funding

In 1989 Catherine Austin Fitts became Assistant Secretary for Housing in Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). She began to notice money was not properly tracked as it moved between different HUD departments and there was a lack of proper accounting mechanisms to deal with discrepancies in revenue indicated fraud at an alarming level.

Six biking and walking projects will receive more than $4 million in grants from Bike Walk Twin Cities, a federally-funded program to increase biking and walking and decrease driving in the metro area. 

One of the projects is the Minneapolis Bike Share Program, which received a $1.75 million grant, will be run by Nice Ride Minnesota, a nonprofit organization. The program will place 1000 bikes at 75 security kiosks throughout Minneapolis.

Bike Share riders will have the option of purchasing a season pass for about $50, and may check out a bike at any time and return it to a self-service kiosk of their choice. The first 30 minutes are free and additional time is available for a small fee. In addition, day passes are available. In Minneapolis, the program will run from April through November. The Bike Share Program is expected to be operational by summer 2010.