Wanna know the latest about the Move MN campaign and the American Heart Association's involvement? Then check out this message from AHA Campaign Coordinator, Erik Petzel.
We have been busy this summer building support for passing a multi-model transportation funding package, including dedicated funding for bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure in 2015. As part of the Move MN coalition, a growing coalition of more than 200 elected officials, communities, organizations, associations, and businesses dedicated to fixing Minnesota's transportation problem, AHA attended several events throughout the summer to help build awareness for this work.
Thanks to the help of some of our awesome You’re the Cure advocates, AHA has collected over 1,600 petitions in support of Move MN and improving our state’s bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure at events around the state, from the St. Paul Classic Bike Tour to the Northland Heart Walk in Duluth. A BIG thank you to all of you who volunteered!
You’ll be hearing a lot more from us on this large initiative throughout the next year, so we thought now would be a great time to help answer the question we get asked most frequently. Why is AHA involved in transportation? The answer is simple:
The proposed bill that Move MN supports would be a historic win for health and active living advocates in Minnesota by providing, for the first time in the history of our state, significant, dedicated and statewide funding for developing and improving the bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure in Minnesota. Even better, Safe Routes to School, a program AHA has been instrumental in advocating for over the past several years, is named in the text of the bill as a program that is eligible for this funding!
Minnesota is experiencing an obesity epidemic. More than 60% of Minnesota adults are overweight or obese. This means 2.2 million of us are at risk for high blood pressure, diabetes, heart disease, stroke and certain cancers. AHA sees dedicated investments that promote and encourage safe and convenient transportation options for pedestrians and bicyclists as a major step in our efforts to help build healthy lives in Minnesota, free of cardiovascular disease and stroke, by providing the conditions necessary for people to incorporate physical activity into their daily lives.
- Nearly half of Minnesotans’ trips are three miles or less and 27% are no more than a mile, ideal distances for walking and bicycling for most people, but as many as 69% of these trips are taken in motor vehicles.
- Communities throughout Minnesota lack basic infrastructure to allow more walking and bicycling. Less than a quarter of Minnesotans report their neighborhood as having bicycle paths or sidewalks on most of the streets in their neighborhood.
- Transportation options such as walking and bicycling help reduce air pollution, which poses a major health risk and can lead to breathing problems, lung tissue damage and contribute to cardiovascular events like heart attacks. If half of all short trips in the Twin Cities alone were done by bicycle in just the summer, each year an estimated 300 deaths and $57 million in medical costs from lung diseases, obesity and heart disease would be prevented.
Are you willing to get involved and help us pass this historic campaign? Then let us know! Contact Erik Petzel, at [email protected].
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