2011 Capitol Hill Round-Up: Cast Your Vote for the Streetsie Awards
It’s been quite a year, Streetsblog readers. The transportation bill is still stalled in Congress, no one can agree on how to fund anything, bike-ped programs survived attack after attack only to get sucker-punched in the Senate bill, and we saw some states and cities make some pretty bad moves when it came to transportation policy.
But still, we saw bike-share popping up all over the country, we had more evidence that people were driving less and using transit more, and some visionary leaders led the way toward a better 2012.
Here’s where we cheer the bests and jeer the worsts of the year. Cast your vote for the 2011 Capitol Hill Streetsies by midnight Tuesday night. And don’t forget to donate to Streetsblog, so we can have more bests and fewer worsts next year.
Low Point of the Year (or, I Almost Threw in the Towel and Moved to Barbados When…)
- Despite high ridership, transit agencies faced crippling budget cuts (59%, 60 Votes)
- The whole victim-blaming, "cyclists are jerks" thing really caught on (22%, 22 Votes)
- State DOTs admitted they put politics ahead of economic analysis (19%, 20 Votes)
Total Voters: 102
Loading ......But I Stayed Because I Was So Inspired By:
- Despite lackluster leadership, voters consistently voting for transit, even when it means higher taxes (46%, 48 Votes)
- Mayor Rahm Emanuel's visionary progress on bike-ped, transit in Chicago (20%, 21 Votes)
- The Wolfpack cyclists beating the JetBlue plane during the Carmaggeddon-that-wasn't (13%, 14 Votes)
- I'm still waiting for my mayor to get all Lithuanian on cars parked in the bike lane (11%, 12 Votes)
- LA Mayor Villaraigosa taking his 30/10 plan national (10%, 10 Votes)
Total Voters: 105
Loading ...Best Obama Plan That Died a Slow and Horrible Death This Year
- High-speed rail, which was defunded by the House and is in trouble in California (47%, 47 Votes)
- His proposal for a 6-year transportation bill (26%, 26 Votes)
- The American Jobs Act, with $50B for infrastructure (17%, 17 Votes)
- Higher ozone standards, which Obama killed himself (10%, 10 Votes)
Total Voters: 100
Loading ...Public Enemy #1 For Bike-Ped
- Oklahoma Sen. James Inhofe, who took the high road on the petty attacks so he could deal the final death blow to dedicated bike-ped funding himself (39%, 36 Votes)
- Oklahoma Sen. Tom Coburn, who tried to hold up urgent legislation until the Senate killed Transportation Enhancements (26%, 24 Votes)
- Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul, who compares active transportation to "turtle tunnels" and "craziness" like that (20%, 19 Votes)
- Majority Leader Eric Cantor, whose spending "compromise" is no compromise at all (15%, 14 Votes)
Total Voters: 93
Loading ...Most Outrageous Attack on Cyclists and Pedestrian of 2011
- Raquel Nelson, in mourning for her young son, gets charged with vehicular homicide for crossing the street in ped-unfriendly Atlanta suburbs (77%, 72 Votes)
- Detroit father charged with child endangerment for riding bikes with his kids (12%, 11 Votes)
- Seattle cops disproportionately blame pedestrians, cyclists for crashes (6%, 6 Votes)
- Tennessee mom threatened with arrest for letting her daughter ride to school (5%, 5 Votes)
Total Voters: 93
Loading ...States That Got It All Wrong
- Wisc. Gov. Scott Walker does too, and then breaks the bank on highway spending (52%, 51 Votes)
- Florida Gov. Rick Scott kills high-speed rail plans (18%, 18 Votes)
- Texas builds mega-highways to please ExxonMobil, despite environmental damage (15%, 15 Votes)
- Florida exacerbates the foreclosure crisis by building more sprawl (9%, 9 Votes)
- Maine governor squashes award-winning smart-growth plan (6%, 5 Votes)
Total Voters: 98
Loading ...Sweet, Sweet Victory
- Following national outcry, Georgia mom Raquel Nelson gets a new trial (37%, 33 Votes)
- Under pressure from cyclists, AASHTO withdraws objection to "due accommodation" rule (29%, 26 Votes)
- US Park Service reconsiders senseless ban on bike-share on the National Mall (22%, 20 Votes)
- Cyclists shame GM into removing their ludicrous "drive-the-ride" ad (12%, 11 Votes)
Total Voters: 90
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