That's what Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood wrote in his blog after attending the League of Bicyclist's 10th Anniversary Summit, March 9-11 in D.C. And he means it - as reflected in the DOT's Policy Statement on bike and ped accommodations.
LaHood clearly 'wowed' the bike crowd at their summit last week - but that was just the start. His policy statement "is to incorporate safe and convenient walking and bicycling facilities into transportation projects" and consists of 8 recommended actions to states and others to adopt in order to support this commitment.
On March 15, 2010, Ray LaHood "announced his new Policy Statement on Bicycle and Pedestrian Accommodation Regulations and Recommendations. It is simply the strongest statement of support for prioritizing bicycling and walking ever to come from a sitting secretary of transportation."
"From his blog, he he writes:
"Today, I want to announce a sea change. People across America who value bicycling should have a voice when it comes to transportation planning. This is the end of favoring motorized transportation at the expense of non-motorized."
"The Secretary ended by thanking the League of American Bicyclists, but we strongly thank him for his words, his energy, and now for his official policy statement."
From Fast Lane: My view from atop the table at the National Bike Summit:
"By now you may have heard about my 'tabletop speech' (as noted by BikePortland) at the bike summit" and he refers to the coverage by the SF Streetsblog article, noting "it's a bit jumpy, but that seems entirely consistent with the scene."
His 3-minute speech to the 700 attendees at the Bike Summit appears on You-Tube in the blog entry.
Thanks to Martin Dreiling
FULL STORY: LaHood: “This is the end of favoring motorized transportation at the expense of non-motorized.”
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