Article URL: https://www.npr.org/2026/07/23/nx-s1-5900901/bike-lanes-dot-websites Comments URL: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49075350 Points: 43 # Comments: 22

Cycling activists protest against the federal government's plan to remove bike lanes near the National Mall in Washington, D.C., in March 2026. Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images hide caption WASHINGTON — In the two weeks since Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy vowed to end support for "DEI bike lanes," a growing list of bike-related safety materials have disappeared from the Federal Highway Administration's website. Even agency staff have been left guessing about why, said a person who works in web support for agencies at the Department of Transportation. They requested anonymity because they fear retribution for speaking publicly. The person said FHWA staff have been asked to find, and in some cases take down, any references to bikes and bike lanes. "We're not making the sites better, faster or quicker, you know, able to provide real information to the communities that use these resources," they said. "It's asinine." Federal transportation officials have pulled down or edited dozens of pages of safety resources in the past week, according to an analysis by the Internet Archive Wayback Machine and internal FHWA emails obtained by NPR. While there has been no official explanation, the changes appear to be part of a broader push to find and remove road safety materials from the FHWA website. Earlier this month, the FHWA quietly removed a set of recommendations — including bike lanes and speed cameras — from a list of "Proven Safety Countermeasures" that have been vetted by agency staff and shown to improve road safety.