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Home :: Projects :: Ventura Bike Union :: 25% of the Casualties 1% of the Budget - Increase Funding for Safe Biking and Walking
Bicyclists and Pedestrians make up a whopping 25% of all traffic injuries and fatalities in Southern California. (2008 Statewide Integrated Traffic Records System)
And currently 21% of all trips in the So Cal Region are done via walking and bicycling. (2009 National Household Travel Survey)
This Spring the Southern California Association of Governments (SCAG) a six-county planning agency, will vote on a new Regional Transportation Plan (RTP) that will affect 18 million people. It is a 25 year plan that won't be revised till 2016. The draft RTP now out for public comment recommends 1.3% of the budget for walking and bicycling investments. How can 1.3% of the funds tackle 25% of the safety issues, and 21% of the trips?
In addition, there are so many reasons our communities desperately need to switch to "Active Transportation." From childhood obesity and diabetes, to the climate change crisis, to rising gas prices in a struggling economy, we need safe, viable bicycle and pedestrian routes. We simply cannot afford to wait another four years to start working on the solution!
Please sign our petition today, and urge SCAG to increase the RTP budget for safer bicycle and pedestrian routes to 5% - 8%. (Cost methodology for a bikeable/walkable region developed by the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health)
Public comment ends February 2012, so it's critical to add your voice in support of active transportation biking and walking today, and then invite your friends!
Petition: Increase Funding for Active Transportation
Whereas 25% of roadway injuries and fatalities in the SCAG Region are bicyclists and pedestrians.
Whereas childhood obesity and diabetes in our communities have reached epidemic levels.
Whereas public roadways must be accessible to all people, including those who cannot afford the skyrocketing prices of gasoline.
Whereas bicycle infrastructure costs for lanes, wear and tear on roads, and parking space are exponentially lower than those for cars and buses, at a time when State funding for cities and counties has been drastically cut.
Whereas a large portion of people living in Southern California do not own a drivers license, including all people under the age of 16.
Where 10% of the households in the SCAG Region do not own cars.
Whereas California Senator Barbara Boxer, Chairman of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee in her December 7th, 2011 press conference stated that climate change is an "...urgent threat facing the globe."
Whereas State law AB 32 requires California to lower greenhouse gas emissions to 1990 levels by 2020, the equivalent of taking approximately 28 million cars off State roads.
Whereas 40% of all trips people make are 2 miles or less. (National Household Travel Survey.)
I therefore respectfully petition the Southern California Association of Governments to amend the 2012 Regional Transportation Plan, increasing the amount for Active Transportation to 5%-8%.
NOTE: Your e-mail is strictly for the purposes ID for this petition.
Sign the Petition
Signatures
Collected so far:
830 signatures
Goal:
5000 signatures
Fullname
Comment
David Leoncavallo
Patrick Neal VanHorn
PLEASE increase the funding for active transportation!
David Goldstein
Let's get rid of the black curbs on Telegraph Rd.
Joseph Yahner
Patrick Praetorius
Bikes: Run on fat and save you money.
Cars: Run on money and make you fat!
Milo Lovejoy
Ditch your car and hop on your bike!
erin clark
we walk our kids to school! it's great exercise and great time together. it needs to be safer and more encouraged.
Kelly Fitzpatrick
vina lustado
Heather Wylie
Derek B Eason-Towers
AgeceTekrag
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margaret morris
Stephanie Tiffany
Nicholas Deitch
This is essential for our future well-being and the well-being of our children. Please act swiftly.
Issis RIVADINEYRA
we need more bicycle lanes!!!
David P. McGowan
Please help fund safer waking and cycling in Southern California.
