[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 44 (Thursday, April 14, 2005)]
[Senate]
[Page S3664]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. HARKIN:
  S. 794. A bill to amend title 23, United States Code, to improve the 
safety of nonmotorized transportation, including bicycle and pedestrian 
safety; to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.
  By Mr. HARKIN. Mr. President, I am pleased to introduce the ``Safe 
and Complete Streets Act of 2005.''
  This legislation helps put this Nation on the path to a safer and, 
importantly, healthier America, by making some very modest adjustments 
in how State transportation departments and regional and local 
transportation agencies address the safety needs of pedestrians and 
bicyclists.
  This proposal is being introduced today to ensure greater attention 
to the ``SAFETEA'' elements of the surface transportation renewal bill 
that will come before the Senate in the coming weeks. With some 
selected, but modest, adjustments to this surface transportation 
legislation, we can improve the safety of pedestrians and bicyclists. 
And with that improved safety, we make it easier for Americans to walk 
and use bicycles to meet their transportation needs, whether to work, 
for errands or for simple exercise and enjoyment.
  Currently, safety concerns reduce the comfort of many people to move 
by foot and bicycle. Many roadways simply do not have sidewalks. And it 
is a particular problem for our growing elderly population. In many 
cases, the timing of lights makes it difficult for the elderly and 
those with a disability to simply get from one side of a busy 
intersection to another.
  There is clearly a need for further progress in this area. Consider 
that nearly 52,000 pedestrians and more than 7,400 bicyclists were 
killed in the most recent 10-year period, ending 2003. And, we know 
that many of these deaths, and thousands of more injuries, are 
avoidable, if we commit ourselves to doing those things that make a 
difference.
  This bill proposes three important changes to current law. First, it 
insists that Federal, State and local agencies receiving billions of 
dollars in federal transportation funds modernize their processes--how 
they plan, what they study and how they lead--so that the safety of 
pedestrians and bicyclists are more fully considered. Second, it 
ensures that investments we make today don't add to the problems we 
already have, which is the burden of retrofitting and reengineering 
existing transportation networks because we forgot about pedestrians 
and bicyclists. Finally, it commits additional resources to a national 
priority need--getting our children to schools safely on foot and 
bicycles through a stronger funding commitment to Safe Routes to 
School.
  The Senate will soon take up a surface transportation renewal plan 
that already includes key provisions to help us make further progress 
on the safety needs of nonmotorized travelers. The ``Safe and Complete 
Streets Act of 2005'' is specifically designed and developed to 
complement the efforts in the committee passed measure. Only in two 
areas, pertaining to the Safe Routes to School initiative and a small 
nonmotorized pilot program, does this legislation propose any 
additional funding commitments. All other aspects of the legislation 
before you today build upon existing commitments and existing features 
of current law.
  Let me speak briefly to the issues of the Safe Routes to School 
program specifically. This legislation proposes to raise the Senate's 
commitment to increased safety for our school age kids by slightly more 
than $100 million annually over the level in the surface transportation 
bill that the Senate will soon consider.
  I am proposing this modest increase in spending because there is a 
crtical need for us to accelerate what we are doing to protect our most 
exposed citizens, our school age children. This Nation has spent the 
last two generations getting kids into cars and buses, rather than on 
foot or bicycles.
  Now, we are reaping the harvest. Billions more in added 
transportation costs for our schools districts to bus our kids to 
schools. Added congestion on our roadways as families transport their 
kids to school by I private automobile, clogging traffic at the worst 
time possible, during the morning commute. In Marin County, CA, a pilot 
program has demonstrated substantial success in reducing congestion by 
shifting children to walking and riding their bikes to school.
  In addition, we see rising obesity in our children and looming public 
health challenges over the next several generations, and even shortened 
life expectancy. We need to promote walking for both health and 
transportation purposes.
  The ``Safe and Complete Streets Act of 2005'' will not only promote 
the safety of pedestrians and bicyclists, it also will provide benefits 
to society from smarter use of tax dollars, and by focusing on safety 
first. I urge my Senate colleagues to join with me in supporting this 
important legislation.
  I am pleased to announce that it has the support of the following 
eleven national organizations: AARP, American Bikes, American Heart 
Association, American Public Health Association, American Society of 
Landscape Architects, American Planning Association, League of American 
Bicyclists, National Center for Bicycling & Walking, Paralyzed Veterans 
of America, Rail-to-Trails Conservancy and the Surface Transportation 
Policy Project.
                                 ______