(Photo © J. Maus)
During his campaign, Obama got us all excited when he mentioned how Portland’s bike lanes should be an example for the rest of the country.
Now that he’s in office, I’m sure I join a lot of other people involved with biking who are eager for any sign that he’ll continue to publicly support bikeways.
Tipped off by a friend on Twitter, I browsed over to WhiteHouse.gov the other day. Turns out, as Obama was taking the Oath of Office, his web team was hitting the upload button on the newly updated website.
Excited to see if there was any mention of bicycling, I entered it into the search bar. I found one result.
On the Urban Policy page, under a heading of “Livability of Cities” is the following paragraph:
Build More Livable and Sustainable Communities: Our communities will better serve all of their residents if we are able to leave our cars to walk, bicycle and access other transportation alternatives. President Obama will re-evaluate the transportation funding process to ensure that smart growth considerations are taken into account.
It might be only one mention, but it’s well-said and it’s something to hang our helmets on. It also shows that someone on his staff thinks of biking as more than just a recreational pursuit (something critics have worried about in recent months).
Now it’s up to us and members of Congress to turn that paragraph into practice.