National Policy & Advocacy

Late in the evening of June 9, as part of the House consideration of the transportation appropriations bill, Rep.

If you have been following our federal transportation updates for a while, this update may sound a bit like Groundhog’s Day.  Yet again, Congress has voted to extend the MAP-21 transportation law and yet again, lack of funding is the culprit.

At the end of May, the current transportation law MAP-21 will expire unless Congress acts.  Leaders in the House and Senate are currently wrestling over their options, with Congress likely to extend the current law until at least July and possibly through the rest of the year. 

By Katharine Bierce, Sara Zimmerman, and Norma Tassy

By Michelle Lieberman, Molly O’Reilly and Katharine Bierce

At a time when bicycling and walking represents 12 percent of all trips, dozens of cities are added bikesharing and thousands of schools are implementing Safe Routes to School programs, some in Congress want to take away the small amount of funding Congress invests in bicycling and walking.

Congressional supporters have introduced two new pieces of legislation to advance funding and safety for bicycling and walking.  The Safe Routes Partnership is pleased to support both bills.

If you have been paying attention to how Congress has handled transportation over the past several years, you’d be justified in thinking that this May’s expiration of the MAP-21 transportation law will get pushed back by months and that you don’t need to pay attention to transportation this spring.

As the new Congress convenes, pressure is on legislators to keep transportation dollars flowing.  The current transportation law, MAP-21, expires in just four months in May 2015.