Obama on a trike

the candidate
on bikes

Kweenkong, over at The South Side Star, ran an impromptu caption contest for this picture of a young Barack on his trike. Among all the submissions my odds on favorite has to be,

Blue shirt - check!
Blue shorts - check!
Blue tricycle - check!
Blue states - check!

If you hadn't noticed, Obama is my odds on favorite for our next president. He's no stranger to the streets as his 2004 autobiography shows. And for the last few months the bike-o-sphere has been highlighting his support for bike advocacy.

Chris, who blogs at Trailtapes, wrote Obama asking his support for Senate Bill 858: the Bicycle Commuters Benefits Act of 2007. It's an amendment to the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 that would extend the transportation fringe benefit to bike commuters. A similar tax exemption is currently underway in the UK.

Obama's reply includes:

The benefits of commuting by bicycle is almost an endless list — reducing harmful emissions, reducing congestion, reducing petroleum consumption, promoting personal health — but our public policies have evolved to where smart and sustainable transportation uses are discouraged.

Roads are designed without pedestrian or bike paths, office and shopping parks are designed around the automobile, and even the best transit systems may be incompatible with bike use. It is time to revisit all federal policies to better accommodate the energy and environmental health priorities of the 21st century.