[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 71 (Thursday, May 1, 2008)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E798-E799]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     SAFE AND COMPLETE STREETS ACT

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. DORIS O. MATSUI

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                         Thursday, May 1, 2008

  Ms. MATSUI. Madam Speaker, I rise today to introduce the Safe and 
Complete Streets Act of 2008.
  This needed legislation is based on the principle that our Nation's 
transportation system should be safe and accessible to all people. 
Motorists, bicyclists, transit users, pedestrians, the disabled, and 
the elderly all use our country's transportation network each and every 
day. The Safe and Complete Streets Act of 2008 will ensure that the 
needs of all of these users are accommodated during the transportation 
planning process.
  Complete streets are an essential part of well-designed communities 
that are livable for children, families, the elderly, and people of all 
ages and abilities. By providing our constituents with sidewalks on 
which to walk, well-lighted transit stations in which to wait for the 
bus or light rail, clear lanes in which to drive, and bike lanes in 
which to ride, we can encourage them to utilize alternative modes of 
transportation. This can make our transportation system most effective 
and useful.
  Madam Speaker, our constituents are struggling to deal with the 
skyrocketing cost of gas. As their pocketbooks are hit increasingly 
hard at the pump, many Americans are turning to alternative methods of 
transportation. In my hometown of Sacramento, where gasoline is nearly 
four dollars per gallon, my local newspaper recently reported on the 
growing number of my constituents who are riding their bicycles to work 
because of the prohibitive price of filling a car up with fuel.
  For these reasons, Americans around the country are eager for 
transportation alternatives. The Safe and Complete Streets Act of 2008 
is a strong step toward a future where travelers are presented with a 
range of transportation options. By requiring States and metropolitan 
planning organizations to accommodate the needs of all users of the 
transportation system in their planning processes, this legislation 
will broaden access to the streets that tie our communities--and our 
Nation--together.
  Incorporating these kinds of complete streets principles will help us 
move away from the kinds of transportation planning that causes seniors 
to avoid walking to the store because of the lack of sidewalks. It will 
help usher in a day when commuters feel safe riding to work on their 
bicycles because the streets now accommodate bikes. It will ease the 
fears of parents across our country who hesitate to allow their 
children to walk to school because of the danger posed by so many cars 
driving near sidewalks. It will reduce the risk posed to disabled 
Americans who are forced to deal with a transportation system short on 
painted crosswalks and audible walking signals. And it will encourage 
people to take public transit because they will no longer have to wait 
for the bus at a stop that is nothing more than a pole in the ground.
  Complete streets also have a number of non-transportation-related 
benefits. In a country where nearly one-third of adults are obese and 
the number of overweight children has tripled since 1980, giving people 
options to walk or take public transit can play a major role in 
reducing these disturbing trends. In terms of fighting global warming, 
the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change recommends as a key 
climate change mitigation strategy the shifting of travel modes from 
driving to walking, taking transit, and bicycling. There is ample room 
for complete streets to help bring about this needed paradigm shift in 
the way we travel--65 percent of trips in the United States under one 
mile are now made by automobile. In one Colorado city, local efforts to

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take transit, use bicycles, and carpool have helped reduce carbon 
dioxide by half a million pounds. If one city can achieve such success 
in reducing emissions by changing transportation patterns, the possible 
emissions reductions through implementing a nationwide complete streets 
policy are staggering.
  Madam Speaker, we live in a time when local governments are strapped 
for cash. In such a fiscal climate, we should make investments today 
that will pay out over the long term, and that will help us avoid the 
need to make costly adjustments to our current transportation system 
down the line. Incorporating complete streets principles today will 
help communities save precious dollars in the future by eliminating the 
need for costly retrofits.
  I know this to be true because of the experience of my own 
congressional district, where the City of Sacramento is preparing to 
spend $12 million to update a bridge that was built in the 1930s 
without adequate sidewalks. Another example of the power of complete 
streets to save money is from Illinois. There, the legislature passed a 
complete streets law last year after the state was forced to spend 
nearly a million dollars adding a foot and bike path to a bridge where 
several pedestrians and bicyclists were hit and killed by motorists.
  But the bottom line, Madam Speaker, is that the Safe and Complete 
Streets Act of 2008 is good policy because of what it can help us do 
for our communities, not for the costs it can help us avoid. 
Encouraging people to use all the various modes of transportation 
available to them will strengthen public health, reduce congestion, 
improve air quality, and increase the interconnectedness of our 
communities. It will help create a national transportation network that 
works for all Americans regardless of their age, income, or preferred 
mode of getting around town.
  The time has come for this Congress to start thinking about what we 
want the legacy of American transportation to be. I know I speak for 
many of my colleagues when I say that we want this to be one where all 
users of our streets feel safe and accommodated. The Safe and Complete 
Streets Act of 2008 is a first step toward creating this kind of 
practical, efficient, and inclusive transportation system, and I am 
proud to introduce it here today.

                          ____________________