Exam, mandating bicycle safety
education in the public schools), and blocked some unfriendly legislation
(prohibiting bicycles on shoulderless highways, prohibiting bicyclists from
riding in groups of more than four).  But all these kinds of efforts depend
on us, not on a "they need to do something" attitude.
I might also note that here we have something known as the "NOrth Texas
Alliance of Bicycle LEaders" (NOTABLE) which is actually a confederation of
bicycle clubs in the Dallas/Fort Worth metroplex.  This group works with the
North Texas Council of Governments, which in various ways is involved in
transportation planning and winning of federal transportation grants.  So
when the various city and county governments in the area start planning
transportation projects and seeking federal funds, they find themselves
dealing with the NTCOG where bicyclists have strong representation through
NOTABLE.  And when the local clubs are doing their job, those city and county
governments also feel the push of their own constitutencies saying the same
things as they are hearing at the NTCOG meetings.
    ===  ==== =   _@
    Ken Peck +  _ \<._
    =========  (_)/ (_)   Kenneth_Peck@clr.com
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