Congress to bikers (bicyclists): Get a car

A house subcommittee has voted to cut all funding for bike paths and other pollution-free transportation programs.

July 22, 2003 - For every bike commuter who proudly pedals to work under the mantra "one less car," Congress has a message for you: Get back on the highway where you belong, burning fossil fuel like a real American. That goes for you, too, you traffic-hazard pedestrians.

Fresh out of subcommittee, a new congressional transportation appropriations bill will entirely eliminate some $600 million worth of annual federal funding for bike paths, walkways and other such transportation niceties in fiscal year 2004.

Never mind the political fallout of U.S. oil dependency on the Middle East, or the fact that the average mileage per gallon for new cars and trucks in the U.S. is at its lowest level in 20 years. Members of the House's Appropriations Subcommittee on Transportation, Treasury and Independent Agencies know that what America needs now is fewer bike paths and walkways -- but more highways.

Defenders of the bill argue that, in light of huge federal deficits, something has to go, but for bike activists and environmentalists who have been pushing for decades for alternatives to driving, the cuts are a giant step backward.

http://www.salon.com/tech/feature/2003/07/22/bike_paths/index.html

environmental implications, but health ones as well. Obesity, particularly among children, is becoming a nationwide epidemic. Recreational trails provide a safe place for individuals and families to walk, ride bikes and skate. With all of the SUVs and even Hummers crowding the streets, it certainly is nerve-wracking to try to share the roads with them.

The trails by my house are always full and I know the communities wouldn't have been able to build these trails along abandoned trail corridors without federal support.

What about the health problem after you've been crushed by an SUV because there we no cicle paths for you to ride on?

It is way beyond the pale.
Unless you are a cyclist on the roads with vehicles, you have no idea how bad it has gotten out there in the last two years.

It is an open season on cyclists, and bike riders are on a hair trigger.
It is only a matter of time before a cylist or pedestrian shoots a motorist during an assault.

Sensible policies for a happier US....

What the F*CK is happening to the world???

P.

Americans, with 5% of the world's population, are responsible for 30% (yes, thirty percent) of its energy consumption.

Global warming is disproportionately our fault, and it's our job to do something about it.

If you total resources I think we go over fifty. The high price of auto-geddon.

This is a really dumb move, really dumb.

And I like cyclists on bike paths too. I always freak out when I have to drive beside a cyclist and that happens alot in Oregon. We need more alternative travel options, not less.

this is very disheartening.

... greater subsidies for gas-guzzling SUV's, and cutbacks for bikes and peds.

this is almost as insane as the "fruitcake" incident.

further proof if any be needed, our govt has gone off the deep end.

Our Rep (Peter DeFazio) commuted on a cycle for years before going to DC and he is a wizard at getting funding for Paths and Lanes in his district. We also have a strong lobby in the state legislature. So there! I may be a little delusional to preserve my sanity, DC can go sit on a slimy pointed oil rig. We will cycle on.

Ride Don’t Drive It’s Global Cool

It's true, Eugene has a great system of bike paths an lanes already. By the time we need more, dimson and the freaks will be gone or we'll be in Byrons Bay kayaking to work. I've already sent off an uncivilized "courriel" to Peter. cyc.

This will be the tip of many non-essential things that will be cut...quality of life be damned.

estimate. I drive a late model 'company' car and pay mileage when I use it for personel trips. I also have an NEV which cost $500 for batteries every 3 or 4 years. The initial lifestyle adjustment is a little rough, but once you simplify your transportation needs it's all fun and games! We can all have a better life whether the government helps or not.

I agree that bike paths not only provide the people who want to bike a safe and convienent path, but they also entice people to bike. They are a passive reinforcement to good health. I think the social and health benifits repay any resonable investment we ake in well used bike paths.

to which these useless self-satisfied scumbags will not stoop.

to see what kind of record for political lowness they can set

I can't figure this out for any other reason than that. I must not think right or something, how else can you explain them being in charge and not me? I personaly could never support such a measure. Since this seems to be a constant thing in D.C. it must be my thinking that is wrong, they are the ones in charge the informed argument if you will.
Here in the North Mojave desert we have bike lanes that are painted on the sides of the road, where all the broken glass is swept to by the street sweepers. We have an old Southern Pacific rail line that was taken out and turned into a paved trail. People turned out in droves to help plant trees along the 20 miles or so of this pathway. It is used heavily by joggers and cyclist and walkers and etc.. It is one of the best things that this area has and the idiots are taking it out of the budget, I don't get it. A truly community thing is going to fall into disrepair.

Seriously bike paths are something of a pain. I seldom use them anymore cause they're always crawling with skateboarders and pedestrians and idiots walking their dogs.

All of the "idiots" you describe shared the path along Lake Michigan just fine. I've ridden non-street paths in DC and other cities as well. They're not perfect, but they're there which is most of the battle. More on-street paths are desperately needed.

Also I've ridden many rails-to-trails paths for many, many miles quite successfully and "idiot"-free. R to T is working on building continuous paths across the country.

Sorry, but your observation is useless. You are missing the point.

Week-ends can be slow going but fun. It's best to get out of Dodge on the week-ends. Go see if you can wrap your bike around a tree!

Yeah, this seems stupid to us, but that's because we aren't pawns of giant oil corporations. If you were, this move would make you smile, and everything about the Bush formula for domestic spending would begin to make a little bit more sense.

Also, its not like we couldn't see this coming. It's ridiculous, really. If you think the powers that be actually believe that deficit spending forces fiscal responsibilty, try this experiment. Stop paying your bills, and then quit your job. Let all your credit cards go into default, and your checkbook blead red ink. Then, walk in to your local bank, and ask for a loan. You will not be treated with the respect you deserve, trust me.

Still, Repukes give tax breaks to their richest pals, spend enormous amounts on war mongering, rack up a record defecit, and then (as if they were the very picture of fiscal conservativism) shrug their shoulders and say "Well, we've got to cut spending somewhere..."

Guess where? Guess who? I'll not give you those three guesses...

But I will tell you were we should cut spending. It's not a revolutionary concept, but it certainly aint mainstream, either.

We should cut it out of the salaries of idiot politicians, bloated defense budgets, and backroom corporate welfare schemes.

Afeter all, $600 million is chump change, compared to the $70 billion we dropped on the Iraq war--which really means "what we spent on Bush's personal revenge and profit scheme," which he built on a matrix of terrible lies.

To get that drop-in-the-bucket relativism going on this, think of the issue in these terms. If you had a $600 million dollar bill in your wallet, you would still have to go find another 115 or so $600 million dollar bills sitting around back home, before you even got close to equaling the current (but ever increasing) price tag on the Iraq war.

$600,000,000 is measley, weasely, found-a-penny-in-the-street chump change. Do you really think they can't afford it?

Really?

I am another biker and this is VERY unhealthy and uncareing about america legistlation..It leaves more people open for death and injury due to cars and trucks..Pollution, and more energy consuption for a country that is over the limit already..THIS is the kind of stuff thats getting cut due to Bushs tax cuts for the rich..THEY MUST GO!!!!!
Scott ...Stuff like this burns me up to no end

Committee are, and I'm POSITIVE that they're not happy about this. One is the aforementioned Peter DeFazio, a big transit advocate, another is Earl Blumenauer, if anything, an even bigger transit and cycling advocate who bikes to the Capitol when he's in DC, and another is Jim Oberstar (Minnesota), the ranking Dem, who showed up with DeFazio and Blumenauer in Portland a couple of months ago to celebrate the planned extension of the streetcar line to the east side.

But I suppose there's not much they can do if the Repiggies are dominant.

...for about 2 or 3 additional days.

OK, so some of us have GREAT trails and paths, but here in Indiana, what we have at BEST is 3 feet of roadway with a stripe of paint protecting us from the Big, Bad UAV's. Then there are the "Bike Paths", which are glorified sidewalks, choked with pedestrians pushing those HUGE "Baby SUV" strollers and not yielding an INCH to anyone....

As has already been pointed out, the bike lanes are where all the trash, broken glass, cast-off exhaust systems, etc. collect. Lots of gravel and grit, left over from winter sanding, never cleaned.

I'm a road cyclist. I drive a vehicle, human powered, but still a vehicle (yes, I "blow" stops signs, but that's for another thread)Don't put me on a glorified sidewalk where I can plod along at 5 MPH or in a paint-striped gulag where I can ruin a tyre a day.

All that being said, Congress sucks. But Congress ALWAYS sucks, just ask Congressman Stark.

I'm sorry. This just floors me. I was a child in the 70s. All my teachers were hippy-types who really wanted to contribute to society (unfortunately, one of the best ended up selling insurance so he could support his family). An entire semester was devoted to "Ecology".

What the hell is happening?

this makes sense.

What's next, criminal penalties for car pooling?

Agreed. This straight out of the "supplysiders" playbook, they have no understanding of controlling demand.