From the Gazette:
"McClement said the best way for the city to contribute to the project was through in-kind work, and said fundraising could be done to help finance the rest of the project."
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There is an underlying error in the Aldermen’s thinking and it goes something like: cars pay for roads and cyclists don’t. Not to mention cars have superior rights for exclusive use of roads and can lawfully harm people, property and the environment in pursuit of fast transportation, as every second counts and it is totally worth killing at least a person a day so cars can save a few seconds.
Let’s look at the latter first. In order to save money Government can’t dump toxic waste in your back yard but some how they think they can do the equivalent when building roads. State laws say that the needs of bicyclists and pedestrains are part transportation planing and building. And that there is appropriate money available for this. (Laws after the fold.)
As for the first part, I’m thinking why not set up bicycle "user fee" just like cars. Let’s have a specialty tax that goes into a Bicycle Bank Trust Fund, just like cars who’s specialty taxes don’t go into the General Fund but into the Highway Trust Fund. So all the sales tax we are now paying would go into a separate account for our exclusive benefit just like cars. Of course the road building budget could not be supplemented by the General Fund to the same extent that it has been but why should cyclists be paying for exclusive car use anyway? If cars are not willing to share "their" money we should not be willing to share our money either.
From memory I remember seeing studies of several trails that brought in ~.$3 million to the local economy each. That’s $180,000 in sales tax revenue per year from cyclists. And unlike cars where only 16% money spent stays in the local economy cyclists support a wider verity of goods and services that support a stronger local economy.
In summary supporting car centricity is supporting foreign oil and an inactive life style. The public roadways should be serving the greater public good. Supporting bicycling financially is not the end of the automobile nor the road to economic ruin, it is in fact the opposite, the more people who we encourage to bike and walk by complete street designs the safer our roads will become for everyone and helps put more money into the local economy.
§ 2-602. Public policy.
The General Assembly finds that it is in the public interest for the State to include enhanced transportation facilities for pedestrians and bicycle riders as an essential component of the State’s transportation system, and declares that it is the policy of the State that:
(1) Access to and use of transportation facilities by pedestrians and bicycle riders shall be considered and best engineering practices regarding the needs of bicycle riders and pedestrians shall be employed in all phases of transportation planning, including highway design, construction, reconstruction, and repair as well as expansion and improvement of other transportation facilities;
(2) The modal administrations in the Department shall ensure that the State maintains an integrated transportation system by working cooperatively to remove barriers, including restrictions on bicycle access to mass transit, that impede the free movement of individuals from one mode of transportation to another;
(3) As to any new transportation project or improvement to an existing transportation facility, the Department shall work to ensure that transportation options for pedestrians and bicycle riders will be enhanced and that pedestrian and bicycle access to transportation facilities will not be negatively impacted by the project or improvement; and
(4) In developing the annual Consolidated Transportation Program, the Department shall:
(i) Ensure that there is an appropriate balance between funding for:
1. Projects that retrofit existing transportation projects with facilities for pedestrians and bicycle riders; and
2. New highway construction projects; and
(ii) In transit-oriented areas within priority funding areas, as defined in § 5-7B-02 of the State Finance and Procurement Article, place increased emphasis on projects that retrofit existing transportation projects with facilities for pedestrians and bicycle riders and increase accessibility for the greatest number of pedestrians and bicycle riders.
§ 3-216. Transportation Trust Fund.
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(ii) In each fiscal year, the Department shall budget from federal funds available to the Department, other funds in the Transportation Trust Fund, and any other funds available to the Department, an amount sufficient to fund projects and programs determined by the Secretary to be necessary to achieve the bicycle and pedestrian transportation goals identified for the fiscal year under Title 2, Subtitle 6 of this article.
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Cars and the local economy: https://ctdatahaven.org/know/images/a/a8/Smarter_City_Cost_of_Car_Ownership.jpg
Gazette article: https://www.gazette.net/stories/02172011/frednew124114_32536.phpoldId.20110220212338664
Biking in Baltimore
