-> State Smart Transportation Initiative reports all roads are subsidized, but to wildly varying degrees in each state. A new state-by-state study from the Tax Foundation found that user fees only cover a fraction of total road costs, ranging from 12% in Alaska to 76% in Hawaii. (How Are Your State’s Roads Funded?: http://bit.ly/2vNU2L9) While the report does not give a national figure, a previous version estimated user fees cover just 50% of road costs. http://bit.ly/2wGpd7l
from CenterLines, the e-newsletter of the National Center for Bicycling & Walking.
[B' Spokes: Maryland share of roads paid by user fees and taxes is 66.9%.]
HANOVER, MD -- The Maryland Department of Transportation (MDOT) announced $20,395,834 in grants to support improvements for bicycle and pedestrian safety and connectivity across the state. Three separate state and federal grant programs will provide funds to transportation agencies, local jurisdictions and non-profit organizations for 43 projects. The announcement includes: $2.1 million in State funds from the Maryland Bikeways Program; $478,000 in federal funding from the Recreational Trails Program, and $17.8 million in federal funding from the Transportation Alternatives Program.
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by Margo Pedroso, Safe Routes to School National Partnership
We have been beating the drum for several months now to encourage states to fully spend their Transportation Alternatives Program (TAP) funds before the critical deadline of September 30, 2017, when any unused FY2014 funds would expire after four years.
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Four states (GA, MD, NJ, NC) also let a total of $17 million in TAP funding lapse. Funding only lapses if it has not been obligated after four years. Lapsed funds expire and are returned to the federal government. States who allowed this to happen forfeited money meant for safety and transportation by simply not planning ahead. Advocates know that there are indeed Safe Routes to School, biking and walking projects that could desperately use these funds, but the state DOTs did not fulfill their responsibilities to ensure the TAP money was obligated in time.
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-> The Safe Routes to School National Partnership E-News reports obesity remains one of the biggest threats to the health of our children and our country. Check out the latest in youth obesity rates in the new 2017 State of Obesity state profiles, interactive maps, and graphics and see where your state ranks. http://bit.ly/2gk9p4f
from CenterLines, the e-newsletter of the National Center for Bicycling & Walking.
-> A Maryland DOT study investigated bicycle infrastructure design options and treatments to facilitate safe accommodation of bicyclists on high-speed roadways. They studied a design called "rumble-buffered" bike lane as a means to help mitigate the inherent hazards to bicyclists associated with limited separation from motor vehicles where separated facilities are not feasible. http://bit.ly/2iZ02HC
from CenterLines, the e-newsletter of the National Center for Bicycling & Walking.
[B' Spokes: A story from here in Maryland. I swear there is a faction in MDOT/SHA that will do anything for faster/unsafe roads. And I'm not talking just speed limits, in this case we are talking about a traffic light. I know a lot of people are going to complain that one extra light is going to make them late for work. Like the reality isn't that they were already late when they left the house but we're hoping to make up time by driving like a mad man. One day people are going to realize that cars no longer work that way. Sure in the day when few drove and few cars on the road but that is not the direction we are heading.]
[B' Spokes: This paragraph caught my eye in Streets Blog:
"In the third quarter of 2016, ten states diverted TA funds for the first time: New York, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Oregon, Rhode Island, Virginia, Arkansas, Kentucky, and Tennessee. New York has transferred $37 million out of the program; Maryland, $11 million; New Jersey, $7 million."
[B' Spokes: Over 5 years ago Montgomery Police led the state in crosswalk enforcement. (See: https://www.baltimorespokes.org/article.php?story=20141009193234662 ) Something happened and apparently not only are the police not doing that any more, the police have shifted full tilt into victim blaming. The WashCycle does a excellent job of responding to the police's outrageous statements.]