Kansas & Florida opt out of trail funding

The MAP-21 transportation funding passed by Congress last June included a controversial opt-out provision. States were given leeway to eliminate already anemic “enhancements” funding and use the whole enchilada for highway spending only.

People responded en masse to a call for action from numerous cycling and pedestrian advocacy groups that encouraged them to contact their governors. 48 states elected to retain funding for the Recreational Trails Program (RTP), which can be used to build bike facilities.

Kansas Governor Sam Brownback and Florida Governor Rick Scott both opted out of trail funding, and will redirect those funds to highway spending in their states.

More on this at Streetsblog.

Governor Jerry Brown indicated early on that California would retain enhancements funding, so this state was never in any danger of losing programs such as RTP and Safe Routes.

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