US govt cuts back on bike facility funds
Thursday, July 17, 2003

US govt cuts back on bike facility funds

A US federal government House subcommittee has voted to eliminate funding for bike facilities from the 2004 federal budget. Instead, the committee redirected the money to highways, according to USA bicycle advocacy group America Bike.

"Funding for the Transportation Enhancements program was zeroed out in the 2004 federal budget by a House Appropriations subcommittee on Friday," states a report. "The bill increases highway funding to $34.1 billion, an increase of $2.5 billion over 2003 levels, in part by entirely cutting funding for Enhancements, and severely reducing money available for new transit projects and Amtrak. A vote by the full Appropriations Committee may happen next Monday.

"America Bikes and its partners are mobilizing cyclists to ask Congress to restore full funding for this important program. America Bikes is particularly concerned because not only does this move eliminate the most important source of federal funding for bike facilities in 2004, it also sets a bad precedent for the next 6 year transportation bill, jeopardizing the bicycle community’s efforts to strengthen existing programs, build safer roads, and create a strong national Safe Routes to School program." For further information, visit the America Bikes site.

http://www.americabikes.org/saveenhancements.asp

League Launches New Advocacy Center at Critical Time:
Federal Funding for Bicycling in Danger for 2004

The House Transportation Appropriations subcommittee recently cut federal
funding for a majority of bicycle projects for FY 2004 by prohibiting
funds from being used for transportation enhancements. They have also
severely cut or eliminated funding for a number of other bicycling
sources, such as the Transportation and Community Preservation Pilot
Program (TCSP).

The full Appropriations Committee is expected to vote on this measure as
early as Monday, July 21. The League is requesting all bicyclists contact
their Members of Congress and urge them to restore funding for bicycling
in the Transportation Appropriations Bill for FY 2004. Regardless of
whether your member is on the Appropriations Committee or not, it is
imperative that ALL Members of Congress realize how important enhancements
and TCSP funding is to bicyclists. Not only do we need funding restored
for FY 2004, but your message should also serve as a future reminder to
Congress that these programs must be preserved and strengthened in TEA-21
reauthorization.

To contact Congress, please visit the League’s new Advocacy Center at
http://www.bikeleague.org. Click on the "Enhancements May Be In Danger"
button on the right. You can determine who your Senators and Members of
Congress are and send them a message on this issue as well as other issues
of importance to bicycling.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact Melé
Williams, Director of Government Relations at mailto:[email protected].

photos by Jonathan McElvery, Jack Milton, and BikeReg.com