Federal Funding

Give me a minute to explain the article title. There were a lot of great takeaways for Delaware at the National Bike Summit held in Washington, DC last week, including women-friendly bike shops and more bike chic. But for the summit, taken as a whole, I think there were 3 major lessons for us: Lesson [...]

The League of American Bicyclists has performed yet another signal service to cycling and cyclists by hiring a consultant to conduct anonymous interviews with 30 congressional staffers (half Republican and half Democratic). The report from the consultant, which was released at the National Bike Summit last week, included some very candid, and pointed, advice to [...]

The City of Newark has submitted an application for funding under the federal Transportation Alternatives Program (TAP) for sharrows for its Main Street. If approved, the sharrows on Main Street will connect the Pomeroy Trail to New London Road. The “sharrow” (or “shared lane”) pavement marking is a relatively recent pavement marking that was introduced [...]

From the League of American Bicyclists – After years of advocacy and months of preparation, the new federal transportation bill, MAP-21, goes into effect next week. As we’ve been explaining in our Navigating MAP-21 campaign, states have a lot of flexibility in how they spend their transportation dollars. Over the past few months we’ve been [...]

Have you been getting all kinds of letters from national groups about the threat to the Recreational Trails Program? Coalition for Recreational Trails – Save RTP! IMBA – Save RTP! Rail-to-Trails Conservancy The reason these email alerts have been going out is that under MAP-21, the new federal surface transportation authorization law passed by Congress [...]

After months of steady dialogue and face-to-face meetings, the leaders of the Alliance for Biking & Walking, Bikes Belong and League of American Bicyclists have decided not to pursue full unification at this time. The three groups continue to operate independently, in close collaboration, to make bicycling safer and more enjoyable for all Americans. These [...]

By Mina Keyes Published by the Project for Public Spaces Jul 24, 2012 League of American Bicyclists President Andy Clarke shared his thoughts and experiences with the Project for Public Spaces on what bicycling means as a movement and how it has changed over the last 25 years. Can you tell us what is new [...]

United States Department of Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood The new Boxer-Mica Highway Bill (aka MAP-21) eliminated the main federal program that had funded most walking and bicycling projects since 1992.  But United States Department of Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood says that federal funding for walking and bicycling is still possible.  But now local advocates are [...]

WILMAPCO’s Nonmotorized Transportation Working Group presents quite possibly its greatest agenda of 2012. Details as follows: When: August 7 at 3 pm. Where: WILMAPCO, 850 Library Ave, Newark (map). This is a remarkably dynamic and interesting agenda for the Working Group. As always, this meeting is open to the public, and citizen cyclist participation is [...]

by Darren Flusche July 25, 2012 Published on League of American Bicyclists blog Under MAP-21, implementing existing and new Complete Streets policies is important, maximizing the Transportation Alternatives program is important – and taking advantage of the full eligibility of bicycling and walking in programs like CMAQ, HSIP, and STP is more important than ever. [...]

For 20 years, from 1992 until 2011, not one dime of federal CMAQ (Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality) program money had ever been spent on a cycling project in Delaware. Last September, however, WILMAPCO voted to program $480,000 of FY2012 federal CMAQ funds for the Wilmington-New Castle Greenway. View the League of American Bicyclists blog [...]

Finding a Route Forward Under MAP-21 July 6, 2012 Published on the League of American  Bicyclists blog   Last week, Congress did what many thought impossible – they passed a new transportation authorization bill. President Obama is expected to sign the bill into law on Friday. Unfortunately, that achievement came at the cost of a [...]

Getting and Leveraging Public Funds: Five Lessons from Delaware By Darren Flusche League of American Bicyclists Published in American Bicyclist (May/June 2012) Delaware is a tiny state with less than 1 million people, but there have been some big victories for biking and walking here during the past year.  While each state has its own [...]

In a vote just minutes after a similar House vote, the United States Senate voted 74-19 on Friday for the Boxer-Mica highway bill (aka : “MAP-21″), eliminating Transportation Enhancements, the spectacularly successful federal program that funded 10s of thousands of walking/cycling projects in the United States between 1992 and 2012. Senators Tom Carper (press releases HERE) [...]

Jun 29 2012 Compromise Vote Package Reinvests in Nation’s Infrastructure, Extends Flood Insurance Coverage for Delawareans, Stops Student Loan Rate Hike WASHINGTON – Today, Sen. Tom Carper (D-Del.) released a statement following Senate and House approval of a bipartisan bill that reauthorizes the National Flood Insurance Program, prevents college student loan interest rates from doubling [...]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Friday, June 29, 2012 CONTACT: Ian Koski at 202-224-5042 WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Chris Coons (D-Del.) released the following statement after voting Friday to reauthorize federal surface transportation programs, which are set to expire on Saturday. Their expiration would immediately endanger nearly $200 million in projects on I-95 in Delaware alone “Anyone [...]

Minutes ago, the U.S. House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed (373-52) the Boxer-Mica “highway” bill that defunds the most important federal program for walking and bicycling.  The 20 year “Transportation Enhancements” program, which has funded 10s of thousands of walking/cycling projects since 1992 (e.g. the Northern Delaware Greenway) will soon cease to exist if, as expected later [...]

Speaking on the U.S. House floor today, House Transportation and Infrastructure committee chair John Mica (R-FL) held up the specter of “millions” of lost jobs if the Boxer-Mica highway bill was not passed immediately: “Tomorrow would actually close down thousands of transportation projects around the country,” he said. “Transportation departments around the country were on [...]

By Joan Lowy Friday, June 29, 3:01AM Associated Press WASHINGTON – Republican leaders pushed a sweeping highways-student loans package salvaging millions of construction jobs*** and maintaining low interest rates on millions of new college loans toward a House vote Friday even as conservative groups mounted a last-minute and likely futile campaign against it. Read article [...]

By Daniel Strauss June 28, 07:45 PM ET Published in The Hill The Senate adjourned Thursday evening without voting on three major pieces of legislation with fast approaching deadlines. The chamber adjourned without voting on a highway bill… Read entire article HERE>>>   RELATED: •  Why advocates are distraught over new U.S. transportation bill • U.S. [...]

By Jonathan Maus June 28, 2012 Published in BikePortland.org It’s over 1,000 days late; but instead of relief and smiles, active transportation advocates are reacting with horror and gloom to the new federal transportation bill that emerged from a House and Senate conference committee late last night. Details of the 599 page bill are still [...]

Thursday, June 28 After 20 years of being the main funding source for walking and bicycling in America, the United States Senate may vote as early as this evening to kill Transportation Enhancements. “These drastic cuts to biking and walking funding do not save the federal government any money,” said Andy Clarke, president of the [...]

Poster’s note:  The money that walking/cycling in Delaware will lose as a result of the federal legislation released today by House and Senate conferees (co-chair Senator Boxer and Representative Mica) is only about 1 or 2 million dollars. “Transportation Enhancements” – the federal program that will be gutted by this new law – has always [...]

Grist:  Congress raises a middle finger to young bicyclists – Bike Delaware Note: Federal funding for walking and bicycling is in serious peril. The article below is an example.  In this situation, the opportunity we have in Delaware to secure millions of dollars for walking and bicycling is even more extraordinary.  Advocates in other states [...]

Americans Support Federal Funding For Biking and Walking  Senators and Representatives are meeting now to create a final transportation bill, and we need your help to protect the funds that the Senate designated for local biking and walking programs. National advocates are working to preserve the Cardin-Cochran agreement. This agreement was part of the Senate [...]

As Congress debates funding for our future transportation system, America Bikes released the results of a survey that shows Americans overwhelmingly support funding for bike and pedestrian facilities. According to America Bikes: The national survey, performed by Princeton Survey Research Associates International, asked 1,003 adults in the United States about their opinions on federal funding [...]

Cross-posted from HuffPost Green By Jay Walljasper – For the past year powerful voices around Washington have singled out programs to improve biking and walking as flagrant examples of wasteful government spending. Since last summer, proposals have flown around the Capitol to strip away all designated transportation funds for biking and walking — even though [...]

Includes changes to sidepath rule and protection of Recreational Trails! LAB — The big four leaders – Chairman Barbara Boxer (D-CA), Ranking Member Jim Inhofe (R-OK) and Senators Max Baucus (D-MT) and David Vitter (R-LA) – on the Senate Environment and Public Works (EPW) Committee included a 2nd ‘manager’s amendment’ that modifies their surface transportation [...]

League of American Bicyclists — While Congress creates the framework, the most important decisions about the use of federal funds are made at the state and regional level. As the capacity of statewide bicycle advocacy groups has grown, many leaders have started to look beyond their long list of  individual project victories and ask an [...]

As the Economy Grows and Adds Jobs, Americans Keep Driving Less By Angie Schmitt – Driving is on the decline – even as the economy grows. You can see in the above chart, created by analyst Doug Short and brought to our attention by Jonathan Maus at BikePortland, America’s shrinking appetite for car travel is outlasting [...]