October 2015

“Walking is one of the most powerful tools we have to increase physical activity and emotional well-being for kids.” These are the words of U.S. Surgeon General Dr.

The House Transportation & Infrastructure Committee has set its consideration of the transportation bill for Thursday, October 22. This is coming in just under the wire, as the current transportation law expires at the end of October.  Congress will still have to do an extension of current law to allow the House to complete its work and then come to agreement with the Senate -- hopefully by mid-December.  (Update 10/22/15:  The committee completed consideration of the Surface Transportation Reauthorization and Reform Act today.  An amendment offered by Reps.

Bayard Rustin, the orchestrator behind the scenes of what we hail today as the civil rights movement, once said, “We need in every bay and community a group of angelic troublemakers.”  Today, I bore witness to one of those angelic troublemakers by the name of Olatunji (Oboi) Reed, Co-Founder of Slow Roll Chicago, as he was recognized by the U.S. Department of Transportation as a 2015 White House Transportation Champion of Change.

Catcalling, leering, whistling, persistently asking for a woman’s name as she walks down the street – these are all forms of street harassment. Street harassment happens every day.  When people experience street harassment, they often shrug it off, unsure of how to respond and not wanting to make a big deal out of it. But street harassment is a form of harassment and can affect people’s comfort, stress, and behavior, whether they are conscious of it or not.