DOT bike safety websites lose cycling pages after removal order, NPR reports
NPR found DOT staff were told to remove bike and bike-lane references as the department reviews federal transportation guidance.
By Bianca Rossi · Entertainment Editor
3 min read
DOT bike safety websites have started losing public-facing cycling material after transportation employees were told to find and remove references to bikes, bike lanes and bike safety, according to an NPR investigation.
NPR reported that workers, including employees at the Federal Highway Administration, received instructions that led to dozens of safety pages being taken down or edited in the past week. One affected resource, according to NPR, was the Pedestrian and Bicycle Crash Analysis Tool.
The Pedestrian and Bicycle Crash Analysis Tool is a federal resource tied to analyzing crashes involving pedestrians and cyclists. NPR reported that public access to that tool was among the materials affected by the website changes.
Why is DOT removing bike safety pages?
The Department of Transportation said it is reviewing federal guidance because most Americans use cars for essential travel. In a written response to NPR, a department spokesperson said nearly 80% of the population uses cars to get to work and medical appointments, and that the department is checking whether federal guidance gives families the infrastructure they need.
The spokesperson also framed the review in political terms, criticizing what the statement described as the Left’s belief that people should ride bikes for a climate agenda. The department did not describe the removals as a bike safety rollback in the response reported by NPR.
One anonymous Department of Transportation staffer sharply criticized the move to NPR, calling the decision “asinine” and saying it was not making the websites better, faster or quicker.
The edits followed recent public comments from Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, who has described some Biden-era transportation priorities as diversity, equity and inclusion spending. In a post on X, Duffy said he had redirected $1.73 billion in USDOT grants away from what he called Biden-era DEI pet projects and toward roads, bridges and shipping ports.
NPR reported that two days after Duffy’s post, staffers were ordered to remove related language and update content “in alignment with administration direction.”
The website changes fit a broader shift in transportation and environmental policy under the Trump administration, according to the reporting cited by NPR and other outlets. The administration has revoked funding for alternative transportation infrastructure and removed environmental resources, including the former climate.gov domain.
The move away from bike and public transit information comes as oil prices reached $100 a barrel after hostilities returned between the Trump administration and the Iranian government, according to the reports cited in the coverage.
For cyclists, local planners and safety researchers, the practical concern is access. If federal pages and tools disappear or are rewritten, information once hosted by transportation agencies can become harder to find, even when the underlying safety issues remain on the road.
This story draws on original reporting from Mashable.