Apparently the Trump administration is just calling anything it doesn’t like “DEI”.
With this latest move, the administration is assuming that all cyclists are liberals, and their lives and safety are not a concern.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy announced Tuesday that his department would redirect $1.73 billion in Biden-era grants away from establishing “DEI bike lanes” to build roads and bridges instead. So, what exactly is a “DEI bike lane?”
The Daily Wire pointed to former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg’s claim that a series of 2021 grants funding bike lanes would serve to “improve infrastructure, strengthen supply chains, make us safer, advance equity, and combat climate change.”
Upon hearing “equity,” President Donald Trump’s goons can’t help but get triggered into attacking any federal spending that won’t benefit them directly. In reality, those Biden-era grants directed funds to build a new transit center in North Carolina, replace bridges in New Mexico, extend streets in New Hampshire, install traffic lights and crosswalks in Missouri, and install bike lanes in Seattle, among other projects. Now the financial status of these projects is unclear.
The Daily Wire also complained that when the Biden administration announced the availability of $1.5 billion in grants in 2023, applicants were encouraged “to consider how their projects can address climate change, ensure racial equity, and remove barriers to opportunity.” Those funds were already awarded to dozens of projects across the country—not just bike lanes—in both rural and urban areas.
The Trump administration has made extensive efforts to root out federal programs addressing racial discrimination. Now it seems that to even have considered racial inequality is grounds for losing millions of dollars.
“America is fortunate to have a Builder in the White House who knows America is only as great as our infrastructure,” Duffy stated. “That’s why this Department is investing in repairing critical roads and bridges that connect Americans to job opportunities, port infrastructure that bolsters our national security, and aviation and transit projects that move American families.”
But American families benefit from the presence of bike lanes, even if they don’t use them. Even the federal government acknowledges that bicycle lanes make roads a lot safer.
“To make bicycling safer and more comfortable for most types of bicyclists, State and local agencies should consider installing bicycle lanes,” said a statement from the Federal Highway Administration. “Providing bicycle facilities can mitigate or prevent interactions, conflicts, and crashes between bicyclists and motor vehicles, and create a network of safer roadways for bicycling.”
Rather, it seems likely that the Trump administration has chosen to zero in on bike lanes because they may be associated with urban areas that are led by Democrats and home to minority groups.
The move is simultaneously a blow to the diverse communities in American cities and a cheap culture-war win over the liberal urbanites. At the same time, the policy is in line with Trump’s efforts to boost gas-powered vehicles. Studies have shown that the overwhelming majority of people who identify as conservative republicans assume that cyclists as far left liberals, so this is a double win in their view.
But American families will suffer from a lack of bike lanes too, especially with gas prices remaining high—and likely to stay that way.
