On September 17, 2009, the U.S. Senate voted on two amendments to the Transportation Appropriations bill, offered by Sen. Coburn (R-OK), that would have devastated funding for bicycle and pedestrian projects across the country. The amendments targeted the Transportation Enhancement program, which funds hundreds of bike-related projects with millions of dollars every year (click here to see Transportation Enhancement-funded projects in Texas).
The good news is that the amendments both failed. The bad news is that both of our Texas senators, John Cornyn and Kay Bailey Hutchison, voted for them.
BikeTexas led a fight in an attempt save over $300 million Transportation Enhancement funding from Transportation Commission cuts in Texas in 2006. The current TxDOT call for projects is the portion of TE funding ($60 million) that was saved from those cuts. TE has been a top federal priority for Texas cyclists since the program was founded in 1991.