Rep. Earl Blumenauer wants to make bike-sharing programs like Biketown a possibility for every city in America.
Blumenauer, one of Portland’s representative in Congress, introduced legislation Friday to make federal funding for local bikeshare programs accessible for local governments. Blumenauer was joined by fellow US Reps. Vern Buchanan and Ayanna Pressley, his fellow co-chairs of the Congressional Bike Caucus.
The bill, titled the Bikeshare Transit Act of 2019, was inspired by Biketown—which recently celebrated its third birthday and reached a milestone of one million trips—as well as the over 100 other bikeshare programs operating across the US.
“This is an essential transit option for my community, and communities around the country, where people often lack access to meaningful transportation options outside of the single occupancy automobile,” Blumenauer said in a press release. “Our legislation removes barriers facing new and existing bikeshare projects seeking additional funding, giving more people options for efficient, carbon-free transportation.”
Biketown is funded through a mixture of Nike sponsorship money, Oregon Department of Transportation funds, and a federal grant allocated through the Metro Council.
Metro used regional flexible funding, or federal transportation dollars that aren’t earmarked for a particular project, to help fund Biketown—but Blumenauer’s bill would give municipal governments a more direct source of funding specifically for bikeshare programs. It would do this by adding language to US code designating bikeshare programs as eligible for federal transportation funding.
Buchanan, one of the bill’s co-sponsors, is a Florida Republican, meaning this legislation is bipartisan—and might actually pass through a divided Congress.
“Bikeshare programs help folks stay active, promote a clean environment and help benefit the economy,” Buchanan said in a press release. “I’m excited to join my friend Congressman Blumenauer in reintroducing this bill to make it easier for more of these initiatives to receive federal funding.”
