Save Biking and Walking

For the past 20 years, the federal Transportation program has included dedicated funding for biking and walking.

From the first federal highway bill in 1956 until 1991, only $40 million was spent on biking and walking total.

In 1992, the first year of dedicated funding in the federal transportation bill, $23 million went to biking and walking facilities. As each consecutive transportation bill passed and continued dedicated funding for biking and walking, the funding increased from $23 million for 50 new projects in 1992, to $297 million dollars and 971 projects in 2000, to a record $1.2 billion dollars and 3010 projects in 2009.

Under current law, three programs provide dedicated funding for biking and walking projects:

• Transportation Enhancements
• Safe Routes to School
• Recreational Trails program

Despite this increase in funding, biking and walking still represent a small percentage of transportation dollars.  In fact, less than two cents on the transportation dollar is spent on sidewalks, crosswalks, trails and bikeways.

Transportation Bills in Recent History

1956 - 1990: The Highway Era
In 1956, President Eisenhower signed the first federal transportation legislation with the goal of building the Interstate Highway system.  The goal of federal transportation legislation remained focused on building the highway system until 1991.

1991 - 1997: ISTEA Introduces Bike/Ped Funding
In 1991 Congress passed the landmark Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act (ISTEA), the first federal transportation bill following the interstate highway system era. ISTEA increased funding for transit and for biking and walking by creating Transportation Enhancements and the Recreational Trails Program. Congress authorized ISTEA through 1997.

1998 - 2004: TEA-21 Strengthens Bike/Ped
In 1998, Congress passed the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century (TEA-21). TEA-21 continued many of the funding and policy efforts, including Transportation Enhancements and the Recreational Trails Program. This bill also included Safe Routes to School, a new program that provided funding for infrastructure and education to make children safer on their walks to school.

2005 - 2011: SAFETEA-LU Continues a Strong Bike/Ped Legacy
In 2005, Congress passed the current transportation bill, the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users (SAFETEA LU). SAFETEA LU increased funding for existing biking and walking programs, and built off the TEA-21 pilot program to create a national Safe Routes to School Program. Today, all three dedicated funding programs are popular with local governments, and often oversubscribed.

2012: Congress Threatens to Eliminate Bike/Ped Funding
Now, both the House of Representatives and the Senate are working on transportation bills that will completely wipe out dedicated funding for biking and walking.  If biking and walking infrastructure is important to you and your community please let your Representative and Senators know.