Transportation Bill Cuts Funding For Biking and Walking

Even though biking and walking reduces congestion on the roadways and reduces the level of green house gasses admitted into the atmosphere, Congress is proposing a bill that would greatly reduce funding for local biking and walking projects. According to the Active Transportation Alliance, the proposed federal bill would reduce spending for these projects from between 40 and 100 percent. Federal money for walking or biking would be reduced by 40 percent, but the cash strapped states would be allowed to divert this money to other transportation projects, most likely roads, meaning that in some states the reduction could be as much as100 percent.

Active Transportation Alliance notes that biking and walking nationally account for 12 percent of all trips but receives only 1.5 percent of federal spending. Ron Burke, executive director of Active Transportation Alliance states: “We are concerned that people who chose to walk and bike will get the short end of the stick as a result of disproportionate cuts in the proposed bill. With gas prices and roadway congestion increasing, and more and more people wanting communities that are friendly to walking and biking, this bill is a step in the wrong direction.”