This is the text of a letter I sent to my members of Congress using a tool the League of American Bicyclists set up to tell you more about the issue and make it easy to take action:

I am writing to urge you to ask your colleagues on the Transportation conference committee to support the Cardin-Cochran agreement in the transportation conference bill.

I bike, walk, and take transit for the majority of my transportation needs. In 2011 I drove my car alone to work a grand total of 16 days–most of those on days I had to make a round trip of anywhere from 30-150 miles with passengers or I wouldn’t have been driving.

Thus I pay taxes for transportation infrastructure that is, for the most part, not designed for me. At the same time I’m helping reduce the cost of maintenance of our streets and roads, air pollution, dependence on foreign oil imports, competition for scarce parking, and healthcare costs. My transportation choices are good for my community, the state, and the nation.

For all of these reasons and because our kids need Safe Routes to School and our older adults who should no longer be driving need transit service and access, I urge you to support the Cardin-Cochran agreement to allow local governments to compete for funds for local transportation projects. Do not let the states opt out of a critical funding source for small-scale, local transportation projects such as the recently completed first phase of Martin Luther King, Jr. Way, and the bike/pedestrian Children of the Sun Trail that runs along the North Spokane Corridor.

The House counteroffer would prevent local governments from competing for funds to undertake small, local transportation projects that vastly improve street safety and local economic competitiveness.

As your constituent, I urge you to contact your colleagues on the transportation conference committee to ask them to preserve the Cardin-Cochran agreement.

Your votes on transportation issues weigh heavily in my decisions as a voter about who to support. Thank you for representing me on these important issues.

Sincerely,

Barb Chamberlain