City Cyclists and Walkers Get the Scraps
Bike/Ped Projects to Receive $3 a Year Per New Yorker

Despite a big jump in Federal transportation aid to the city, T.A. estimates that a meager $3 per New Yorker will be spent on bicycle and pedestrian projects each year for the next five years, or $22.2 million per year, citywide.

The five-year total of $111 million for bike/ped equals about 0.7% of the $15.6 billion in transportation projects listed in the New York City Transportation Coordinating Committee's "Transportation Improvement Plan" (TIP).

Bicycle and pedestrian improvements are inexpensive compared to subway and bridge projects. Nevertheless, traffic calming, and bike lanes and paths still cost real money. The disparity in spending shows low regard for the needs of bicyclists and pedestrians. For the last year, T.A. and 40 leading civic and environmental groups have pressed area transportation leaders to increase spending on NYC bike/ped projects to a modest 1.5% of total transportation spending, or $200 million. Given that pedestrians and cyclists account for about 20% of trips in NYC and more than half of traffic fatalities, our request is especially modest.

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