The Economic Stimulus and Bicycling

I'm copying this out of an email I get from the National Center for Bicycling and Walking. Not sure what Sharon means by "reconcile"--the bill has Congressional leadership approval, but has not been voted out of Congress yet. See NY Times link.

Dear Centerlines Readers,

Today, Wednesday, February 11, 2009, members of Congress reconciled the House and Senate versions of The Economic Recovery and Reinvestment Act, more popularly known as the Economic Stimulus Bill. As you are likely aware, the economic stimulus bill has generated a tremendous amount of political hyperbole—both in favor of and against its passage. However, there are now three simple facts that remain: 1) the bill has passed both chambers; 2) very soon $800 billion will be allocated by Congress; and 3) a significant percentage of that amount will be devoted to transportation projects.

Making sure that the needs of pedestrians and bicyclists are looked after once the stimulus funding is disbursed to the states is now the primary concern of the National Center for Bicycling & Walking. We believe that the best way to ensure that this happens is to support the House bill which requires that 45 percent of transportation funding go through the Surface Transportation Program formula, which will preserve funding for the Transportation Enhancements program.

NCBW believes that this is the best compromise towards ensuring that bicycle-pedestrian projects are built by the state DOTs, that public accountability for transportation spending is maintained, and that transportation spending conforms to the will of the American people, as expressed in Congress’s passage of the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act in 1991 and subsequent reauthorizations.

If you are ready to take action now, please follow this link to the League of American Bicyclists’ website.

http://tinyurl.com/al4y88

If you would like to learn more about America Bikes Collation’s stance on the Economic Recovery and Reinvestment Act, please follow this link to our website.

http://www.bikewalk.org/economic_recovery.php

Sincerely,

Sharon Z. Roerty, AICP/PP
Executive Director
National Center for Bicycling & Walking