There was a nice article on CNN yesterday entitled: Americans ditching the car
Commuters are driving less, the federal government says. Workers are leaving their cars at home and finding other ways to get to work. Highway funds at risk. http://money.cnn.com/2008/07/28/news/economy/driving/index.htm The odd part to me was that while the bulk of this article was all about a fundamental shift away from driving (which polls suggest may be permanent), it seems the FHA is still in the pre-$4-gas mindset of endless highway expansion: "As Americans drive less, new ways are needed to fund the national road system, the highway agency said. Even though fewer drivers are using the highways, funding is still critical, party because of a backlog in highway projects." This same sentiment was echoed on the major networks' news last night. I seriously doubt that the FHA has re-evaluated the projects in that "backlog" to verify that they are still cost effective. Instead, the FHA is continuing to push the outdated policy of toll roads put forward by the wingnuts at the Reason foundation. If USDOT was serious about providing a transportation system that produced the maximum benefit to Americans I would suggest that for every dollar lost in gas tax revenue, they cut $3 in highway funding and increase MV-alternative funding by $2 (in a fund that cannot be redirected by state legislatures back into highway funding) On a related note, the US House of Representatives passed H.CON.RES.305 : Recognizing the importance of bicycling in transportation and recreation. H.CON.RES.305 passed the House by voice vote on May 21, and is scheduled for markup by the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation on Thursday, July 31, 2008 at 10:00 AM. More info on H.CON.RES.305 http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=hc110-305 _______________________________________________ Bikies mailing list [email protected] http://www.danenet.org/mailman/listinfo/bikies
