Our advocacy work at the local, state, and federal levels is focused on improving infrastructure, passing laws to protect people walking, biking, and rolling, and addressing barriers that communities face when trying to improve conditions for active modes.

Our Philosophy of Advocacy

• To advocate for projects and policies that support our mission and vision
• To keep people walking, biking, rolling, and using transit as the primary focus when reviewing projects and policies, making suggestions for changes, and advocating for those changes
• To make the majority of our advocacy be proactive to work toward the goal of making it safe, accessible & fun to bike, walk, and roll in VT. There are times, however, where we may choose to react to a recent event as an illustrative example.

Our Approach to Advocacy

• Base our recommendations on research and practices from credible and effective sources; industry standards/sources
• Collaborate with our partners and not fear from offering a dissenting voice, if it aligns with our philosophy of advocacy
• Expect to compromise
• Keep our advocacy work separate from our grant-funded work. (Time is tracked; funded by non-grant revenue)
• To publicly post our statewide legislative priorities
• Follow State and Federal lobbying laws

2025 State Legislative Outcomes

• We changed law to allow bicycle use of pedestrian signals. The major win from this session, starting in July 2026, people on bikes will be able to legally proceed through a signalized intersection when the pedestrian signal is active in their direction of travel, even if the light is red. Many people already do this, and it has been legal in Burlington for several years. This practice enhances safety for people biking by allowing us to clear intersections before cars begin moving.
• We defined bicycle signals. Bike signals are commonly used in places with more developed bike networks in scenarios where bicycle traffic needs to be controlled separately from motor vehicle traffic. Vermont installed its first bike signal in Hartford, VT last summer, and more are planned as part of future projects. By defining bike signals in state law, we have ensured that these devices have a uniform legal meaning throughout the state, and eliminated the need for each municipality seeking to install a bicycle signal to define them in its municipal code.
• We advocated for education around bike regulations. The State, in consultation with partners like Local Motion, will implement an education campaign focused on safe and legal operation of bikes on roadways. It will include education around bike use of pedestrian signals and the 4’ passing rule adopted last year following our advocacy.

2024 State Legislative Outcomes

• We changed Vermont’s vulnerable user passing law to require that drivers give at least four feet of clearance when passing people walking, biking, and rolling
• We fixed Vermont’s definition of “pedestrian” so that it includes people using manual wheelchairs and other assistive devices, which ensures that these users are extended the same legal right-of-way as other pedestrians
• We removed Vermont’s requirement that people use sidewalks when present, recognizing that sidewalks are often impassable for people using walkers and wheelchairs
• We protected Vermont’s e-bike incentive program from being eliminated
• We started a conversation in the Statehouse about making it legal for people on bikes to treat stop signs as yield signs when no other traffic is present, and allowing people on bikes to cross on pedestrian signals—both of which will be studied over the summer and return as topics in the 2025 session
• We advocated for VTrans' Carbon Reduction Strategy to fund bike and pedestrian projects and transit, and got 2/3rds of the funding allocated to those categories.