MASSACHUSETTS PAGE

The every-six-years federal highway-aid bill is lurching unsteadily through Congress. The main formula for handing out a third of a trillion federal gas-tax dollars is still to be decided on, but the hundreds of peripheral details are starting to become definite. One detail that's likely to make it into local laws is the "Safe Routes to School Program."

"Safe Routes to School" is the latest marketing ploy of bike-path advocates. The bicycle crowd already has the "Enhancements" program that devotes a fraction of fuel-tax funds to sidewalks, bike paths, and horse trails, but they want more. For this round, they've joined forces with the "walkable communities" activists, and public-health crusaders who are trying to convince people that Americans are too fat. These folk say people should walk more, and they would, if only those nasty cars weren't in their way all the time.

To this end they propose to hand out money to local governments for sidewalks, pedestrian and bicycle crossings, on-street bicycle lanes, bike paths, bicycle parking racks, pedestrian railroad crossings, and lessons for kids on walking, health, and the environment. And speed bumps. In a wonderfully Orwellian phrase, your gas tax dollars will soon be made available for "traffic calming and speed reduction improvements." That's right: your gas-tax dollars will help get you there slower, and your Senators think that's an improvement.

The program also takes care of people who ride patrol cars, not bikes: "Safe Routes" money will be usable for "traffic education and enforcement in the vicinity of schools." Always seeing the big picture, the Senate defines the vicinity of a school as any street within two miles of any public school. This means that local governments will be lining up for grants to pay their police to run speed traps on highways up to two miles from the nearest school.

Because it's not possible for a politician to oppose "safe routes to school," the bike-pedalers and fitness fans are certain to win this round, with a rake-off for police departments. This program is almost certain to divert at least $70,000,000 per year away from highway projects that really could contribute to safety for thousands of motorists - and pedestrians. Whether any schoolchildren will benefit is nowhere near as certain.

©NMAF News, 2004

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