metromode’s recent interview with Robert F. Kennedy included a question on bike infrastructure investment. (Thanks, Kelly!)

mode: There are other environmental initiatives in Michigan right now, such as the Greenways Initiative, which is investing millions of dollars into a network of trails and bike lanes in Southeast Michigan. Can you speak to how such investment can spur economic development and whether or not such an investment is prudent in a time of recession and high unemployment?

RFK: Let me say this: Good economic policy is, 100 percent of the time, good environmental policy. Conservation produces many more jobs than does the exploitation of virgin resources. If, on the other hand, we treat the planet as a business in liquidation for a few years of pollution prosperity, for an illusion, our children are going to pay for our joyride. It is deficit spending — our prosperity on the backs of our children.

We are not protecting fish and birds here. Nature is the infrastructure of our community. If we want to meet our obligation as a generation, as a nation, as a civilization and provide the next generation with the community that our parents gave us, we have to start by protecting our environmental infrastructure. This is our lakes, bike ways, rivers — the landscapes that connect us to our past, our history, and provide a context to our communities. They are our source, ultimately, of values, virtues, our character as a people.

Investment in the environment does not somehow diminish our nation’s wealth. It is an investment in infrastructure, like telecommunications and roads. It ensures the economic vitality of our generation and the next generation.

Bike paths not worthy of federal support, says transportation secretary | Salon News: “In an Aug. 15 appearance on PBS’s ‘NewsHour With Jim Lehrer,’ Peters spoke against a proposal to raise gas taxes to shore up the nation’s aging infrastructure. The real problem, the secretary argued, is that only 60 percent of the current money raised by gas taxes goes to highways and bridges. She conveniently neglected to mention that about 30 percent of the money goes to public transit. She then went on to blast congressional earmarks, which dedicate 10 percent of the gas tax to some 6,000 other projects around the country. ‘There are museums that are being built with that money, bike paths, trails, repairing lighthouses. Those are some of the kind of things that that money is being spent on, as opposed to our infrastructure,’ she said. The secretary added that projects like bike paths and trails ‘are really not transportation.'”

From MDOT. Note that this MDOT questionaire asks many questions relevant to cyclists. Please take the time to take it. Thanks!

Do you use the state map? MDOT wants to hear your opinions
Aug 07, 2007

August 7, 2007 – – Even with the growing popularity of Global Positioning System (GPS) units, most motorists carry a map in their glove box. And although yours may be years old, and folded over many times, you probably use your state transportation map often to find your way and discover the great attractions of Michigan.

The Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) invites you to share your opinions about the state transportation map through a first-ever online questionnaire, available Aug. 6 through Sept. 7. To access the questionnaire, which takes a few minutes to complete, go to www.michigan.gov/mdot .

The questionnaire examines the features of the map, and how valuable those features are – – such as the mileage chart, location of state parks and hospitals and roadside parks – – and how you use the map.

“The state map is an exceptional value,” said State Transportation Director Kirk T. Steudle. “We want to learn from the residents of Michigan and out-of-state travelers how they feel about the state map and how we can improve it. This feedback will be taken into account as we develop the 2008 state transportation map.”

For anyone without access to a computer, a questionnaire can be requested by calling 877-627-6368. Questionnaires also will be available at Michigan’s 13 welcome centers.

MDOT has published the state transportation map for nearly 90 years. It is printed every year and distributed free of charge at Michigan’s welcome centers and MDOT offices. This year, the map features the magnificent Mackinac Bridge, which celebrates 50 years of service in 2007.

The results of the questionnaire, which asks about 20 questions, will be shared this fall on the MDOT Web site at www.michigan.gov/mdot .