Here’s an excerpt from an article by Katharine Mieszkowski that appeared in Salon.com about Secretary Peters’ unfortunate comments regarding bicycle infrastructure funding.
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“Imagine you’re the federal official in the Bush administration charged with overseeing the nation’s transportation infrastructure. A major bridge collapses on an interstate highway during rush hour, killing 13 people and injuring an additional 100. Whom to blame? How about the nation’s bicyclists and pedestrians!
The Minneapolis bridge collapse on Aug. 1 led Secretary of Transportation Mary Peters to publicly reflect on federal transportation spending priorities and conclude that those greedy bicyclists and pedestrians, not to mention museumgoers and historic preservationists, hog too much of the billions of federal dollars raised by the gas tax, money that should go to pave highways and bridges. Better still, Peters, a 2006 Bush appointee, apparently doesn’t see biking and walking paths as part of transportation infrastructure at all.” more »
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Let me just start with Mary Peters comment that bikes are not transportation is infuriating. Bicycles deserve to be included and designed into the transportation system.
I have to say even though I’m a biker, I’m very much opposed to using the gas tax for anything other than the roads that vehicles drive on.
In it’s inception the gas tax was one of the fairest balanced taxes created by our government. Essentially you paid for what you used. If you used the roads often, you paid more tax. If you drove a heavier vehicle that put more wear on the road, you paid more for that too. Using this money for anything other than roads I believe is a mismanagement of that money.
No matter how noble the project, it’s sad that this these moneys are being diverted from building and maintaining roads.
I beleive in bike trails I believe in mass transit but above all this I believe in balanced taxes.
Latest news on this:
Secretary Peters apologizes