BIKE: NYTimes.com Article: The Path to a Healthier America

[Patrick Goetz]

Byrnes, Rick wrote:

>Maybe this is a digression, but in one local situation they did listen.  
>The public health issue and exercise benefits of pedestrian/bicycle
>facilities was one of the arguments the Austin cycling community used in
>support of maintaining the so-called 15 percent set-aside at the local CAMPO
>hearing last November.  I am not sure just how much of a role the argument
>played in CAMPO's decision, but I heard that they voted to continue the
>set-aside.   
>  
>

Yes, this is true.  CAMPO voted unanimously (with one abstention) to 
continue the 15% set-aside.  As the NYT points out, however, less than 
1% of federal tranportation money is going towards supporting 
pedestrians and cyclists.  This might have something to do with the fact 
that the highway building lobby is the second most powerful in the 
country (just behind ARPA).