February 09, 2022

Lawmakers seek administrative support for active transportation infrastructure investment program they successfully included in bipartisan infrastructure law

Today, Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), Sen. Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), Congressman Chris Pappas (NH-01), and Congressman Jared Huffman (California- 02) sent a letter to the United States Department of Transportation (DOT) and the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), urging the Biden administration to seek full funding for the new infrastructure investment program of active transport – recently authorized in the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act—in the President’s proposed annual budget for fiscal year 2023.

The Active Transportation Infrastructure Investment Program (ATIIP) is a modified version of the Connecting America’s Active Transportation System Act, which lawmakers introduced and successfully secured in the recent bipartisan Infrastructure Act. This program authorizes $200 million per year – for a total of $1 billion over five years – to connect walking and cycling infrastructure to accessible, affordable and safe active transportation networks that allow people to reach destinations within a community, as well as travel between communities, without ever needing a car. Funds are now needed to implement this new program.

“Full funding from ATIIP would help meet the overwhelming demand nationwide for active transportation networks that provide opportunities to walk and cycle safely to everyday destinations,” write to lawmakers in their letter to DOT Secretary Buttigieg and Acting OMB Director Shalanda Young. “ATIIP would also help our country achieve key goals the Biden administration has set for transportation investments, including reducing greenhouse gas emissions, reversing rising death tolls and serious injuries among pedestrians and cyclists, providing equitable mobility options and rebuilding our local economies from the COVID-19 pandemic.”

the Connecting America’s Active Transportation System Act has been endorsed by: Rails-to-Trails Conservancy, Adventure Cycling, America Walks, American College of Sports Medicine, American Public Health Association, American Society of Landscape Architects, American Trails, Association of Programs for Rural Independent Living, Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund, East Coast Greenway, League of American Bicyclists, LOCUS, National Disability Rights Network, National League of Cities, National Recreation and Parks Association, Natural Resources Defense Council, Outdoor Industry Association, People for Bikes, Policy Link, Project for Public Spaces , Safe Routes to Schools National Partnership, Transportation for America, Southern Environmental Law Center and Trust for America’s Health.

A copy of the lawmakers’ letter can be found HERE and below.

Dear Secretary Buttigieg and Acting Director Young:

We are writing to request that you include full funding for the new Active Transportation Infrastructure Investment Program (ATIIP), recently authorized under Section 11529 of the Infrastructure Investment and Employment Act (IIJA), in the President’s proposed annual budget for fiscal year 2023.

Full funding from ATIIP would help meet the overwhelming demand nationwide for active transportation networks that provide opportunities to walk and cycle safely to everyday destinations. It would also help our communities fight climate change by shifting transportation to carbon-free transportation options. A brief Spring 2020 survey of local transportation planners and cycling and pedestrian organizations identified several billion dollars in unmet need to fill gaps in active transportation networks, and the actual unmet need is estimated at at least several times that amount. While increasing funding for transportation alternatives in the IIJA is critically important, these diffuse investments allocated to states and regions do not sufficiently address the need for concentrated investments in places that have many gaps to fill in their comprehensive active transportation networks. For example, the active transportation network in the Eugene, Oregon metro area 2035 Transportation System Plan will cost more than $71 million and serve 375,000 people, or less than 9% of the state’s population. In contrast, the total annual funding currently allocated statewide through the Transportation Alternatives program is approximately $7.8 million.

ATIIP would also help our country achieve key goals the Biden administration has set for transportation investments, including reducing greenhouse gas emissions, reversing rising death tolls, and serious injuries among pedestrians and cyclists, providing equitable mobility options, and rebuilding our local economies from COVID. -19 pandemic. A recent analysis found that substantial investment in active transportation focused on mode shifting to walking and bicycling could reduce US greenhouse gas emissions by 54 million metric tons per year. The Nonmotorized Transportation Pilot Project created by Congress has proven that investments in connectivity allow for a significant increase in walking and biking without any increase in pedestrian and cyclist fatalities and injuries. Active transportation connectivity will also help ensure greater equity by providing affordable and accessible transportation options to the millions of U.S. households who do not own a car, as well as reducing disparities in traffic crashes and deaths. that disproportionately affect low-income communities and communities of color.

The fiscal year 2023 budget is an opportunity for us to finish some of the IIJA’s unfinished business and invest in the infrastructure projects that Americans want most. If fully funded, the Active Transportation Infrastructure Investment Program could be a critical tool in achieving our country’s transportation goals, delivering an exceptionally high return on investment. We therefore respectfully request that you include full funding for this program in President Biden’s proposed budget.

Thank you for your attention to this important subject.

Truly,