It’s budget season at the City of Tacoma, and City Council needs to hear from YOU about why funding walking, rolling, and biking is critical. The active transportation budget in the draft biennial budget is small, and does not include dedicated funds for bike lanes, ADA accessible curb cuts, or sufficient funds for missing sidewalks. Properly funding active transportation is imperative to address safe mobility, equitable access for all, and the climate crisis. Join other advocates to speak up and make your voice heard!
November 15th, 2022 City Council meeting – biennial budget public hearing.
Meet in the lobby outside of Council Chambers (747 Market St, 1st floor) at 4:30, then we will sit in the back of the chambers together at 5pm. Bring a friend and make some new ones! Plan to have 90 seconds to speak. Write out your comments (or main points) ahead of time and be sure to practice to ensure you’re within the 90 second time limit. Optional RSVP on Facebook. For help writing your comments, check out our advocacy page or contact our Advocacy Manager Laura directly at LauraS@downtownonthego.org
Why is active transportation funding important?
- Vision Zero! In 2020, Tacoma City Council committed to a goal of zero traffic deaths or serious injuries by 2035. To meet this ambitious goal, we need to transform the way we think about traffic violence, how we prioritize funding, and how we design our streets. Funding active transportation is necessary to create better, safer, more accessible infrastructure for those walking, rolling, and biking.
- Climate! In 2021, Tacoma City Council committed to the Climate Action Plan and net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. The plan calls for completing our sidewalk network by 2050, supporting high frequency and high capacity transit projects, hosting active transportation events, updating design standards to prioritize bicyclists and pedestrians, and more. We can’t reach our climate goals without reducing how much people drive, so we need to build a Tacoma where it is safe, convenient, and accessible to walk, bike, and use transit. A lot of that work happens in active transportation; to reach these goals, we need a fully funded and staffed department.
- Fight traffic violence! Traffic deaths and serious injuries are increasing across the country, and we’re seeing that trend reflected here in Pierce County. To reverse this, we need to design roadways where cars slow down and bicyclists & pedestrians have connected and protected facilities like protected bike lanes, wide side walks, and intersections that prioritize the safety of people over the speed of cars.
- Safe mobility for all! We know that low income, BIPOC, and disabled individuals are more likely to rely on active transportation and transit, face transportation overburden and insecurity, be impacted more by traffic violence, and be displaced away from services into neighborhoods with insufficient infrastructure and connectivity. Better infrastructure makes everyone safer and investing in historically underserved communities and neighborhoods helps to right historic inequities.
- And more! Storytelling and personal experience is the core of good public testimony. Talk about what’s most important to you and your communities.
