If you are a constituent of House Minority Whip Eric Cantor, please contact his office today, and urge him to stop proposing the elimination of Transportation Enhancements, Safe Routes to School, and other key sources of bike-ped funding.
Tell Rep. Cantor how important biking and walking are to you personally — how badly your community needs crosswalks, sidewalks, and bike facilities; and how important these are to improve safety, provide affordable alternatives to driving, reduce congestion and road maintenance costs, improve air quality, reduce dependence on foreign oil, and grow local economies.
Your action on this matter is of national importance.
Cantor’s District stretches from the West End of Richmond and its suburbs in Henrico and Chesterfield Counties, through Montpelier, and northward to Page and Rappahannock Counties. Click here to verify that you are in this district, and to contact the congressman’s office. You can also make contact through his website, or at these phone numbers:
Richmond/Glen Allen, VA
(804)747-4073
Culpeper
(540)825-8960
Washington, DC
(202)225-2815
As suggested by this Fox News article about Eric Cantor, we believe his posture on federal bike-ped funding is just part of an ongoing battle against the Obama administration; and that it is against the interest of his own constituents. Ultimately, it is these constituents that Cantor must answer to. So if you are one of them, please speak up now.
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I’m a cyclist. I love to be on my bike. But why do federal dollars need to be spent on local bike access issues? Please educate me as to why tax dollars collected nationally should be spent on local projects?
Jake,
By that same argument, why do taxes collected nationally have to be spent on roads? (Presumably you bike on roads, right?) Because transportation is vital to the health of the economy. Bicycles are just another transportation option in a menu of options that include buses, subways, light rail, trains, airplanes, trucks, and cars. Oh, and your own two legs. If we don’t have an efficient way to move workers and goods around through a variety of methods, then our economy comes to a halt. Your tax dollars, and mine, go in part toward ensuring that we can move efficiently around the country and obtain the foods, goods, and services we need to maintain our privileged lifestyles.
And one important fact that often gets lost in the shuffle — no project is funded 100% through federal tax dollars. There is always a local match required which comes from taxes collected locally, not to mention private sector funds from foundations and corporations.