Washington, June 17: The Obama administration more than doubled transportation spending on bicycling and walking last year as it seeks to coax Americans out of their cars, according to a Federal Highway Administration report released on Wednesday.
Spending on biking and walking projects rose from less than $600m in 2008 to $1.2bn in 2009. Twenty years ago, the federal government was spending only $6m a year on such projects.
The spending on biking and walking projects was scheduled to rise last year anyway, but the administration boosted it with $400m in funds set aside under the economic recovery programme.
The new focus on biking and walking represents a turnaround from the administration of President George W Bush.
Mary Peters, transportation secretary under Bush, dismissed biking and walking paths as not “real transportation,” saying they had no place in federal transportation policy.
—Agencies