Florida Rail to Trails

Ken Bryan
Florida Director
Rails-to-Trails Conservancy
 
 I was stunned to find out that the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) has yet again targeted walkers, bicyclists and trail users. Please join me in telling our state leaders that enough is enough:

Stop marginalizing Florida’s cyclists and pedestrians!

In response to a federal order for states to trim their transportation budgets, FDOT has disproportionately cut $24.7 million in coveted Transportation Enhancements (TE) funds, along with $3 million from the Recreational Trails Program. TE is our nation’s largest source of funding for trails, walking and bicycling. These funds are highly prized and very limited.

This decision leaves behind a long list of unfunded, production-ready trail projects—including a portion of the SR 207 Rail Trail in St. Augustine, and the regionally significant Courtney Campbell Causeway Trail projects linking Pinellas and Hillsborough Counties.

In Florida, TE represents less than three percent of our total transportation dollars, yet accounts for nearly 22 percent of these recent reductions! Far from an isolated incident, these recent cutbacks follow a pattern in which walking and bicycling are marginalized and under-prioritized in our state.

Please take a moment to write to Governor Crist as well as the gubernatorial candidates Alex Sink and Rick Scott. We must stop the attacks to our very limited funds.

Please join me and speak up now.

Sincerely,
Ken Bryan
Florida Director
Rails-to-Trails Conservancy