Ray LaHood: "The End of Favoring Motorized Transportation"

Our Secretary of Transportation, Ray LaHood, appeared National Bike Summit last week where he stood on a table and told the cyclists "you have a full partner in Ray LaHood." There's video below the jump.[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EIXi-AFiayEYesterday, he took to his Fastlane blog to declare "This is the end of favoring motorized transportation at the expense of non-motorized," and issed a new "Policy Statement"-effectively a list of recommendations for state departments of transportation. Here's what he's telling the states to do:

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• Treat walking and bicycling as equals with other transportation modes.
• Ensure convenient access for people of all ages and abilities.
• Go beyond minimum design standards.
• Collect data on walking and biking trips.
• Set a mode share target for walking and bicycling.
• Protect sidewalks and shared-use paths the same way roadways are protected (for example, snow removal)
• Improve nonmotorized facilities during maintenance projects.

These aren't laws and they're not binding, but it's still great to have the highest transportation authority in the land publicly endorsing the idea that the roads should be shared with bikes (as obvious as that is).