Skip to Content
Streetsblog USA home
Streetsblog USA home
Log In
Bicycling

Mica Wants to Abandon Federal Commitment to Bike-Ped Funding

4:36 PM EDT on May 6, 2011

A few final notes before we all head home for the weekend...

Jonathan Maus at BikePortland just brought our attention to a recent comment we wish House Transportation Committee Chair John Mica (R-FL) hadn't made. As the Orlando Sentinel reported yesterday, Rep. Mica is making noises about "siphoning away" money for bike paths. The Sentinel says Mica "wants to add flexibility to how states spend their share of federal gas taxes by cutting back on mandates. He added that states still could spend on bike paths and sidewalks if they were a priority."

Chairman John Mica is still trying to write a five-year transportation bill, but needs to buy time to do it.. Photo: ##http://bikeportland.org/2011/05/06/mica-hints-at-slash-to-key-federal-bike-funding-52613?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+BikePortland+%28BikePortland.org%29##Jonathan Maus/BikePortland##

State DOTs are notoriously stingy with active transportation projects, often preferring to spend money on highways. Without federal insistence that a certain amount of money go toward bike and pedestrian programs, advocates worry that many of them will be underfunded right out of existence.

The Rails to Trails Conservancy quickly responded to Mica's statement, saying. "It’s time to get smarter about how we build our transportation infrastructure and move away from an outdated approach to transportation investment that can be best characterized as, 'Drive, Baby, Drive!'"

Mica will have all the support in the world from Florida Gov. Rick Scott's new transportation secretary, Ananth Presad, who questioned last month whether "spending money on sidewalks, bike trails, beautification and other projects like this is the most prudent use of taxpayer money."

In more news from Florida's transportation backwater, it looks like Sec. Ray LaHood is ready to announce the final winners of the rail money Gov. Scott decided not to take.  The USDOT has announced that LaHood is headed to New York and Detroit next Monday to make "a major announcement about high-speed intercity passenger rail." We already know Illinois got $186 million of the $2.4 billion Florida was allocated. Four hundred million of that was eliminated in the FY2011 budget but USDOT still had $2 billion to play with.

Stay in touch

Sign up for our free newsletter

More from Streetsblog USA

Monday’s Headlines Drink Your Milkshake

How does a president end wasteful subsidies for the highly profitable fossil fuel industry? Many have tried, but none have succeeded, including Joe Biden.

March 18, 2024

How — and Why — To Start a Neighborhood E-Bike Library

American advocates are loaning out e-bikes to their neighbors — and creating flocks of new riders.

March 18, 2024

What Urbanists’ Doug Burgum Lovefest Reveals About the ‘Why’ Behind Our Advocacy

I am far less interested in talking about Gov. Doug Burgum's politics than talking about his values, and how those values shape his urbanism, and thus the actual lives of the people he governs.

March 15, 2024

‘Transit Hardship’: Report Shows Why Fair Fares Must Be Expanded to More Workers

A new report on transit fares has found that more than one-in-five moderate-income residents is “affordability hardship.”

March 15, 2024

Friday’s Headlines, Land Ho!

Transit agencies own a bunch of land, and some say they should sell it for housing to create more ridership.

March 15, 2024
See all posts