Active Transportation Loses a Key Republican Ally as Rep. Tom Petri Retires

For years, if there was a Republican sponsor of a good piece of legislation on active transportation in the House, more often than not it was Tom Petri of Wisconsin. Advocates will be sorry to learn that Rep. Petri has announced that after 35 years in Congress, he will not seek another term.

Petri is the Republican co-chair of Rep. Earl Blumebauer’s Congressional Bicycling Caucus, he recently helped launch Partnership for Active Transportation, and he’s a regular at the National Bike Summit. But he really stole everybody’s heart when he was the sole committee Republican to vote against the disastrous House transportation bill in 2012. He says he voted against it “primarily because it slashed highway funding for Wisconsin,” but we suspect that if his amendment to restore Safe Routes to School funding had succeeded, he might have decided to support the bill.

When Petri was named chair of the Highways and Transit Subcommittee, it seemed the often-sidelined party outsider would be able to inject a little bit of reason into the proceedings before the passage of a new transportation bill. The hearings he’s held on MAP-21 have been thoughtful, and he’s given considerable attention to the needs of transit, but he hasn’t had much opportunity in the committee to focus on bike and pedestrian issues.

If a bill does pass before a new session begins in January, Petri will have a hand in helping craft it. But if, as most people expect, Congress punts this summer, passing some kind of extension to keep funding going while they stall on finding a sustainable revenue source, Petri will likely be out by the time real negotiations get going.

Streetsblog has requested an exit interview with Rep. Petri before he leaves office. We look forward to bringing you his parting thoughts.