Some interesting data points to bring to the city budget discussion:
Is Digital Revolution Driving Decline in U.S. Car Culture? http://adage.com/article/digital/digital-revolution-driving-decline-u-s-car- culture/144155/ As Young Lose Interest in Cars, G.M. Turns to MTV for Help http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/23/business/media/to-draw-reluctant-young-buy ers-gm-turns-to-mtv.html Slow ride: Buses are the new vehicles of youth rebellion http://grist.org/transportation/slow-ride-buses-are-the-new-vehicles-of-yout h-rebellion/ Young Americans Less Likely to Drive http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/young-americans-drive-16082310#.T34H_XpYS fE Young people turning away from cars http://www.ssti.us/2012/04/young-people-turning-away-from-cars/ Transportation and the New Generation http://www.ssti.us/wp/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/Transportation_and_the_New_ Generation.pdf And finally, check out this graph of Vehicle miles of travel versus road miles in the US: http://www.streetsblog.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/vmt_graph1.jpg You can see how out of touch our infrastructure construction is with the real demand for road miles in the US. But beyond that, road miles growing when VMT is declining means more and more of the costs of those lane miles is coming from general funds rather than gas taxes. And due to the increased costs of petroleum-based highway materials, the actual money spent is increasing much faster than the lane-miles are. And in terms of Madison, in 2006 the [Transit and bicycle hating, highway-loving] REASON FOUNDATION published a study that showed the cost of reducing congestion in Madison was $13.48 (state average is $8.30, National Average is $2.76) per delay-hour saved, one of the top five most expensive locations in the state. http://reason.org/news/show/127670.html The $13.48 figure for Madison is on line 440 , and the $2.76 national average is from line 460 of the following document: http://reason.org/files/appendixc.xls How can Madison compete at $13.48 when the national average is $2.76? We can't. We have got to find other ways to meet our transportation needs that are more economically efficient given our unique geography. From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Amanda White Sent: Friday, April 06, 2012 1:22 PM To: [email protected] Subject: [Bikies] Time to take a stand for Madison Bicycling! ACTION ALERT! Take a stand for 2013 Bicycle Projects in Madison! The City of Madison is hosting a number of neighborhood Community Budget Conversations to get your feedback on what city services are important to you. This is a hugely important opportunity for bicycle enthusiasts like you to attend the meeting near your neighborhood and voice your support of bicycling in Madison. Last year, you answered the Bike Fed's call to action by attending these Budget Conversations with an overwhelming turn out of more than 100 bicycle supporters. The mayor's office took notice and because of your support at these events, we were able to protect our Bicycle and Pedestrian city fund to ensure that our bicycle network continues to expand and improve. MARK YOUR CALENDAR and attend one of these important events. We need many bicycle supporters to show up at every single one of these conversations. Once again it's time to unite and make our bicycling message heard! Thursday, April 12, 7-9pm Warner Park Recreation Center 1625 Northport Drive Monday, April 16, 7-9pm Olbrich Gardens Evjue Commons 3330 Atwood Avenue Thursday, April 26, 7-9pm Madison Senior Center 330 West Mifflin Street Monday, April 30, 7-9pm Wright Middle School Gym 1717 Fish Hatchery Road Tuesday, May 8, 7-9pm Good Shepherd Lutheran Church 5701 Raymond Road Our message at these events is simple: Thank you Mayor Soglin and the City of Madison for continuing to build our bicyclilng network. Bicycling is important to the economic, social, and environmental prosperity of our community. Continuing to invest in bicycling initiatives increases the vitality and livability of our neighborhoods. THE ASK: Please maintain the City of Madison Bicycle and Pedestrian fund at the current level or higher and fully fund all bicycle projects planned for 2013. It's also good to share any opinion, personal story, or information you have in support of building more separated bicycle facilities. It's important for the city to understand that if we want to achieve 20% of trips made by bike by 2020, we must build bicycle lanes and paths that are separated or buffered from car traffic and provide heightened safety for children, moms, seniors, and the vast amount of Madisonians who want to bike but don't feel comfortable biking in traffic. Examples of local separated biking facilities include: separated lane on University Ave., the buffered lane on Segoe Rd. and all bike paths. Check out these two short videos on new separated bike lanes in Chicago:http://vimeo.com/32986515 and New York City: http://www.streetfilms.org/sands-street-gets-a-sassy-center-median-cycletrac k/ If you have any questions about the Madison Community Budget Conversations contact the Bike Fed's Amanda White at (608) 251-4456x1 <tel:%28608%29%20251-4456x1> , [email protected] or visit the City's website: http://www.cityofmadison.com/budgetProcess/ Thank you for all you do to make Madison an even better place to bike! ________________________ Amanda White Associate Director Bicycle Federation of Wisconsin (608) 251-4456 <tel:%28608%29%20251-4456> [email protected] www.bfw.org
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