DOGE’s War on Bike Lanes and "Woke" Transportation Policies
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy has made it unmistakably clear: he is no friend to cyclists — or, more broadly, to the growing movement for equitable, sustainable, and liberated cities. Under the cynical guise of fighting “woke” policies, DOGE and Duffy are orchestrating a brutal rollback of transportation initiatives designed to make our streets safer, cleaner, and more accessible to all. In doing so, they are not simply tweaking bureaucratic programs; they are waging a full-blown ideological war against public space itself — funneling resources back into the insatiable maws of the automobile and oil oligarchies that have long treated American cities as their private playgrounds.
At a Senate Environment and Public Works Committee hearing, Duffy insisted he was merely following "the will of Congress" as he launched a sweeping review of thousands of transportation grants, searching for any project tainted by the sins of environmental justice, gender equity, or — his particular boogeyman — bicycle infrastructure. This purge, enforced with a bureaucratic ferocity rarely applied to the bloated budgets of endless highway expansions, serves a singular purpose: to strangle at birth any challenge to car supremacy, even at the cost of public safety, climate resilience, and fiscal sanity.
Despite claiming that “no funds have been frozen,” transportation projects across the country — including urgently needed street safety improvements here in New Orleans — have been delayed, obstructed, and outright sabotaged. Meanwhile, the Department of Transportation somehow finds time to meticulously comb through grant agreements, sniffing out any perceived whiff of progressive values. His hostility toward bicycles is no accident. It reflects a deeper allegiance: the defense of private domination over public space, the enshrinement of automobiles and oil as the twin gods of American urban life.
Duffy’s disdain was on full display at the World Economy Summit, where he spat the word "bikes" like a curse and regurgitated long-debunked myths: that bike lanes cause congestion and that they endanger riders. Yet every reputable transportation study — including those commissioned by Duffy’s own department — tells a different story: protected bike lanes reduce crashes for all users, improve traffic flow, and dramatically increase cycling rates across socio-economic lines.
It’s easy to see why many drivers — like Secretary Duffy — view an empty bike lane on a rainy day and grumble that the space should be "returned" to cars. This reaction stems from a deeply entrenched ideology that treats public space as private property for automobiles, spaces dominated by the auto industry and subsidized by working people. But the truth, confirmed by decades of research, is clear: when cities invest in safe, connected, and separated bike infrastructure, ridership increases across all classes — especially among workers who are economically marginalized and often priced out of car ownership altogether.
Duffy, if he were truly committed to "data-driven decisions," would find ample evidence from groups like People for Bikes showing that cities like Washington, D.C. and New York doubled their bike commuting rates within just four years by building meaningful networks of bike lanes. Making cities bikeable isn't simply about offering another transportation option; it’s about reclaiming public space from the profit motive and reorienting it toward the needs of human beings.
Holding extraordinary institutional power, Duffy is uniquely positioned to spark a transportation revolution — one that would move American cities away from the oil-soaked, car-dependent systems designed to profit the private sector. But such a transformation requires vision, courage, and a willingness to confront the entrenched private interests that profit from traffic deaths, pollution, and inequality. Early investments in bike infrastructure — even if initially modest or underused — should be understood as planting seeds for a system that will grow into a flourishing commons, returning dignity and mobility to working people.
Despite the endless hysteria about "woke" bike lanes, the truth is that less than 2% of federal transportation funding goes toward biking and walking combined — a mere pittance compared to the billions shoveled annually into car infrastructure. This grotesque imbalance isn't an oversight; it's a deliberate political project to uphold car supremacy, even at the expense of public health, safety, and environmental survival.
The myth that America’s car addiction is natural or inevitable collapses under scrutiny. Our giant SUVs and endless highways are the direct result of policy decisions — subsidies, deregulation, and marketing strategies driven by the automotive and oil industries to maximize profit, no matter the cost in blood or air. If Duffy truly cared about urban transformation, he would regulate vehicle size, invest in multimodal transportation, and begin dismantling the auto-industrial complex. But doing so would mean confronting the billionaires and corporations who have bought and paid for the American street — a fight Duffy shows no interest in picking.
Cold weather is no excuse either. Cities like Copenhagen, Montreal, and Oulu prove year after year that with proper infrastructure, people will bike through snow, rain, and freezing temperatures. It’s not climate that holds American cycling back — it’s the false promises of car culture and systemic neglect.
Finally, Duffy's endless calls for "more data" are nothing but a stalling tactic. There is already an overwhelming mountain of evidence — compiled by researchers, advocates, and even his own agency — demonstrating the profound benefits of bike infrastructure. Insisting on more studies is a time-worn strategy to delay change, preserve car dominance, and protect the profits of the few at the cost of the many.
The stakes could not be clearer here in New Orleans, a city already bearing the brutal costs of America’s addiction to cars. In recent months, New Orleans has seen a grim surge in pedestrian and cyclist deaths, many on streets designed for speed and sprawl rather than for human beings. Every life lost is not an accident; it is the predictable, preventable outcome of policy decisions that prioritize the velocity of machines over the value of human life.
But there is hope — and a path forward.
Movements across the country are building alternatives, and right here in New Orleans, I have proposed Plan Vieux Carré: a vision to reclaim the French Quarter as a people-first space, free from the tyranny of car traffic. Plan Vieux Carré is not just about creating a few more pedestrian malls; it’s about rejecting the neoliberal model that turns every inch of public space into a commodity for private profit. It is a call to resist, to dream, and to build cities where community, safety, and dignity come before convenience and greed.
What We Must Do:
Organize locally: Join or support groups fighting for safe streets, better public transit, and pedestrian zones in New Orleans.
Push for Plan Vieux Carré: Demand City Council and the Mayor prioritize people over cars in the French Quarter and beyond (Sign the Petition Here).
Demand infrastructure funding: Insist that federal, state, and local budgets allocate real money for bike infrastructure, sidewalks, and transit — not just street maintenance for the private automobile.
Challenge car culture: Advocate for limits on vehicle sizes, lower speed limits, and equitable land use policies.
Reclaim public space: Support tactical urbanism, parklets, and grassroots projects that take back streets for people.
Build solidarity: Understand that transportation justice is tied to racial justice, climate justice, and economic justice. Our fights are one and the same.
DOGE’s assault on bike lanes is not just petty bureaucracy — it is an attack on the very idea of cities as commons, as sites of freedom, care, and life. The question before us, in New Orleans and across this country, is simple: will our streets serve the many, or private interest? Will they nurture life, or accelerate death?
The streets belong to the people.
And they are worth fighting for.
—Eric Gabourel