Originally Posted by
markjenn
Okay, taking your number at face value, would you be in favor a set of bicycle user fees which would pay for 40% of the cost of an expansion of dedicated bicycle infrastructure?
- Mark
We'll have to factor in the damage done to the roads by various modes and the weather (I hear this is an issue back east; we don't do weather damage in the west
) as well as the historic overpayment by nonmotorized users. Add in the other public benefits that can be reaped by successfully getting bums in the saddle, many of which yield extensive cost-savings (National Health Service in Great Britain is currently frantic to find a way to deal with the extensive costs of the obesity epidemic coming its way), and I'm sure many cycling folks would be willing to see an appropriate tire tax put in place. Of course, it may end up being a reverse tax after all is considered.
I actually don't mind subsidizing the car addicts. It's one of those costs of being a member of society. So far, they have been far more effective at convincing my fellow citizens that they deserve to be subsidized. In the future, this may not be the case (see the large rise of unlicensed youth). However, I will always be paying taxes for services I don't use and other things I abhor. Other people don't use/abhor some of the things our tax dollars buy that I find wonderful and would like to expand, like the EPA. It's all good.