Posted on by B Spokes

Rescissions hit bike programs hard

The League of American Bicyclists (LAB) has a article about rescissions which I will highlight:
"For example, after the last round of rescission, Washington Area Bicycle Association (WABA) members sent almost 700 emails to the DOT director to express displeasure with bike/ped rescissions. This time DC was among those that rescinded nothing for TE."
Writing works, getting involved works. Be apart of the change.
While Maryland was not specifically mentioned but LAB notes "you can send an alert to your governor asking that TE (MD’s issue is CMAQ) is spent quickly and not unfairly rescinded in the future."
Does that mean the problem is basically Maryland doesn’t spend the money and doesn’t plan to spend the money so the Feds ask for it back? Yep, that’s the basic problem. I will also note that there is nothing faster then bike/ped projects going from planning to being on the ground.

https://www.bikeleague.org/blog/2010/10/rescissions-hit-bike-programs-hard/oldId.20101003131144286

2 Replies to “Rescissions hit bike programs hard”

  1. At the NACTO Cities for Cycling event on Thursday night Kartik Sribarra (Policy Outreach Manager for the Rails-to-Trails Conservancy) said that the cuts in Maryland had not disproportionately targeted funds for walking & bicycling. Their Website (https://support.railstotrails.org/site/PageNavigator/20100930_Main_TE_Rescissions_page) has more information and specifically asks Maryland residents to thank Governor O’Malley for not dramatically cutting Transportation Enhancements funding.

  2. As I noted in the article MD’s issue on rescissions is with the CMAQ funds (which could go to bike/ped projects if the State will let.) Rails-to-Trails did not report on CMAQ funds.
    In summary: the largest source of bike/ped funds TE (Transportation Enhancements) Maryland spends the smallest amount on bike /ped projects compared to other states. This is not good although the rescission amount was fair.
    CMAQ (Congestion Management and Air Quality) funds have been typically used by major cities for bike/ped projects but Baltimore Metro spends NO CMAQ money on bike/ped projects. Yet the State gave back $4M, ask Nate what he could do with $4M.
    In short, funding that could have been used to enhance cycling in Baltimore City just went by-by.

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