According to the organization, the omnibus also had several other victories for the bike community including $425 million for the Land Water and Conservation Fund which is $25 million above the current level of funding and $3.2 billion, for the National Park Service, which is $255 million above the current level.
WASHINGTON (BRAIN) — The $1.2 trillion omnibus spending package that President Donald Trump signed Friday contained some good news for bike advocates, despite their concerns that Trump's proposed budget would gut some of the programs.
The package includes $1.5 billion in funding for the Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) Program, which Trump's budget would have eliminated. TIGER funds multimodal transportation projects including programs that integrate bikes into the transportation system.
"PeopleForBikes has been advocating for TIGER funding for years, and we are thrilled to see these funds in the omnibus," said Jenn Dice, PeopleForBikes' vice president of business network. "TIGER funding has been a key focus of our industry fly-ins for the entirety of the program. After concerted effort, more members of Congress see the positive benefits TIGER has for all types of transportation, including bikes, back in their districts."
PeopleForBikes brought more than 100 bike industry leaders to Congress to discuss the benefits of TIGER, and other bike infrastructure investments, as part of the organization's Executive Fly-Ins.
"We are thrilled more members of Congress are supporting these important tools for protecting public lands," said Dice. "This funding increase is crucial to park infrastructure to continue to give people access to safe and enjoyable spaces for people to recreate outside and to drive the tourism and recreation economies."
Also last week, several bike retailers participated in a National Bike Retailers executive fly-in in Washington on March 20 and 21. The retail fly-in focused on advocating for bike projects to be included in the proposed $1.5 trillion infrastructure package.
Retail participants included Peter Henry of Landry's Bicycles in Massachusetts; Linda Black of Bike 123 in Maryland; Jim Carveth, of Nebraska's Bike Rack; Mike Jacobowsky, of California's Chain Reaction; Noel Kegel, of Wisconsin's Wheel & Sprocket; Todd Ketch of Pedego Old Town in Virginia; Anne Mader, of Virginia's The Bike Lane; and Stefan Meyer, from Kent Cycle in Ohio.
“This was my first PeopleForBikes/NBDA fly-in, and it was a valuable experience for me,” said Henry. “Better places to ride are good for people on bikes and bike retailers, who contribute to local communities and economies. It was a privilege to join my fellow bike shop owners in D.C. to make our voices heard.”
