Road bike and pedestrian advocates blasted a compromise surface transportation bill reached late Wednesday night by a Congressional conference committee, saying it cuts funding for bike lanes and sidewalks by 60 to 70 percent.


“Unfortunately, this bill is a step backwards for America's transportation system,” said Kevin Mills, vice president of policy and trail development for the Rails-to-Trails Conservancy. “Turning its back on decades of progress toward a balanced transportation system, it unduly tilts transportation investments to favor roads and highways, and disregards the needs of Americans who choose to walk or bike to get where they're going. As a result, our communities will miss opportunities to cut congestion, increase safety, promote physical activity and create jobs.”


Congress is expected to vote on the Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act (MAP-21) as early as Friday, June 29 so President Obama can sign it July 1 when the federal fiscal year begins. If approved, the bill would keep highway and transit spending at current levels through the end of fiscal year 2014, assuring construction can continue on thousands of local transportation projects that employ tens of thousands of workers.


Reforms to speed up costly environmental review process“I believe we truly have a good bill – one conservatives can be proud to support,” said Senator James Inhofe (R-OK), ranking minority member who helped guide the bill through conference committee with Sen. Barbara Boxer, (D-CA).  “Throughout the conference, we strove for solid conservative reforms.”

 

Those included slashing the number of programs by two-thirds by consolidating duplicate programs or eliminating programs that don’t serve a national transportation goal. The bill also cuts the lengthy and often duplicative environmental review process for road projects from an average of 15 years down to 7, while  increasing the role of state and local governments.

 

“We made sure that states were able to spend highway money on their highest priorities rather than being forced to address Washington’s priorities,” said Inhofe. “I look forward to Congress passing this bipartisan jobs bill as soon as possible.” 

 

Funding for bike lanes and sidewalks gutted

Road bike and pedestrian advocates, however, said the  compromise takes the country in the wrong direction at a time when Americans are looking for healthier, less expensive modes of transportation close to home.


“We are deeply concerned that bicycling and walking programs suffer large and disproportionate cuts in funding in the new bill,” reads a statement issued Thursday by America Bikes and the Safe Routes to School National Partners. “Programs that save lives and dollars are eliminated.”

 

In their joint statement, America Bikes and the Safe Routes to School National Partners said the bill:


  • Cuts available biking and walking funds by 60 to 70 percent and combines biking and walking programs into a single program, Transportation Alternatives, with drastically reduced funding. In this scenario, biking and walking projects will have to compete with road and environmental mitigation projects that are now eligible for the same pool of money. This will make it harder for local communities to compete for funding for local biking and walking projects.
  • Eliminates dedicated Safe Routes to School funding. The bill eliminates dedicated funding for the massively popular and cost-effective Safe Routes to School program, which helps make walking and biking to school safer for millions of American schoolchildren.
  • Allows states to opt-out of half of the funds potentially available for small-scale biking and walking projects.

“This two-year bill represents a major step backwards in transportation policy for transportation choices and healthy physical activity,” the two organization said.


Recreational Trails Program mostly intact


Advocates of unpaved or natural trails, on the other hand, welcomed the Conference Committee's decision to leave the Recreational Trails Program largely intact for another two years, although governors may now opt out of the entire program.


“The Recreational Trails Program (RTP) is continued intact as the Kloubuchar amendment was retained,” reported the advocacy group American Trails on its website Thursday. “However, States may apparently opt out of the entire program. Funding is set at $85 million a year for two years and three months.

The RTP funds come from the Federal Highway Trust Fund, and represent a portion of the motor fuel excise tax collected from nonhighway recreational fuel use: fuel used for off-highway recreation by snowmobiles, all-terrain vehicles, off-highway motorcycles, and off-highway light trucks. They are set aside to benefit recreation, including hiking, bicycling, in-line skating, equestrian use, cross-country skiing, snowmobiling, off-road motorcycling, all-terrain vehicle riding, four-wheel driving, or using other off-road motorized vehicles.


If approved the bill would keep highway and transit spending at current levels through the end of fiscal year 2014.