Monday, February 16, 2009

Congressional Bike Caucus

Rep. Earl Blumenauer is the leader of the Congressional Bike Caucus.
The Caucus is bipartisan with many members. The NY Times published an article on Rep. Blumenauer and the Caucus. There is also a Senate Bike Caucus. Sen. Charles Schumer (D-NY) is a member as is Robert Menendez (D-NJ) and Christopher Dodd (D-CT).

Anthony Weiner (D-NY)is listed as a member of the Congressional Caucus but I don't have an impression of him as particularly pro-bicycle considering his opposition to congestion pricing.

I see that my local Congressman Jerrold Nadler is a member. He certainly needs to get out on a bike a lot more.

I see a potential for organizing rides with the various members in their home districts / states. For NYC I imagine such an event could get the attention of DOT Commissioner (and cyclist beyond question) Khan. Senator cyclists are potentially interested in highlighting the state of bikes on trains with a train + bike ride. Probably not reasonable to drag Sen. Schumer from GCT to Poughkeepsie but you never know (its not THAT long a train ride and perhaps he would like to walk the train gladhanding people).

Representatives not on a rail-related committee are probably not interested in riding the rails with a bike, but a bike tour of the district doesn't seem an unreasonable concept.

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