Monday, July 11, 2011
Bike and ped funding in jeopardy
Major cuts to transportation funding are being proposed in Congress. According to WABA, in the latest draft of the transportation bill "Representative John Mica, Chair of the House Transportation Committee, cuts funding by 30% for all our nation’s transportation needs, and it lands a knock-out punch on the Safe Routes to School program by eliminating it entirely. All bike and pedestrian projects are essentially shut down thanks to this draft’s focus on auto-centric road projects and a mere suggestion, not a minimum baseline, that transportation dollars be spent on bike and pedestrian projects as set in the previous transportation bill."In the Senate, Senator Inhofe wants to eliminate all funding for these programs. Just last week he said that eliminating these investments is one of his top three priorities for the entire transportation bill—even though bicycling and walking funding makes up just 1.5% of all transportation spending, and 12% of all transportation trips.
Please contact your representatives in Congress today to ask them not to cut funding for bike and ped projects. WABA has made it easy to send the following message to your representatives:
Please support dedicated funding for biking and walking in the next transportation authorization bill.
Bicycling and walking are not partisan issues. They are increasingly popular and cost-effective modes of transportation. Each year, more and more people walk or bike, over 4 billion bicycle trips to work, school, transit or shops. For many people in America, walking and bicycling is the only form of transportation available to them because they are too young, too old or too poor to drive their own car. For other Americans, the health and environmental reasons are compelling.
But, as bicyclists and pedestrians, we face significant safety risks every time we step out the door because so many communities lack basic infrastructure like bike lanes, trails, crosswalks and even sidewalks. In fact 2/3 of pedestrian deaths occur on the federal aid highway system.
Programs like Transportation Enhancements, Safe Routes to School and the Recreational Trails program have provided critical dollars that help America’s communities install this much-needed bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure to ensure that biking and walking can be done safely. Furthermore, these projects create jobs and build local economies. Bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure creates 46% more jobs than building a road project per million dollars.
But now, Senator Inhofe wants to eliminate all funding for these programs. Just last week he said that eliminating these investments is one of his top three priorities for the entire transportation bill—even though bicycling and walking funding makes up just 1.5% of all transportation spending, and 12% of all transportation trips.
I implore you to contact Senators Boxer and Inhofe to let them know that you support continuing dedicated funding for bicycling and walking. Please stand up for Transportation Enhancements, Safe Routes to School and Recreational Trails.
I look forward to hearing back from you about your position and actions. Thank you for standing up for me on this important issue.
Bicycling and walking are not partisan issues. They are increasingly popular and cost-effective modes of transportation. Each year, more and more people walk or bike, over 4 billion bicycle trips to work, school, transit or shops. For many people in America, walking and bicycling is the only form of transportation available to them because they are too young, too old or too poor to drive their own car. For other Americans, the health and environmental reasons are compelling.
But, as bicyclists and pedestrians, we face significant safety risks every time we step out the door because so many communities lack basic infrastructure like bike lanes, trails, crosswalks and even sidewalks. In fact 2/3 of pedestrian deaths occur on the federal aid highway system.
Programs like Transportation Enhancements, Safe Routes to School and the Recreational Trails program have provided critical dollars that help America’s communities install this much-needed bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure to ensure that biking and walking can be done safely. Furthermore, these projects create jobs and build local economies. Bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure creates 46% more jobs than building a road project per million dollars.
But now, Senator Inhofe wants to eliminate all funding for these programs. Just last week he said that eliminating these investments is one of his top three priorities for the entire transportation bill—even though bicycling and walking funding makes up just 1.5% of all transportation spending, and 12% of all transportation trips.
I implore you to contact Senators Boxer and Inhofe to let them know that you support continuing dedicated funding for bicycling and walking. Please stand up for Transportation Enhancements, Safe Routes to School and Recreational Trails.
I look forward to hearing back from you about your position and actions. Thank you for standing up for me on this important issue.
Labels: Representative Mica, Senator Inhofe, transportation bill
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