BETHLEHEM, Pa. — As car traffic whizzed by on West Broad Street on Friday, a celebration centered around the love of bicycles.
Coalition for Appropriate Transportation, a local nonprofit advocating and educating for bicycling, public transit and pedestrian safety, outside its headquarters announced it was awarded $634,122 to further its educational programming across the Lehigh Valley.
The money through the federal Transportation Alternative Set-Aside program will cover staffing, bicycle helmets, safety checks from skilled mechanics and other supplies needed for the nonprofit’s bicycle cooperative and off-site events for several years.
For CAT, with more than three decades of service to the Lehigh Valley and more than 4,000 children benefitting from its services annually, it’s a welcome boost to an already busy operation.
“These younger kids ages 5, 8, 10, 12 years old, TASA supports that they can enjoy their freedom and exhilaration and responsibility of navigating their neighborhoods, local trails."Coalition for Appropriate Transportation Executive Director Scott Slingerland
“These younger kids ages 5, 8, 10, 12 years old, TASA supports that they can enjoy their freedom and exhilaration and responsibility of navigating their neighborhoods, local trails,” CAT Executive Director Scott Slingerland said.
“And when they get a little older, to make these kids better drivers, no matter what kind of vehicle they drive.
“And for young people at age 14, 16 or 18 years old, a bicycle can be transportation to get to their first job.”
'Walk and roll!'
CAT sports a variety of programs, such as Holiday Bikes, which has provided 873 refurbished bikes for Lehigh Valley children for Christmas since 2017.
And since 2004, CAT has connected with more than 27,000 young people through its efforts, Slingerland said.
“For many kids, this is the first time they'll feel the freedom of riding on their own or the pride of fixing something with their own hands. Those moments can spark a lifetime of active, sustainable transportation.”Coalition for Appropriate Transportation Board President Bill Meiklejohn
“For many kids, this is the first time they'll feel the freedom of riding on their own or the pride of fixing something with their own hands," CAT Board President Bill Meiklejohn said.
“Those moments can spark a lifetime of active, sustainable transportation.”
Lehigh County Executive Phillips Armstrong, with a bit of a shimmy, said, “Walk and roll!”
The funding comes through the Transportation Alternative Set-Aside program, which funds “on- and off-road pedestrian and bicycle facilities, infrastructure projects for improving non-driver access to public transportation and enhanced mobility, community improvement activities, environmental mitigation, trails that serve a transportation purpose, and safe routes to school projects,” the commonwealth website reads.
TASA is funded through the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act and the state Transportation Department.
'Every single day, every single year'
Lehigh Valley Transportation Study, the Metropolitan Planning Organization of Lehigh Valley Planning Commission, has awarded $2.6 million in TASA grants to area agencies such as CAT.
Its mission is to “ensure every person has access to a safe and efficient transportation network that connects them to all areas of the region, whether they are walking, rolling, driving or riding,” LVTS Vice Chairman Ryan Meyer said.
Becky Bradley, executive director with Lehigh Valley Planning Commission, said research from LVPC shows the region emits 12.7 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent annually, or roughly 14.7 metric tons for each area resident.
Two-thirds of that figure is attributed to transportation, specifically passenger vehicles.
“So we know we can lower that number by reducing congestion and encouraging more people to bike, to walk, to take transit,” Bradley said.
“And CAT works on that mission every single day, every single year.”
"To move people, not just cars, through the city safely, sustainably and equitably.”Bethlehem Planning and Zoning Director Cathy Fletcher
Bethlehem Planning and Zoning Director Cathy Fletcher said “to move people, not just cars, through the city safely, sustainably and equitably” is the city’s role at hand.
And the TASA funding makes that a reality.
Beyond that, the city has announced major updates to come for the eastern and western ends of the Broad Street thoroughfare, all benefitting the safety of everyone using the roadway.
CAT will relocate from its current 1935 W. Broad St. headquarters to the ground floor of the new Walnut Street Garage downtown when it’s finished later this year.
There are other LVTS area funding announcements to come in the weeks ahead, including 1 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 28, at Keck Park, celebrating the efforts of Community Bike Works of Allentown.
