New York state spending more on bike/ped projects

From the New York Observer:

Meant to complement the $67 million allocated last month to “help modernize and enhance” the state’s transportation infrastructure with 63 bicycle and pedestrian path enhancement initiatives, the newly-announced funding will support “recreational and tourism opportunities across the state,” Mr. Cuomo said in a release. “We are looking for projects that can grow local economies and create jobs, while also contributing to cleaner and more resilient communities for years to come.”

It's always good news when state DOT's recognize that more money needs to be spent on something other than highway capacity. And for many of us, $67 million sounds like a lot of money. A point of perspective, though: New York DOT's 2013 capital spending budget (just capital - no operations) was $9.7 billion, with $4.2+ billion dedicated to "Transportation." A single interchange rebuild in today's standard practices often costs in the hundreds of millions of dollars. 

So, yes, some good movement, but as always in the transportation spending world: a long ways to go still to have some true transportation options.