I’ve now seen this same statement plastered on a number of sites, the most recent on the House Republican Leader’s (John Boehner) Blog:
Just take a look at how some of the so-called “stimulus” dollars are being spent. In spite of promises of transparency and accountability from the Administration, hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars are being spent on wasteful projects: a skateboard park in Rhode Island, bike racks in the District of Columbia, highway studies instead of construction projects …
While I can’t stand up and defend a skateboard park, I’ll certainly stand up and proudly say that bicycle parking is NOT a waste of the taxpayers parking. In fact, I think it is money well spent. What better way to spend stimulus money than to hire people to put in parking racks and promote alternative transportation? In fact, the League of American cyclists posted some information in a recent Trash Talk column that suggests that bike infrastructure has a higher return on investment than road expansion and significant job growth.
Currently there are two leading congressmen leading the assault on bicycle infrastructure projects. If you feel your tax money is being well spent funding bicycle infrastructure projects, then I would encourage you to write Congressman Cantor and Congressman Boehner and let them know bicycle infrastructure IS a valid infrastructure expenditure.