Dear Mr. Doyle,
Your transportation secretary just replied to one of your
constituents regarding concerns that Wisconsin continues to lag the
rest of the country in spending federal transportation dollars on
bicycling and walking.
Your DOT Secretary, Frank Busalacchi, thought he was being cute by
snowing the constituent with a blizzard of bureaucratese. It didn't
work. Mr. Busalacchi is simply wrong. And here's why:
-The Enhancement Program (pedestrian & bike funding) is 10% of the
Surface Transportation Program (STP)--no matter it's level of
funding. Even if the federal dollars coming to Wisconsin are only 85%
to 90% of the maximum allowed, the Enhancements Program must--by
law--still be getting 10% of the reduced amount. Instead, your
administration funds the *highway* portion of STP at the original
100%; bicycle & pedestrian Enhancement Funding gets the crumbs.
-Currently, bicycle and pedestrian funding amounts to an undetectable
0.2% of total state spending on transportation. This is abominable,
no matter how much rhetoric your transportation secretary uses to
paper over this fact.
-The earmark statement about special pedestrian and bicycle projects
is also bogus. The state also gets significant federal earmarks for
pet highway projects. Do you apply the same rule to highway projects
as you do to pedestrian and bicycle earmarks? No. You never reduce
highway allocations in the same manner despite the extra money coming
in for highway earmarks. Never.
-Overall, your administration is playing a shell game with their
federal transportation funds. Bicycle and Pedestrian funding is
always the empty shell. Through accounting tricks that mock the
intent of federal legislation, WisDOT is embezzling (they like to
call it "borrowing") federal pedestrian and bicycle account and using
those funds to subsidize more highways & more sprawl.
In short, Mr. Busalacchi provides an outright lie for an answer. An
excuse that doesn't even rise to the level of lameness.
Obviously nothing is changing.
We will have nothing to do with your continuing highway-oriented
program of dirty air, ourtrageous numbers of road deaths,
debilitating injury and illness by building unwalkable places, paving
the countryside and global warming.
In fifteen minutes we will be *biking* to the polls. Unless you
contact us within that time period with a written promise of boosting
pedestrian and bicycle funding to fully-funded levels, including the
shortfalls of the past, you will *not* be receiving our vote. Nelson
Eisman, the Green Party candidate for governor will.*
Sincerely,
Michael D. Barrett and Pamela S. Barrett
2137 Sommers Ave.
Madison WI 53704
*And yes, you have been warned about this issue by leading bike
advocacy, health, and land use organizations (and others) many, many
times during your tenure.
Here is the original response from DOT Secretary Frank J. Busalacchi:
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Thank you for your recent e-mail regarding funding for bicycle and
pedestrian facilities in the state. Governor Doyle and I share a
vision of a safe, efficient, and balanced statewide transportation
system for all of Wisconsin's citizens. That includes bicycle and
pedestrian facilities.
From your letter and many others I have received as well as through
recent media reports, it is clear that the interest in bicycle and
pedestrian facilities is impassioned. However, I have also noted
that there is a considerable amount of misinformation and
misunderstanding as well, especially in the areas of federal
funding, state budgets, and project selections.
There are numerous federal programs that pertain to transportation.
When discussing bicycle and pedestrian facilities, the Transportation
Enhancements Program is probably the most notable, but certainly not
the only source.
You may be surprised that there is actually no federal funding
provided specifically for the Transportation Enhancements Program.
Rather, as with all other formula based federal transportation
programs, the federal transportation act provides a maximum amount
that may be spent for eligible activities in the Transportation
Enhancements Program, but no actual funding. Instead, federal
formula funding is provided to each state in a lump sum for the state
to allocate depending on the needs in that state. Another important
issue is that the federal funding lump sum equals only 85 to 90
percent of the total of all of the federal program maximums.
The Governor, with assistance from the Department, prepares a budget
request, but, in Wisconsin, the State Legislature makes final
decisions on the allocation of federal funding in the biennial budget
process. Once the budget becomes law, the Department must spend
federal funding as directed in the budget. For example, in the
2003-05 biennial budget, the State Legislature eliminated funding for
the Surface Transportation Discretionary Program, a key program for
bicycle and pedestrian facilities. In the 2005-07 biennial budget,
Governor Doyle, recognizing the shortage of funding for such
activities, wanted funding for the program restored and included it
in his budget request. However, the State Legislature again
eliminated funding for the program.
Another common bit of misinformation is that Wisconsin only spends
about 30 percent of available federal Transportation Enhancements
funding. First, the state does not receive any specific funding for
the Transportation Enhancements Program. The maximum is actually
what we can spend on Enhancement eligible projects, not just through
the Enhancement program.
Additional federal funding is spent on Transportation Enhancements
projects in other state programs. In state fiscal year 2005, the
state spent $14.6 million on federal Transportation Enhancements
projects about half of which were in the state Transportation
Enhancements Program and half in the State Highway Program. That
equals over 78 percent of the federal maximum, more than double the
30 percent recently quoted.
In fact, over the past six years, the range of spending on federal
Transportation Enhancements activities has ranged from $8.7 million
to $14.6 million annually, or about 52 to 78 percent of the federal
maximums. Plus, additional state and federal funds are spent each
year on bicycle and pedestrian facilities, such as separate bike
lanes, wider, paved shoulders, and sidewalks, as part of highway
projects with additional funding spent in other programs as well.
Yet another issue is that the Transportation Enhancements Program
funds much more than bicycle and pedestrian facilities. Other
federally eligible activities include streetscaping, lighting, and
historical transportation facilities. Which projects that are picked
to be funded is decided by a selection committee of 13 individuals,
including state legislators, representatives from state agencies,
local officials, and stakeholders, including the Bicycle Federation
of Wisconsin. Several of the projects picked this year by the
committee were not bicycle projects. Also, if additional funding
became available there is no guarantee the money would be applied
toward bicycle activities. Again, this would be up to the committee
to decide which programs were to be funded.
Another issue that limits funding for bicycle and pedestrian projects
are federal earmarks. As noted in many reports, the current local
Transportation Enhancements Program cycle was programmed at about $9
million, or $3.5 million lower than funding made available for the
program in the state budget. That $3.5 million "reduction" is due
entirely to federal earmarks for bicycle and pedestrian facilities.
These federal earmarks did not provide any additional funding to the
state, but, because they are federally earmarked, they are mandated
and must be funded before other projects, regardless of their
priority or importance compared to other projects applied for through
the program.
Again, thank you for your interest in bicycle and pedestrian
facilities in Wisconsin. I hope I was able to clear up some of the
misunderstanding and misinformation that is circulating regarding
funding for those facilities. I also want to reiterate that bicycle
and pedestrian facilities are an important part of the state's
transportation system, for recreation, mobility, and access to jobs.
As Governor Doyle develops his transportation budget request, all
modes, including bicycle and pedestrian, will be considered in
meeting the transportation needs of Wisconsin's citizens within the
constraints of scarce resources.
If you have additional questions or thoughts on this or any other
transportation issue, please contact my office.
Sincerely,
Frank J. Busalacchi
Secretary
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