HOUSTON -- Bicycle activist plan to arrive en masse to a meeting of the Houston-Galveston Area Council on Friday to protest a planned multi-million dollar delay in funds intended to improve Houston’s bicycle transportation network.
The Transportation Policy Council will submit a proposal to delay planned spending of federal funds for bikeways in the greater Houston area until the next budget cycle. Activists view that as transferring bikeway-designated funds to other uses like roads and highways.
"And it's just not right to take all of the cycling funds and transfer them to highway funds,” said Regina Garcia with BikeHouston. "I understand that everybody's cutting their budgets, but to completely eliminate a budget for one form of transportation, and dedicate it to another form of transportation, is not in, my view, what Houston's all about."
The Transportation Policy Council recommends allocations for funds from federal sources like the Surface Transportation Program Major Metro (STP MM) and the Congestion Mitigation/Air Quality (CMAQ) Program. Based on current funding, through sources like the federal gas tax, they are recommending allocations based on historic funding percentages for mobility (roads and freight rail), alternative modes (bike, pedestrian, Livable Centers & transit), air quality, and planning.
To meet the recommended “target” for “mobility,” which traditionally receives 78 percent of the funding, the TPC recommends reducing funding for programmed “alternative modes” activities by $12.8 million for the four-year budget cycle.
"I have lots of hungry children and I'm not able to feed them all,” said Alan Clark MPO Director of the Transportation Department at the Houston-Galveston Area Council, who oversees the budget in question.
Clark sees that as a one-year delay of bike and pedestrian funds, not a $12.8 million cancellation.
“I think first of all they should be encouraged that the transportation policy council is saying we're going to continue to participate in those programs in the future,” said Clark.
"No money that is devoted to transit, to bicycle, pedestrian activities or other things is in any way being affected by the decision of the policy council,” said Clark. “They're really only talking about a small portion of the highway funds over, which they exercise most of the discretion about how it's spent and how much of that should be used to supplement for bicycle pedestrian and transit activities."
Members of BikeHouston, and other groups opposed to the budget proposal, plan to be at this Friday's meeting of the Houston-Galveston Area Council to voice their opposition and appeal for better numbers in their favor.
