"Transportation Enhancements" funding

"This year, around $700 million of Federal transportation funds, which is less than 2 percent of total transportation dollars, will be spent on bicycling and walking.
In 2012 that figure could be a big fat zero if Senator Coburn (R-OK) gets his way. In the next few days, Senator Coburn (R-OK) is expected to try and hold up the extension of the SAFETEA-LU transportation bill unless Congress eliminates funding for the federal Transportation Enhancements (TE) program.
For twenty years, TE has been the primary funding source for sidewalks, crosswalks, bike lanes, trails and more."

Please get the word out! The link below takes you to a page where you can send a message to your Senators asking them to keep funding for Transportation Enhancements.

Link

Done a couple of days ago, and forwarded to my clubs on FB.

We're stuck with the name of the bill they came up with, but I surely wish they wouldn't call it transportation "enhancements." They may as well call it "fluff" or "pork." :(

I am a long-range transportation planner so am quite familiar with the Transportation Enhancement (TE) program. As the designated MPO for the Indianapolis Urbanized Area we administer the TE program for our planing area, how this works differ from state to state as this is up to the State DOT.

The TE program covers more activities than pedestrian and bicycle infrastructure. There are 12 activities eligible for TE funding, you can find more information here if you are interested.

This link allows you to select individual states so you can view the TE profile for your state.