Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg to address League of American Bicyclists

U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg will address the League of American Bicyclists’ annual National Bike Summit on Wednesday. The four-day summit is being held virtually this year.

More than 1,000 bike advocates are expected to participate in this summit.

“The League knows communities are stronger, people are happier, and life is better for everyone when more people can safely and easily choose to go places by bike,” said Bill Nesper, the League’s executive director. “Based on his work overseeing the transformation of South Bend into a Bicycle Friendly Community, we’re excited to have a Secretary of Transportation in Pete Buttigieg, who also knows the benefits of bicycling and we can’t wait to discuss his vision for the future of our transportation system at the National Bike Summit.”

Buttigieg will speak at noon ET Wednesday. Following his remarks, he will participate in a sit-down discussion with Nesper.

Sen. Tom Carper, D-Del., and Rep. Peter DeFazio, D-Ore., were scheduled to speak at the virtual event on Monday. Carper, chairman of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, has pledged to draft a bill that will go further than the Senate’s 2019 version of the transportation bill in addressing climate change, safety, and innovation. DeFazio, chairman of the House Transportation & Infrastructure Committee, has promised a “transformative” transportation bill, the League said.

“Having these three national transportation leaders joining us at the Summit is a powerful recognition of the millions of American who bike to run errands, to head to work, or as a part being active, and of the hundreds of thousands of advocates in our movement to build better places for people to bike, whether for fun or to everyday destinations,” said Nesper.

Other policymakers speaking at the National Bike Summit include Rep. Earl Blumenauer, D-Ore., who is the co-chair of the Congressional Bike Caucus, Rep. Ayanna Pressley, D-Mass., who co-chairs the Future of Transportation Caucus, and Rep. Adriano Espaillat, D-N.Y., a member of the House Transportation & Infrastructure Committee.

Buttigieg has earned recent headlines for his support of cycling and other alternative transportation methods.

“We think of trains, planes, and automobiles, but what about bikes, scooters, wheelchairs for that matter?” Buttigieg said during a recent interview with Axios. “Roads aren’t only for vehicles. We’ve got to make sure that pedestrians and individuals and bicyclists and businesses can all coexist on the same roadway.”

Cabinet secretaries ⁦@bikeshare⁩ home from work, too. A person who appears to be ⁦@SecretaryPete⁩ rolling through Navy Yard just now: pic.twitter.com/CmMS9psCQu

— Michael Stratford (@mstratford) February 25, 2021

On Thursday, images circulated on social media of Buttigieg riding on one of Washington D.C.’s red bike share bicycles. In a scenario typical to Twitter, some people criticized Buttigieg’s seat height, to which others criticized the criticism of Buttigieg, which kicked off 800 or so comments on Buttigieg’s Twitter post.

After an examination of Buttigieg on his bicycle, VeloNews has determined that his seat height is just fine.