Pennsylvania Avenue bike lanes in Washington, D.C. photo: pedbikeimages.org / Elvert Barnes

WASHINGTON, DC – Bike Walk Tulsa will be reporting from the National Bike Summit in Washington, DC this week. The timing couldn’t be better. The Senate just passed their transportation bill last week, while the House still has work to do. And just because the Senate has done their work doesn’t mean they don’t matter. The bills still have to be conferenced if the House decides to get a bill out before the March 31 deadline.

We have meetings scheduled with the offices of U.S. Rep. John Sullivan, Senators Tom Coburn and James Inhofe, as well as other Oklahoma representatives.

The House has been threatening to eliminate dedicated funding for bicycle and pedestrian projects despite the fact that biking and walking make up 12% of trips, 14% of fatalities and only 1.6% of the federal transportation budget. More than 700 bicyclists are descending upon Washington, DC this week with the goal of preserving funding for biking and walking infrastructure.

Bike Walk Tulsa will try to post stories to this blog from Washington, DC. For the latest updates you should follow the Bike Walk Tulsa Twitter feed @bikewalktulsa for live tweets beginning Tuesday.