The transportation bill is upon us -- and with it came some bad news for people who want to make streets safer for biking and walking. Not only does the bill reduce the overall amount of dedicated funding for programs like Safe Routes to School, it allows states to transfer some of these funds to other uses.
Which makes advocating for safer streets at the state level all the more important. Today, Matt Wempe of the League of American Bicyclists brings us a look at how states put their funding for biking and walking to use:
The League compiled federal bike/ped funding data reported by the states from 2007-11 (the data doesn’t separate out bicycles and pedestrians). We used this data to get a better picture of which states prioritize bike/ped projects that create transportation choices, make sure kids get to school safely, reduce congestion, improve air quality, and make our streets safer for everyone.
If your state is on this list, now is the time to ensure it continues to dedicate resources to bicycling and walking. If your state does not appear on this list, it is more important than ever to make the case for bicycling and walking to your governor and department of transportation. We are here to help with that.
The League has posted a comprehensive spreadsheet showing how all 50 states rank on investment in safe streets. The document not only includes what each state spends from dedicated pots of money like Transportation Enhancements, but also what they spend on bike/ped using the much larger pot of flexible funds in the Surface Transportation Program. Scanning the document, the overall laggards include Texas, Michigan, South Carolina, and, surprisingly, Maryland.
Elsewhere on the Network today: Seattle Bike Blog reports on the results of a Canadian study that examined how roundabouts affect cyclist safety. Grid Chicago asks whether the city really needs to spend $45 million to build a temporary structure to move cyclists and pedestrians around a construction project at Navy Pier. And Walkable Dallas Fort Worth posits that Stockton, California's recent bankruptcy may have had something to due with its reckless sprawl-based growth.
