Adam Voiland

For decades, dueling camps of cycling advocates have feuded about how to best accommodate riders. Some have pushed for the construction of Dutch-style cycle tracks, arguing that separated lanes make bicycling safer and less intimidating, while others have insisted such infrastructure isolates riders and makes cycling more dangerous than simply remaining within the flow of traffic.

The opposition of some Republicans to any transportation policy that doesn't follow the highway-oriented status quo seems to be reaching a fever pitch this election season. Just look to New Jersey, where Republican Governor Chris Christie just killed the ARC rail tunnel. Or to Wisconsin, where gubernatorial candidate Scott Walker has made opposition to rail central to his campaign. Or to Colorado, where Tea Party-backed Dan Maes launched a bizarre attack on the city’s modest bike-sharing program.

Last March, conservative talk show host Rush Limbaugh made clear that he’s not the sort to shed tears when cyclists get doored. Indeed, cyclists, in his mind, belong on the sidewalks instead of the streets.

At a networking event for young transportation professionals yesterday, a member of the Department of Transportation's policy team offered insight into the Obama administration's strategy as it attempts to reset the nation's transportation polices.

The critical multi-year transportation bill, which lawmakers have sidelined since last summer as they've quarreled about how to pay for it, looks to be back on the agenda after President Obama's pugnacious Labor Day speech, in which he called on Congress to ramp up investment in transportation. The broad outline of Obama's plan calls for rebuilding 150,000 miles of roads, constructing 4,000 miles of rail, and rehabilitating 150 miles of runway over the next six years.

It makes intuitive sense that cycling and walking to work regularly would help people stay healthy, but until now there's only been anecdotal evidence suggesting that places where walking or cycling to work is common also have lower rates of obesity.

Two reports released last week underscored the increasing severity of America's obesity epidemic. And the eye-opening findings add to the mounting evidence that stopping the spread of obesity and its attendant health risks will require changes to the nation’s transportation system as surely as it demands altering our diets.

At an event billed as a “town hall” held at USDOT headquarters yesterday, top department officials answered questions about the future of the nation’s road, rail, bus, and bike networks -- even as the prospects of passing a comprehensive transportation reauthorization bill anytime this year appear as dim as ever. Already, reauthorization of the transportation bill is nearly a year overdue, as lawmakers have failed to muster the will to pay for it.