***NEWS RELEASE***
FOR MORE INFORMATION:
Kathy Roos, 208-343-7456, kroos@cyberhighway.net
May 14, 1997
BIKE SAFETY REPORT SAYS IDAHO KIDS AT RISK
House Proposals Threaten to Cut Funding for Bicycle Safety
Proposals before Congress would cut dramatically funding for
bicycle access and bicycle safety just as a new report documents that such
funding is needed. According to the Share the Road report, between 1986
and 1995 an average of 3 cyclists in Idaho were killed each year and an
estimated 290 were injured by motor vehicles while bicycling. Nearly 80
percent of all bicycle fatalities in Idaho involved children under the age
of 18--this is higher than the national average of 47 percent. Over
three-fourths of Idaho bicyclists are killed by cars on neighborhood
streets and local roads, the places we believe are safest to bicycle.
Share the Road, released by the Surface Transportation Policy Project
(STPP), the Environmental Working Group and the Bicycle Federation of
America, also reports that the vast majority of Americans continue to
support spending transportation dollars on bicycle facilities to make
bicycling safer.
Bicycling is growing in popularity---almost 100 million Americans
consider themselves bicyclists, an increase of 10% since the Intermodal
Surface Transportation Efficiency Act (ISTEA, or ice-tea) was passed in
1991---and the government reported new findings over the weekend that
suggest investments in bicycle safety are paying off. The passage of ISTEA
marked the first time that federal funds were provided for bicycle safety
and bicycle access.
A preliminary analysis of 1996 data by the National Highway
Traffic and Safety Administration (NHTSA) found that bicycle fatalities
fell by 12% in 1996, suggesting that increased federal investments in
bicycle safety and bicycle access since passage of ISTEA in 1991 are working.
ISTEA has provided funding for hundreds of miles of bicycle lanes
and trails, as well other bicycle facilities, all under the direction of
local communities. "Now is not the time to cut funding for a government
program that actually seems to be working," said Kathy Roos, State
Transportation Education Coordinator for the Palouse-Clearwater
Environmental Institute.
"What the report proves is that we still have a long way to go in
providing safe bicycling facilities," said Roos. "We need to accommodate
transportation choices -- including bicycling. Five million Americans
bicycle to work every day, for example, and many more say they would if
adequate facilities were available. They deserve to be as safe as the guy
in his Suburban. We need more trails and bike lanes, better drivers and
bicyclists. An improved transportation law can help us get there." said Roos.
One reason streets are dangerous for cyclists is that the bulk of
transportation safety dollars go to accommodate travel by car. Poorly
designed roads often contain no bicycle lanes or other spaces for
bicyclists. Neighborhood roads are becoming speedways, with cars going
faster and faster without regard for pedestrians or bicyclists.
A proposal by Rep. Bud Shuster (R-PA.), Chair of the House
Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, would allow states to transfer
50 percent of funds from ISTEA's Enhancements and Congestion Mitigation and
Air Quality Improvement (CMAQ) programs (the main source of funding for
bicycles) to
highway building projects. The proposal is scheduled for a committee vote
on May 20.
"Proposals like Congressman Shuster's would throw our nation's
transportation policy into reverse and prevent us from stopping hundreds of
unnecessary deaths each year," said Hank Dittmar, executive director of
STPP.
STARS-2000, a bill introduced in the Senate by Sen. Max Baucus
(D-MT) and Sen. Dirk Kempthorne (R-ID) cuts CMAQ funding by nearly
two-thirds.
The $155 billion ISTEA is being rewritten by Congress this year.
Since ISTEA was passed in 1991, more than $1 billion has been spent to
increase bicycle safety and access. Prior to ISTEA, virtually no federal
money was spent to improve conditions for bicyclists.
Some communities like Seattle, WA., and Portland and Corvallis, OR
have reduced bicycle fatalities dramatically. Davis, California which has
built many miles of bicycle trails and lanes began its visionary bicycle
safety campaign on a shoestring before ISTEA and NHTSA data show that it
has had no bicyclists killed by motor vehicles in the last 10 years. Over 20
percent of trips in Davis are made by bicycle and there are many miles of
bicycle trails and lanes.
"Slowly but surely, ISTEA is increasing opportunities for
bicycling, and making bicycling safer. Cutting back on funding for
bicycles puts that progress at risk," concluded Roos.
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