WABA fights for a region where biking, walking and transit are the best ways to get around.

We educate policymakers and organize grassroots advocates for to speak up for safer places to bike and walk; and for laws and policies that protect people who are walking and biking, reduce dangerous driving, and facilitate changes to the built environment.

WABA develops and advocates for state legislation to make bicycling in Maryland safer and more accessible and for state funding to expand Maryland’s bicycle network, working directly with legislators and Maryland Dept. of Transportation (MDOT) leadership and as part of the Bike Maryland coalition. We also work on broader road-safety, transit, and environmental legislation and funding, typically as part of larger statewide coalitions. The annual Maryland legislative session runs from January to April, but our work developing legislation starts the preceding summer.

We’re thrilled that several bills we worked on or supported were enacted in 2024, directing an MDOT Vision Zero Coordinator and public review process; the Better Bus Service Act, allowing bus-lane enforcement cameras (with bikes allowed); authorizing stop-sign cameras near schools in Prince George's County; and the Sarah Debbink Langenkamp Memorial Act, addressing penalties for hitting a cyclist in a bike lane.

Our 2024 advocacy included unsuccessful efforts that we will likely pursue in future years. (It often takes years to pass a bill. ) These include a Great Maryland Trails Act, an E-bike Rebate and Voucher Program bill, and a bill addressing maintenance responsibility for sidewalks and bike paths along state roads. Another topic on our list for 2025 is contributory negligence, a prejudicial statute that says that if a crash victim is even only 1% at fault, then they are liable and may not recover (full) costs and damages from the party largely at fault.

Virginia's legislative sessions are brief and hectic. Over the course of the year, WABA works with a variety of partners including the Virginia Bicycling Federation to build support for bike-friendly legislation, as well as funding for trails and street safety improvements.

Past victories include law requiring drivers to pass bicyclists with at least three feet of space, allowing bicycles on VRE Trains,  and funding for the Long Bridge bike and pedestrian crossing over the Potomac River. Current priorities include legalizing the Bicycle Stop-as-Yield, an e-bike purchase incentive program, and allowing bicyclists to proceed on the Leading Pedestrian Interval at stop lights. 

WABA's legislative work in the District of Columbia falls roughly into three categories:

Funding for (and a requirement to build) specific projects: this is how projects like the Florida Ave NE and 9th St NW protected bike lanes have become a reality. We push for this kind of legislative intervention when there's political pressure on the District Department of Transportation to delay a project, or propose a less safe alternative.

Systemic change to the decision-making process that make it easier to build safer streets (and harder to maintain the deadly status quo): The 2021 Vision Zero Omnibus bill included a number of these changes, including requirements that DDOT incorporate pedestrian and bike infrastructure on large projects.

Policy change that makes our streets safer: beyond changes to the built environment, we also push for policy improvements. Past successes include reforming Contributory Negligence so that insurance companies can't deny claims from people who've been hurt by drivers; incorporating bike and pedestrian safety into driver's tests at the DMV; and requiring construction companies to provide safe accommodations when they close bike lanes and sidewalks during construction. Current priorities include implementing automated enforcement ticket reciprocity with Maryland and Virginia so that suburban drivers can't drive dangerously without repercussions, and deprioritizing the Level of Service engineering standard.

Montgomery County's budgeting process, both for its annual budget and its 6-year Capital Improvement Program, takes place in the spring. WABA works with grassroots advocates and partner organizations to build support on the County Council for funding individual projects and to ensure that the relevant agencies (usually Parks, Planning, Transportation) have the resources required to grow and maintain the County's active transportation network.

Current priorities include funding the Montgomery County Equitable Bikeways proposal, completion of the Capital Crescent Trail from Bethesda to Silver Spring, and developing an e-bike purchase rebate program.

Prince George's County's budgeting process, both for its annual budget and its 6-year capital budget,  takes place in the spring. WABA works with grassroots advocates and partner organizations to build support on the County Council for funding individual projects and to ensure that the Department of Public Works and Transportation and the Parks Department  have the resources required to grow and maintain the County's active transportation network. 

Current priorities include expanding Capital Bikeshare in the county, funding trail development to expand the Capital Trails Network, additional design, engineering, and grant-writing staff at DPWT, and an e-bike purchase rebate program.