Your state Department of Transportation may be preparing to cut millions in bicycle and pedestrian funding.  

Last week, the Federal Highway Administration informed state Departments of Transportation of another rescission of funds, this time totaling $2.5 billion. The FHWA notice includes the total amount of funds each state is to send back to Washington.

States are given maximum flexibility about the source of the funds that are rescinded - from the following programs: Interstate Maintenance, National Highway System, Highway Bridge, Transportation Enhancements, Surface Transportation Program, Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality Improvement, Recreational Trails, Metropolitan Planning, State Planning and Research, and Equity Bonus. (Safe Routes to School and Highway Safety Improvement Program funds are NOT included.)

States have to respond by July 8. By now you all know the drill. Transportation Enhancement and Congestion Mitigation Air Quality funds have consistently been inequitably targeted for rescissions in most states - and this will likely continue unless State DOT's hear from you. In August of 2010, almost $1 billion of CMAQ, TE and Recreational Trails funds were returned to Washington, out of a $2.2 billion rescission. See the Rescissions FAQs for more information.

We can't afford to let this happen again. Please contact your governor and ask that the rescission be proportional - that the cuts are fair and balanced. Click here for the League of American Bicyclists' Action Center to send a message to your governor now.

Open Streets initiatives temporarily close streets to automobiles, allowing residents to walk, bike, skate, dance and utilize the roadways in countless creative and active ways. From Los Angeles to New York to Miami, Open Streets have become an effective and high-energy means to build community, promote active transportation and reconnect neighborhoods divided by traffic. The Open Streets Project will support this exciting trend with the November release of a print guide and interactive website to increase the success with Open Streets initiatives, serving as the one-stop source of information, models and best practices.

Capitalizing on research from The Street Plans Collaborative, the Open Streets Project will release a comprehensive guide in November 2011, featuring an in-depth overview of all known Open Streets initiatives in the United States and Canada. (Preview the list of cities here.) This guide will include more than 55 case studies and showcase the growth of the movement in compelling graphics.

The published guide and online resource are the first steps in a long-range vision, which will include technical assistance from Alliance staff to accelerate the number of new initiatives and help established efforts to overcome challenges and grow even larger.

If your city or organization has information to share about an Open Streets initiative in your community, please contact Mike Samuelson, Alliance Member Services and Open Streets Coordinator, at mike@PeoplePoweredMovement.org or (202) 449-9692 x7. Click here to read the full press release.  

Andrew Baur

Eric Boerer 

Scott Bricker (Pittsburgh)

Scott Bricker (Portland)

Brent Buice 

Charlotte Burger

Jacqueline Douglas

Louis Fineberg

Eric Gilliland

Jeremy Grandstaff 

Dorian Grilley 

John Hopkins

Paul LeFrancois

Darla Letourneau 

Miles Luke 

Tim May

Sarah McDaniel

Ron Milam 

Jeffrey Miller 

Larry Miller

Mary Miller

Peter Moe

Chris Morfas

Lois Moss

Randy Neufeld and Susan Geil 

David Pelz

Sue Prant

Fionnuala Quinn

Eric Rogers

Martha Roskowski 

Jim Sayer

Carolyn Szczepanski 

Eberhard Veit

Paul Winkeller

Dorothy Wong

Mark Wyatt

With your help, we'll continue to advance the vision of our co-founder Susie Stephens. If you haven't already, please take a moment to watch the inspiring video of Susie describing the power of the Alliance. And, if you haven't contributed, the fundraising page is still accepting donations. Please make your pledge today!

Last month, 18 advocates from 12 organizations, four states and two Canadian provinces traveled as far as 2,500 miles to attend the Alliance's most recent Winning Campaigns Training.

The training was hosted by the Bicycle Alliance of Washington and facilitated by Dave Snyder, Executive Director of the California Bicycle Coalition, and the Alliance's Brighid O'Keane. "The training couldn't have been better," Brighid said. "Every step of the way, I was impressed by the creativity, enthusiasm, and dedication shared by everyone in the room."

The Alliance's 2.5-day signature training gives novice and veteran advocates the tools to create and manage powerful campaigns to increase biking and walking in their communities. In Seattle, university program managers, non-profit organizers, bike shop employees, planners, and engaged citizens brought their diverse perspectives together to develop campaigns for bike lanes, greenways, Safe Routes to School, speed reduction bills and Complete Streets policies. 

"This training breaks down complex efforts into small, doable pieces to promote implementation and action," said Kathleen Ferrier from Walk San Diego.

"The greatest gift is time - for staff to dedicate to logically think through problems and solutions," said Laura Koch, Program Director of the Community Cycling Center in Portland, OR. Laura attended the training with coworkers from CCC to develop a campaign for bike storage facilities at affordable housing units. "We walked out of the training with a much clearer road map," she said. 

Click here for pictures and videos from the Seattle training!  

This affordable training wouldn't be possible without the generous support of our sponsors: Planet Bike, VBT Bicycling and Walking Vacations, SRAM, Bikes Belong, AARP, Alta Planning + Design, Clif Bar, Team Estrogen, Sun Bicycles, Hawley and Specialized. 

If you haven't joined us for a Mutual Aid Call lately, you're missing a great way to liven up your Wednesday and learn new ideas and strategies from fellow Alliance leaders. So mark your calendars in July and August for some great conversations, including: 

• July 27, 2011- Winning Local Policies for Safe Routes to School: Establishing Safe Routes programs and drawing down federal dollars is just one piece of the puzzle in making communities safe and accessible for children to walk and bike to school. Securing local policies that support Safe Routes efforts is equally important. To showcase key examples of such policies, the Safe Routes to School National Partnership recently released a comprehensive guide on the topic. Join the conversation with the guide's author, David Cowan, and several local advocates to learn about new, innovative policies and discuss how you can advance policies in your community.

• August 3, 2011- Overcoming Challenges for Statewide Organizations: When it comes to bicycle and pedestrian advocacy, one size does not fit all. Compared to local groups, statewide organizations face distinct challenges - and opportunities - in trying to galvanize many diverse communities across a wide geographic area. So what are statewide organizations doing to achieve success and grow their organizations? What are the tenants that consistently drive high performance from successful statewide organizations? Join Alliance Member Services Director Jeremy Grandstaff and advocacy leaders to explore these key questions.

• August 10, 2011- Working with Bike Shops, Walking Stores and Outdoor Retailers: Making your community safer and more accessible for cyclists and pedestrians benefits bike shops, walking stores and outdoor retailers by building their customer base. But how can advocates make connections, explain the relevance of their important work and build mutually beneficial relationships that create change on the ground? Come hear examples of successful partnerships and learn strategies from both retailers and advocacy leaders.

• August 24, 2011- Turn Your Members into Major Donors: Where do you find donors to fund your important work? How do you steward relationships with members and donors, so they increase giving as your organization grows? In this Mutual Aid Call, join expert consultant and veteran bike/ped advocate, Ron Milam, and explore different methods for finding, cultivating and stewarding a donor base, including various strategies to build meaningful relationships with the people who care about your work.

All calls start at 2 p.m. Eastern and run for one hour. As always, be sure to register, so you'll receive the agenda and speakers' talking points before you dial in.  

Being a member of the Alliance for Biking & Walking gives you access to a variety of different tools and benefits. But how does each of our member resources fit into making your organization stronger? Attend our call on "Getting the Most Our of Your Alliance Membership," Friday, July 15 at 2 p.m. EDT.  

Join the Alliance Team as we discuss: communications; trainings and events; coaching and consulting services; the Advocacy Advance Program and more.  This call will show you how to use the Alliance as a tool to get your organization to the next level. Register today!

When will the next federal transportation bill drop? What will it mean for biking and walking? Get the latest on what's happening in Congress by joining the Alliance and our national partners at America Bikes for our next Federal Policy Call on Thursday, July 28 at 2 p.m. EDT. Be sure to register by Wednesday, July 27, so you'll receive the briefing memo and agenda. 

The 2 Mile Challenge is CLIF BAR's online effort to fight climate change by encouraging bicycle travel for short trips. In the U.S., 40 percent of all urban trips are two miles or less, but 90 percent of those short distances are made by automobile. For this year's Challenge, CLIF BAR aims to replace 100,000 car trips - while donating $100,000 to bicycle advocacy and climate protection.  

After a strong showing in 2010, the Alliance has been selected to lead the Gold Team, and we need your help to win $35,000 for local and state bicycle and pedestrian advocacy organizations! Here's how you can take Ray LaHood's advice and get involved:  

1. Go to www.2MileChallenge.com and join the Gold Team.
2. Visit your profile each day and log all the miles you travel by bike. Every trip you take earns points for the Alliance!  
3. Challenge your friends and share your progress through social media and you'll earn even more points for the Gold Team.
4. Continue to log your trips until October 31, 2011.  
5. At the end of the competition the team with the most points will earn a $35,000 grant for its nonprofit.  

For hikers, Colorado offers more than breathtaking vistas. The dramatic landscape extends a challenge, too. For years, tourists have flocked to the Rocky Mountain State to test their metal against Colorado's rugged peaks and summit its tallest mountains. Now, bicyclists will feel a similar draw, too. "People around the world set a lifetime goal to climb all 58 of Colorado's 14,000-foot mountains," Dan Grunig, Executive Director of Bicycle Colorado, says. "We thought bicyclists needed a similar checklist." Last month, that checklist went live with the launch of the Bike the Byways website. A joint initiative of Bicycle Colorado and the Colorado Department of Transportation, the site highlights 25 bicycle touring routes that hit keys points of interest and showcase the state's unique and diverse landscapes. According to the press release: "Routes range from a short 19-mile ride near Sterling, to a breath-taking trip to the top of Mt. Evans, to a multi-day tour deep in the San Juans." Click here to read more.

Looking for work? Alliance member organizations are looking to hire. Be sure to post your positions on our Job Board so the best and the brightest in the advocacy world can apply. Here are the latest openings:

The San Francisco Bicycle Coalition is looking for a Communications Director 

The Iowa Bicycle Coaltion has an opening for a Safe Routes to School Director.

Bike Florida seeks an Executive Director.