Skip to Content
Streetsblog California home
Streetsblog California home
Log In
Advocacy

Give Biking, Walking, and Transit a Fair Share of Federal Transportation Funding

Bike pin with CalBike logo

The California Bicycle Coalition is asking Peter DeFazio, Chair of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, to make sure any upcoming transportation funding bills "put people first, with infrastructure and services that make our communities prosperous, safe, and healthy."

Transportation funding "should reduce inequality by prioritizing places harmed by disinvestment, and impacted by freeways and freight infrastructure. And it should make it easier to ride a bicycle, walk, and take transit," stresses the petition.

CalBike is asking Congress to consider doing several things right away, including:

    • Investing $2.5 billion in bike network connectivity grants. "A network of slow streets, bike paths, and protected bike lanes that reaches all destinations in a community is key to making bicycling practical and accessible for most people," says the petition. Although the House included some money for this in its draft funding bill, the proposed amount - $250 million - was way too little to achieve anything meaningful.
    • Doubling the size of the Transportation Alternatives Program, which funds safer streets throughout the country.
    • Subsidizing purchases of e-bikes and bike share memberships.

These actions are small but necessary early steps to help reduce the nation's reliance on fossil fuels.

"California invests billions in car infrastructure such as freeways and parking," writes CalBike. "Yet, we still have traffic congestion, and our communities still suffer from disinvestment and poverty. We are paying the price for our car-dependence—not only in terms of greenhouse gas emissions, but also in pollution and other threats to safety, health, and the economy."

Active transportation is essential to creating the net-zero carbon future laid out by the Biden administration. Electric automobiles are one element, but without ambitious investment in other forms of truly sustainable transportation, it simply won’t be possible to cut carbon emissions as steeply as necessary to avoid a climate catastrophe.  Full funding for biking, walking, and transit in the transportation bill is the first step.

You can sign CalBike's petition here.

Stay in touch

Sign up for our free newsletter

More from Streetsblog California

StreetSmart7: Sam Speroni and Automobile Debt

In StreetSmart Episode7, Streetsblog California editor Damien Newton and Sam Speroni from UCLA discussed the unequal distribution of car ownership costs in Los Angeles, using data from 2021 to 2023. 

May 23, 2025

Friday’s Headlines

CA vs. Republicans is national news, but there's plenty of other news happening around the state.

May 23, 2025

Metro Quietly Withdraws Lyft Bike-Share Contract Vote

The current twice-botched will-they-won't-they procurement process is not doing Metro Bike Share any favors.

May 22, 2025

SGV Hikes and Bikes: Duck Farm River Park

Tucked in the crook of the 605 and Valley Boulevard is some much needed breathing room for the East Valley.

May 22, 2025

Revealed: MTC Canceled Bridge Bike Lane Meetings Because Staff Findings Showed it Should Stay Open

Thanks to a public records request from Bike East Bay, we now know why two public hearings were cancelled at the last minute.

May 22, 2025
See all posts