The Washington Area Bicyclist Association and Montgomery Bicycle Advocates have both spoken out to challenge Montgomery County Officials to back up their talk with action. Montgomery County officials “talk the talk” about building a bicycle and pedestrian friendly environment, but fall far short when the time comes to “walk the walk”.
A WABA letter to Mont. Co. about their funding for the bikeways program is online at WashCycle. WABA says in part:
“While we are well aware of the difficult financial situation facing the County, funding for bicycle projects in he capital and operating budgets continue to bear more than their fair share of cost-saving measures. It is clear to us that bicycling and walking, which we feel contribute greatly to the mobility and health of County residents, continues to be a low priority for transportation dollars. During difficult economic times, the County should focus on transportation projects that provide lower cost and healthier mobility options for residents while reducing greenhouse gas emissions and fossil fuel use associated with driving.”“Yet the proposed FY 11-16 capital budget, last year’s amendments to the FY 2010 capital budget and the FY 2010 savings plan have sharply reduced bicycle and pedestrian spending. Bicycle projects must not bear a disproportional share of budget cuts. Bicycling and walking projects are being eliminated or postponed in favor of other transportation modes, but the overall transportation budget appears to have been cut back by a much smaller percentage. In FY 2011 there is a total of approximately $4.9 million set aside for bike and pedestrian projects. This is a decrease of over $2 million from the original FY 2010 budget. In addition, funding of projects identified as bike projects (including shared use paths that double as pedestrian facilities) will make up approximately just 2.8% of the overall transportation budget, but according to the Council of Governments’ 2008 Household Travel Survey, biking and walking make up 9.6% of daily trips. From the standpoint of individual bike projects, there are many of us who wonder if these important facilities will ever be built at all. ….”
WABA goes on to list its concerns about specific county bikeway projects, including the continued failure of Montgomery County to fund progress on the MetBranch Trail.
Jack Cochrane testified on behalf of Montgomery Bicycle Advocates at the Feb. 17 County Council budget public hearing. His testimony also called out the County failure to support bikeways:
“We are concerned over continued efforts by the County Executive to reduce the percentage of county transportation funding that goes toward bicycling. In tight budget times we can accept our fair share of spending reductions. But cuts to bicycle and pedestrian programs have far exceeded cuts to the general transportation budget under the most recent CIPs. If we’re to live up to the vision of the approved and adopted Countywide Bikeways Functional Master Plan, then bicycling must be supported as a vital component of transportation. It’s an important way to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, curtail fossil fuel use, provide alternatives for non-drivers, enable Smart Growth, limit personal transportation expenses and ease traffic congestion.”“County dedicated funding of bikeways was already reduced by some $3 million or 35% for FY10 from originally planned levels in the FY09-14 CIP (per the FY10 budget amendment and the FY10 Savings Plan). Unfortunately the Executive’s proposed new CIP continues this reduced level of funding. Bike funding needs to be restored to the same percentage of overall transportation spending that was programmed for FY10 in the FY09-14 CIP. Balancing the budget should not fundamentally reduce the proportion of transportation spending devoted to non-automobile modes, including walking and bus transit, which also seem to be favorite targets of the budget axe.”
MOBIKE, like WABA, cited the MetBranch Trail project as strong evidence of the failure of Montgomery County to make a meaningful commitment to bicycle and pedestrian transportation.
The County Council T&E Committee is tentatively scheduled to take up the bikeways portion of the proposed FY11-16 CIP budget on their March 2 work session. What the T&E Committee recommends to the full Council will have a big impact on whether the County will “walk the walk” on supporting better bicycling and walking options in our communities, or instead will continue to mostly just talk.