Transportation Secretary Mary Peters talks about infrastructure problems and travel initiatives. More Info
Peters cited “bicycle paths” as a prime example of the waste
Last night on the PBS NewsHour with Jim Leher, DOT Secretary Mary Peters was interviewed by Gwen Ifill.
Peters, when asked about a possible gas tax increase, repeated President Bush’s response – No, there can be no tax increase because Congress is wasting the money they already get. Peters cited “bicycle paths” as a prime example of the waste because bicycles are not a transportation use of the gas tax money.
It is disappointing that the administration is attacking Jim Oberstar for his efforts to get the Minneapolis bridge repaired along with raising all the funding for transportation maintenance, by using Oberstar’s support for bicycles as a weapon.
The League of American Bicyclists feels strongly that this should not go without a response and we have sent a letter to Secretary Peters voicing our view. Click here to view our response.
For those of you who feel strongly about bicycling issues, we would also urge you to contact the Secretary to share your personal viewpoints.
To view a copy of the program click here
My letter:
So you are telling us the roads should be unsafe and human beings, especially kids are just merely road kill?
13% of traffic fatalities involve a bicyclists and pedestrians, we demand our fair share of the harm that you are doing in over accommodating cars in our society.
In Baltimore 60% of bicycle accidents happen to kids 18 and younger and you want to spend less on this problem??? Shame on you, just shame on you.
I travel 10,000 miles a year by bike and many of that on trails, you cannot tell me bikes are not transportation. I travel to many places that most motorists are unwilling to go because of traffic and parking problems. We have reached a point were people can do more things locally on a bike then they can by car.
Why? Look at it this way, take a snap shot of a highway near congested levels and in order to accommodate just one more car all you need to do as add 191 feet, that
And another one:
In Maryland it is estimated that bicycle tourism contributes $3 billion to the states economy. But I guess by your point of view going places and spending money is not
More responses:
It’s important for the bicycle community to clarify the facts regarding
transportation funding, since many are using the MN bridge catastrophe
as an excuse to question the multi modal tenants of ISTEA.
Putting bridge repairs on the back burner has been a conscious choice,
and it has nothing to do with bike projects:
— 1. One wonders if Sec. Peters comments are not a direct attack on
Minn. Congressman Jim Oberstar, whose district includes the fallen
bridge? Oberstar is an ardent supporter of bicycling in congress.
— 2. An FHWA table shows how states sent back $1,035,000,000 of bridge
funds as part of the big rescission earlier this year. Some funds had
been sitting around for TEN years.
https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/rescissions/pl110_5/bridge.htm
— 3. A 2003 study by the Surface Transportation Policy Project
documents how
state departments of transportation have for many years given a low
priority
to bridge safety. Overall, between 1992 and 2001, the states spent only
73%
of the bridge funding allocated by Congress — the lowest rate of
spending
for any of the five major Federal highway program areas. This amounts to
nearly $8 billion dollars in funding authority that was “diverted” from
bridge repairs to new highway construction projects.
https://www.transact.org/library/decoder/Bridge-Decoder.pdf
— 4. In Maryland, we continue to place highway expansion over
maintenance. The $3 billion Intercounty Connector, funded by borrowing
against future federal transportation funds, is a perfect example of how
we
waste money and mortgage our future on one dubious project.
— 5. League of American Bicyclists is offering the following response,
and asking other to contact USDOT via the website http://www.bikeleague.org
Dear Secretary Peters
I listened with dismay to your recent interview on the MacNeil Lehrer
Newshour (August 15) on the subject of transportation funding and the
Minneapolis bridge collapse, and in particular your comments related to
the
funding of bicycle projects. I urge you to correct several misleading
impressions with which you left viewers.
1. Your statement that bicycle trails and paths are not
“transportation-related” or “infrastructure” is baffling. I have been
riding
to work every day in Washington DC for almost 20 years on one of the
regions
many well-used bicycle paths, many of which have benefitted from Federal
transportation funding. Tens of millions of bicyclists and pedestrians
in
communities across the country use trails to get to work, school, shops,
and
to visit friends and family – and every one of these trips prevents
congestion, pollution, and energy consumption while improving the health
of
the rider or walker.
2. You left the impression that an enormous percentage of Federal
transportation funds are spent on projects such as these. The reality is
that only one percent of these funds are spent on bicycling and walking
projects despite the fact that these two modes account for ten percent
of
all trips in the country and 12 percent of traffic fatalities each year.
3. You also left the impression that critical bridge projects are being
left
unfunded because of this. You did not point out the huge sums of money
that
states have been allocated for bridge projects over the years but they
have
failed to spend. Indeed, states have returned to Washington hundreds of
millions of “unspent” bridge program dollars as part of recent
rescissions
ordered by the Congress.
Almost twenty years after the groundbreaking ISTEA legislation that
created
flexibility and allowed greater local over Federal transportation
funding, I
find it astonishing that you would single out bicycle trails in this
way. At
a time when individuals, communities and as a nation we are battling
congestion, obesity, energy consumption, global warming, and air quality
issues, projects and programs to help people use alternatives to driving
are
a wise investment.
More than 40% of trips in urban areas in the this country are two miles
or
less; one quarter are just one mile or less and most of even these trips
are
made by car. I urge you to stand beside Congressman Oberstar and others
in
Congress who are trying to efficiently and effectively unclog our
highways
by shifting some of these short, polluting car trips to healthier modes.
Andy Clarke
–6. Bill Wilkerson of the National Center for Bicycling and Walking
wrote the following letter to the gazzette:
The Gazette Editorial Department
Gaithersburg, Maryland
This is in response to a letter published in last week’s Gazette from
Howard Kaplan (Chevy Chase) titled, “Where does money for roads go?”
Howard Kaplan suggests that Federal and state gas tax dollars have been
diverted from roads and bridges to fund light rail projects, and tries
to spook people into believing that the bridges will fall down if we
build the Purple Line (a local, light-rail line proposal).
Right, and the sky will likely fall, too.
Actually, Mr. Kaplan is partly correct: transportation funds made
available for bridge repairs have been diverted to other kinds of
transportation projects, namely new highway construction projects like
the ICC (a HUGE, 18-mile, $4 billion new highway just outside
Washington, DC … in a nonattainment area).
A 2003 study by the Surface Transportation Policy Project documents how
state departments of transportation have for many years given a low
priority to bridge safety. Overall, between 1992 and 2001, the states
spent only 73% of the bridge funding allocated by Congress — the lowest
rate of spending for any of the five major Federal highway program
areas. This amounts to nearly $8 billion dollars in funding authority
that was “diverted” from bridge repairs to new highway construction
projects.
So, let’s stick to the facts and recognize that these issues are about
choices, about priorities, and about the opportunity costs of doing the
wrong things … like building the ICC.
Bill Wilkinson
Bethesda, Maryland