Feds Spend Nearly $1 Billion Helping Kids Walk to School
A coworker tipped me off to an earmarked federal program that--I found while digging through its grant allocations--will have spent $1 billion helping kids walk to school from 2005 to 2014. The kicker? An international, privately-funded nonprofit, staffed largely by volunteers, already successfully does the exact same thing.
Here are some of my favorite things your tax dollars have paid for through the “Safe Routes to School” program.
- $28,634 for bicycle rodeos in Bradenton, Florida
- $1,100 for posters and paper sneakers in Wilmington, Delaware
- $1,104,453 for a "team of engineers, planners, and bicycle/pedestrian experts" to work with schools in reducing car speeds and improving pedestrian and bicycle access to schools statewide in Massachusetts
- $5,560 for "I'm Safe" bookmarks in Dover, Delaware
- $5,000 for a bike obstacle course and walking school bus in Boise, Idaho
- And $48,009 to create "encouragement" signs, have law enforcement slow traffic, and develop safety materials for the Amish in Millersburg, Ohio.
This, my friends, is one of the many things that has me just a little worried about our republic: Biking to school encouragement for the Amish while we’re $15 trillion in the hole. As I wrote for Real Clear Policy yesterday:
The program is directly contributing to the federal deficit and national debt because its funding was frozen at 2009 levels, when budgets stopped and continuing resolutions became the new normal. In 2009, spending on the program exceeded the revenue that was supposed to pay for it from the federal gas tax. Program spending still far exceeds revenue—a microcosm of Congressional spending in general.
One reader who wrote RCP to take me on was not convinced.
“Let's start with real journalistic questions, none of which were even touched on,” she wrote. “1) Is it a wise use of taxpayer dollars to build roads in residential communities that are mortally dangerous to kids (and adults) to walk on? 2) Is this an acceptable choice to give children: either walk in a drainage ditch next to 55 mph traffic to get to school or be driven everywhere? ... 3) If $100 million is divided between the 50 states, DC and territories, can any state (much less community) get enough money to do anything meaningful?”
I have a better way of rephrasing that last question. If $15.7 trillion in national debt is divided among the U.S.’s 313 million inhabitants, does the resulting per-person tally change the definition of “meaningful project to spend other people’s money on”?
- Comment (9)
- · Quote
- · UnfollowFollow (2)
Comments:
Sep '11
Re: Feds Spend Nearly $1 Billion Helping Kids Walk to School
I've written to the author of the article at the Heartland Institute, asking for more information. The last item in the list, $48K for traffic safety improvements for the Amish in Millersburg, OH seems remarkably suspect.
I live in Pennsylvania, not Ohio. But the Amish don't differ that much--and the Amish hereabouts avoid any entanglement with the "English" world--especially the English government--that they can. I would be quite surprised to hear that the Amish got any of that money.
What I suspect, instead, is that a consultant got $48,000 to "study." And made recommendations. And gave a really good presentation to the city council, the county government, and perhaps the Chamber of Commerce. And maybe they handed out pamphlets to the local driver's ed classes.
If I find out more, I'll post.
Aug '10
Re: Feds Spend Nearly $1 Billion Helping Kids Walk to School
ThePullmanns: One reader who wrote RCP to take me on was not convinced.
“Let's start with real journalistic questions, none of which were even touched on,” she wrote. “1) Is it a wise use of taxpayer dollars to build roads in residential communities that are mortally dangerous to kids (and adults) to walk on? 2) Is this an acceptable choice to give children: either walk in a drainage ditch next to 55 mph traffic to get to school or be driven everywhere? ... 3) If $100 million is divided between the 50 states, DC and territories, can any state (much less community) get enough money to do anything meaningful?”
Once we've spent $100M a year, or any amount of money, will there be no roads in residential communities that are unsafe to walk on, no 55mph highways next to drainage ditches? Is this actually a problem that can be solved once and for all with a finite amount of money? Or is this problem just one of those open-ended complaints about dangers inherent in life, which one can always use to justify spending still more money?
Aug '10
Re: Feds Spend Nearly $1 Billion Helping Kids Walk to School
The real problem here is the persistent idea that Federal dollars are free money that in effect grows on trees. The people of Millersburg, OH are capable of deciding whether it is worth spending $48K on this particular signage, and the answer would probably be no. But if "somebody else" pays for it, the answer will always be yes. But when every community, county and state is given the same chance at "somebody else's" money, it turns out that there ain't no "somebody else". All that happens is we wind up spending way more money than we would have spent had the provenance of the money not been so assiduously obscured.
Aug '10
Re: Feds Spend Nearly $1 Billion Helping Kids Walk to School
It took $1 billion to "help" them? Why, when I was a boy, we walked 5 miles to school, barefoot, in the snow, uphill (both ways!), etc, etc...
And no one offered to subsidize us!
Kids these days, I tell ya.
Mar '11
Re: Feds Spend Nearly $1 Billion Helping Kids Walk to School
Have someone "study" the Amish traffic patterns, then slap up some signs letting people know that there are Amish buggies in the vicinity.
Any bureaucrat that can't blow through 48 grand on a job like that isn't really trying.
Jun '10
Re: Feds Spend Nearly $1 Billion Helping Kids Walk to School
Why do we need a government program about walking to school? When I was kid (half-century ago) I walked five miles to school, uphill both ways. At least that's the way I remember it.
Aug '11
Re: Feds Spend Nearly $1 Billion Helping Kids Walk to School
Isn't this something that the states can do? If it needs to be done? I don't know much about this but the projects seem weird. Bike obstacle course? Rodeos? If it's important, let the states raise money, let the states face scrutiny over these programs.
Jan '11
Re: Feds Spend Nearly $1 Billion Helping Kids Walk to School
If there is a 55mph speed limit on a street within walking distance of a school [5 mile radius per #6 & #4] then I'm moving to that state. All the school streets near me have 35-40 mph at most and speed bumps. The kids are too nimble, the slower speed and obstacles makes them impossible targets.
I loved a drainage ditch. Mom did not. Alas, it was never filled with water as the uphill slope to school always drained that ditch.
Apr '12
Re: Feds Spend Nearly $1 Billion Helping Kids Walk to School
Bingo.
My home town got a grant to "revitalize" the "downtown" if they got donations of matching value. (note: Bernie is awesome, sweet and a good guy-- one of those "genuinely trying to help" folks that way undervalued his stuff for this) They counted the market value of his donations to the project -- a few hundred bucks worth of rusty scrap-- and it took out the vast majority of their "matching funds" obligation. And no, the "Downtown" (Glover Street) isn't revitalized from how it was in the mid 90s when my family moved there.
My husband fought like a badger to get his command to get android tablets instead of iPads for their pilots, since they could do what was wanted off the shelf, can be secured and cost a quarter the price. It was shot down because the command wasn't paying for it.
Who doesn't have a story of waste or system-gaming?