The story from Bloomberg. From the article:
The Trump administration canceled grants for street safety measures, pedestrian trails and bike lanes in communities around the country this month, each time offering a simple rationale for yanking back federal aid: the projects aren’t designed for cars.A San Diego County road improvement project including bike lanes “appears to reduce lane capacity and a road diet that is hostile to motor vehicles,” a US Department of Transportation official wrote, rescinding a $1.2 million grant it awarded nearly a year ago.In Fairfield, Alabama, converting street lanes to trail space on Vinesville Road was also deemed “hostile” to cars, and “counter to DOT’s priority of preserving or increasing roadway capacity for motor vehicles.”Bicyclists, pedestrians, and power wheelchairs on the Martin Luther King Jr. Drive Bridge.Photo:Tom Gralish... local officials and transit advocates said they were surprised by the language DOT used in rescinding previously awarded grants, and alarmed that the department seemed to be taking particular aim at programs that were designed to make streets safer for pedestrians and cyclists in a period of elevated traffic injuries and deaths.... Despite rhetoric that associates non-car infrastructure development with liberal politics, “at the local level, there really isn’t that divide,” Mills said in an interview. Florida, he noted, is a red state with “extremely strong” plans to grow its network of mixed-use trails for bikes and pedestrians.Transit planners increasingly have opted for alternative transit projects that can also alleviate automobile congestion, an approach Mills said is often more effective than car-focused projects. “These canceled projects may do that better,” he said.
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No surprise here. Homogeneity in all things is a hallmark of the Trump Administration.
The administration has shown its bias towards unfettering the motorist, starting with its opposition to the congestion toll zone in New York City. And later eliminating transportation grants that called for equity in access for all users, not merely the primacy of motorists.
Great point about how planning overlooks private transportation. This happens with auto transport in California too. Many people use private car shipping when moving or traveling long distances. It's a key service, yet it rarely gets included in regional transit talks. Could better connections, like those with Amtrak buses, help bridge these gaps?
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