Ray LaHood, Secretary of Transportation, Makes the Case for Better Transportation Options Again

Today, Ray LaHood, the Secretary of Transportation, posted an interesting blog entry related to providing more options for people to transport themselves.  I particularly like the following statement he makes in the blog post--

That's why I told Green Inc, "This is not just Ray LaHood’s agenda, this is the American agenda; people want alternatives to the automobile."

You see, it turns out I'm not the only one who thinks America can increase access to public transit and safe walking and bicycling.

In the hyperpolitical Washington, D.C., there are going to be attacks to any proposed change from the business-as-usual approach.  However, at the end of the day, biking and walking is not a conservative, moderate or liberal issue.  People just need to get around, and our government needs to provide better options for transportation that can help us kick our addiction to oil.  If I want to ride a bike, I should have infrastructure to do so.  For example, in Los Angeles, there are some bike lanes that mysteriously end leaving bikers with no designated routes to travel.  It's untenable to think projects that fix this problem and allow safer bicycle transport should not be funded.  At the end of the day, bicyclers are at a disadvantage because they don’t have thousands of pounds of steel protecting them as they travel.

We should thank Mr. LaHood for continuing to listen to Americans and pushing this issue despite some in the peanut gallery trying to stop this more rational approach to funding transportation projects.