On July 8, the Federal Transit Administration announced nearly $300 million in grants to dozens of communities through the Urban Circulator Grant Program and the Bus Livability Grant Program. "Our goals are to provide cleaner, safer, and more efficient ways to get around," said Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood. Communities that applied were looking to improve transportation options in their community, while reducing pollution and congestion. Many grants will help winning communities improve their bicycle-friendliness. Boston received one of the Livability Grants and will start a Boston bike sharing program that includes more than 500 bike sharing stations. The project will create two million new bike trips per year. Chicago also received a grant and will use it to improve the city's cycling and transit infrastructure. Learn more here.

The northeast is making efforts to improve their bike-friendliness with the first New England Bike-Walk Summit, to be held Thursday, October 7, in downtown Providence, R.I. There has been a noticeable increase in state bike summits in the past two years, and this regional summit will hopefully stir multiple states to action. Topics will include: development/management of multi-jurisdictional trails, the economic development potential of biking and walking, state-level legislation affecting biking and walking in New England, how to foster better relations between agencies and advocates, and more. Click here for further details.

The League has been following and discouraging distracted driving with a myriad of other organizations, states, individuals and the U.S. Department of Transportation. Now Delaware joins the ranks. Governor of Delaware Jack Markell signed a law on July 6 making Delaware the eighth state to ban hand-held mobile phone use while driving. The law becomes effective on January 2, 2011. "We had too many people who were driving while distracted," Markell said. "These new laws should be a deterrent. It should make people think twice." While 29 other states prohibit texting and driving, Delaware joins a smaller group that prohibits all phone use behind the wheel. The ban also applies to electronic games, PDAs and laptops. Read the League's report to learn more about Distracted Driving.

Governor of Louisiana Bobby Jindal recently signed two new bike-related acts into legislation. The acts include:

1) New state bike-related traffic laws.

2) Driver's ed taught in schools that will include training on sharing the road with bicyclists and pedestrians.

3) A uniform system for marking bicycle facilities in accordance with the 2009 Manual for Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD).

4) A newly formed Louisiana Bicycle and Pedestrian Safety Fund that will be used for bicyling and pedestrian safety needs.

5) Share the road license plates -- portions of the profits will be deposited in the Louisiana Bicycle and Pedestrian Safety Fund. 

Read the documents: ACT No. 618 and ACT No. 840 for detailed info.

Cyclists can feel a little safer in Illinois thanks to new legislation signed on July 5 by Governor Pat Quinn. The legislation, which goes into effect January 1, 2011, establishes new penalties for motorists who drive dangerously or unnecessarily close to bicyclists -- drivers in violation of this law could be sentenced to a year in prison and fined $2,500. Illinois will also create Share the Road license plates. Money made from the plates will go to bicycle education campaigns. Learn more about the new legislation here.

Fairfax Advocates for Better Bicycling (FAAB) recently published a guide for public road design and bicycling accommodations for Virginia advocates. The new guide -- prepared by FABB in consultation with the Virginia (VDOT) and Fairfax County departments of transportation -- outlines ways bicycling proponents can get involved in the process of designing, approving, building, and retrofitting roads to ensure that bicycling accommodations are integrated into the plans where needed. Although written for Virginia, many of the ideas contained in the report could be applied to other locations as well. Download the guide here.

If you are interested in serving on the League Board of Directors, or if you know someone who would be a good representative for cyclists, the League Governance Committee is soliciting recommendations for candidates for the 2011 Board elections.

The Board of Directors govern and set broad policy and direction for the League. Board members serve three-year terms. Starting this year, seven are elected nationally by all League members. The Board selects the remaining five seats. Four member-elected and one Board-appointed positions are open for this election. As of press time, all four elected members -- Harry Brull, Jeffrey Lynne, Hans van Naerssen, and Bill Hoffman -- have decided to run again. In addition, the League's Bylaws allow the Board the option to create up to five additional Board seats for a total that may range from the current 12 up to 17.

Learn more about the qualifications to be a League board member and how to apply.

The League has a recently completed an archive of the League's magazines from 1970 to the present, and we are only missing two magazines! If you have a Summer 2003 or Spring 2004 issue that you are willing to part with, you'll get a League t-shirt and our eternal thanks in response! We are also missing a few issues from the 1960s - if you think you have any of these, contact meghan@bikeleague.org. If you want to see the archives in person, swing by our offices in downtown D.C.!

Bicycle and pedestrian planning and design is a comprehensive field that continues to grow and develop. A Bike/Ped design and planning course is being offered the week of August 16-20 in Portland, Ore. for planners, designers and engineers responsible for integrating bicycle and transportation systems into a communities transportation network. Learn more about the workshops here.