Advocacy & Safety - Ridiculous increase in bicycle registration fee by an outgoing city council person

I am interested in hearing some feedback from people who do not live in New Orleans about this issue. A little background. Before Hurricane Katrina the cost of registering a bicycle in the city of New Orleans was $3. Now New Orleans City Council member James Carter is proposing a 500% increase for registering your bike, bringing the total up to $15. Bicycles that are to be used "commercially" will see an increase of 2500%, a final fee of $75. No one is sure yet as to where this money will be going yet. I will be calling Mr. Carter's office tomorrow to voice my disagreement over this issue. Personally I feel that the registration cost should remain at pre-Katrina levels or abolished completely. I've attached some links that may be of interest.

http://ridethisbike.com/2010/03/proposed-500-2500-bike-registration-fee.html

http://www.petitiononline.com/mbcarter/petition.html

Thanks.

I am a NOLA native.

I will happily pay the increase IF

1. A substantial amount of the $$$ goes to cycling infrastructure.

And/Or

2. We ALL pay license fees by weight. My 20 lb curb weight Cinelli SuperCorsa road bike = $15 per year. A Ford F150 with curb weight 4000-7000 lbs pays $3000-$5250 each year for a plate. That's 75 cents a pound. Use your car/truck for work? Hand over about $3.75 per pound. 4000 lbs = $15,000 each year.

I will line up with all 6 of my bikes and shell out about a hundred and fifty bucks. No problemo. Otherwise...they can find me.

(Pssst.....an easy work-around: You must have one friend that lives in Metairie, Algiers, St. Bernard? Check with them first. Then, if a cop EVER bothers to stop you and check your bike license - HAHA - tell them you don't own a bike. You are riding your friend's bike who does not live in NOLA. You are considering buying it. You will purchase a license if you actually do buy the bike.)

Honolulu has bicycle registration collected by the LBS at sale or by city hall with used/imported bikes.

Use to cost $8.00 every 2 years. Changed to $15 for life of bike since no one would re-register after the first 2 years. Cops will confiscate unregistered bikes. $25 late fee charged after 10 days from sale.

The money is suppose to go to 4th grade bicycle training at school (how to ride VC) and other bicycle specific projects. But someone stole a couple million dollars out of the bicycle fund and put it into the general fund a few years ago. Of course the city claimed they could not find who had done it and could not return the money to the bicycle fund, because they could not figure out what the money was spent on.

We still have a registration process on the books where I live... voluntary, costs $2 for the life of the bike. Given the zeal, or lack thereof, that the local PD does the rest of their non-life-threatening work, I'd just as soon spend the $2 on a quart of chocolate milk.

Joey, you're right -- when registration fees are even-handed, no prob; until then, they can suck it.

I expect that they'll see a steep drop off in registration, but probably not in cycling.

Where I live it's just two dollars to register, it's good for as long as you have the bike, and to my knowledge they only enforce the registration if the police are already dealing with the cyclists for something else. State law says the city can't require registration for non citizens, and I live outside of the city limits.

I am interested in hearing some feedback from people who do not live in New Orleans about this issue. A little background. Before Hurricane Katrina the cost of registering a bicycle in the city of New Orleans was $3. Now New Orleans City Council member James Carter is proposing a 500% increase for registering your bike, bringing the total up to $15. Bicycles that are to be used "commercially" will see an increase of 2500%, a final fee of $75. No one is sure yet as to where this money will be going yet. I will be calling Mr. Carter's office tomorrow to voice my disagreement over this issue. Personally I feel that the registration cost should remain at pre-Katrina levels or abolished completely. I've attached some links that may be of interest.

http://ridethisbike.com/2010/03/proposed-500-2500-bike-registration-fee.html

http://www.petitiononline.com/mbcarter/petition.html

Thanks.

What is the reason behind the increase? Is it because he can no longer be on the city council and this is his only way of "screwing" with people one last time? Is there a legitimate reason behind the increase?

Honolulu has bicycle registration collected by the LBS at sale or by city hall with used/imported bikes.

Use to cost $8.00 every 2 years. Changed to $15 for life of bike since no one would re-register after the first 2 years. Cops will confiscate unregistered bikes. $25 late fee charged after 10 days from sale.

The money is suppose to go to 4th grade bicycle training at school (how to ride VC) and other bicycle specific projects. But someone stole a couple million dollars out of the bicycle fund and put it into the general fund a few years ago. Of course the city claimed they could not find who had done it and could not return the money to the bicycle fund, because they could not figure out what the money was spent on.

Sounds like some outside accounting needs to be done to see who has/had access to the accounts at the time and whose security information was used to access the account where the money was when the money was transferred.

I'd consider a bike fee if it was well spent on bike infrastructure and it gave cyclists equal rights.. But, 500%. Just what I feared..Equal rights , does not mean a 12 lb bike should pay something equivalent to a 2000 lb car. After all, we reduce traffic volume on congested highways.

I expect that they'll see a steep drop off in registration, but probably not in cycling.

Where I live it's just two dollars to register, it's good for as long as you have the bike, and to my knowledge they only enforce the registration if the police are already dealing with the cyclists for something else. State law says the city can't require registration for non citizens, and I live outside of the city limits.

As I've said where I live there is no charge to register a bike with the police. And they appear to keep a database of s/n's and check to see if a bike that is being registered has been reported as stone.

I am interested in hearing some feedback from people who do not live in New Orleans about this issue. A little background. Before Hurricane Katrina the cost of registering a bicycle in the city of New Orleans was $3. Now New Orleans City Council member James Carter is proposing a 500% increase for registering your bike, bringing the total up to $15. Bicycles that are to be used "commercially" will see an increase of 2500%, a final fee of $75. No one is sure yet as to where this money will be going yet. I will be calling Mr. Carter's office tomorrow to voice my disagreement over this issue. Personally I feel that the registration cost should remain at pre-Katrina levels or abolished completely. I've attached some links that may be of interest.

http://ridethisbike.com/2010/03/proposed-500-2500-bike-registration-fee.html

http://www.petitiononline.com/mbcarter/petition.html

Thanks.

That is crazy!!! I presently(still) live in one of the most expensive counties in the country(Maryland suburbs of Washington, DC) and, I don't have to pay a dime to get my bike registered. I just have to fill out the registration form and, put a sticker on my bike.

i wouldn't waste my time or money registering a bike. why would anyone even mess with it?

I'd be down on dropping $15 on registration if bicycle theft was taken seriously and it was used as a tool to that end.

But I doubt that's going to happen, so...

I like JoeyBike's suggestion of registration fee based on weight but would add the bike engine to give us all a bit of extra incentive to get and stay on the lean side.

I didn't know if my city had a bike registry or not, so I just went and checked. They do and it's $1. That's a very reasonable price, but I still don't think I will bother.

If you register a bike with a city, is the serial number only known by that city's police, or does it go in some nation-wide database? I feel like it would only be for that city, which would be even more useless. Most of my riding isn't even in this city.

Wait, you guys have to register your bicycles? Do you get a fancy little license plate to hang off the back? That would be so neat!

I suggest that the most effective way to defeat the proposed ordinance is to inform city council of the poor track record of similar ordinances in other communities in terms of compliance rates, enforceability, cost effectiveness, public relations, and impact on local businesses.

Simply put, if the fee is high enough to cover the cost of implementation, the compliance rate will be extremely low. If the compliance rate is extremely low, law enforcement will have a public relations problem when they try to enforce it. The enforcement costs will be higher than the revenue and any potential cost savings would be. Also, enforcement will discourage cycling. If the costs are moved to local bicycle shops, bicycle business will move elsewhere. Since most cities try to promote bicycle transportation in order to reduce traffic and parking demand, most cities that had registration programs either abolished them or made them voluntary.

I like JoeyBike's suggestion of registration fee based on weight but would add the bike engine to give us all a bit of extra incentive to get and stay on the lean side.

Well, it only makes sense to count the total weight of the vehicle on the road. There are some people at work who add significantly to the weight of their car when they get into it.

In reality weight based registrations are assumed to be charging for damage to roads and/or damaged to struck objects. Both actually increase as the SQUARE of weight. So a 3000 pound car actually causes 15^2 or 225x the damage that a 200 pound bike+rider does. So the car should be paying $15 * 225 = $3375 in registration fees.

...... Personally I feel that the registration cost should remain at pre-Katrina levels or abolished completely. .....

This is nothing more than an attempt by local governments to refuse to face the fiscal music. They are raising fees, sales taxes, property taxes, ad nauseum all in an attempt to allow government employees to get wage and benefits increases that have outstripped the private sector (and inflation) for decades.


I think the fee should stay at pre-katrina levels, as should other fees, levies, and taxes. If you are one of the these folks who thinks 'other fees' should rise (cigarette taxes, gas taxes, yadda yadda) then I think it undercuts your argument.


roughstuff

Wait, you guys have to register your bicycles? Do you get a fancy little license plate to hang off the back? That would be so neat!

It would be. My co-worker still has the original 1973 plate on the Raleigh super course he registered in Texas while at college.

Not to be a nit-picker, but going from $3 to $15 is a 400% increase (not 500%).

Not to be a nit-picker, but going from $3 to $15 is a 400% increase (not 500%).

Thanks for the math check; regardless it is a unnecessary increase. So I called Carter's office this morning and got the run-around (he and his COS are in a meeting, etc.). I let the secretary simply know that was opposed to any increase in registration fees and that there should be public input on this matter. I ended up writing an email addressed to Carter and his COS with a few questions in teh hope that someone will get back to me.

- What is the purpose of this increase?
- What could I expect, as a cyclist/commuter, to see from this increase?
- How will it be enforced if passed?
- What's to keep people from taking their business elsewhere?
- Where was the public input?

New Orleans has a large, loose-knit (but aware) cycling population. I do know that a member of the New Orleans Regional Planning Commission has requested a meeting with Carter concerning this proposed ordinance. We'll see what happens.

The fee is used to administer the fee and registration process and materials.

The fee is used to administer the fee and registration process and materials.

:lol:

"We need the money for the administrative costs of obtaining the fee"

The registration is really only in effect to placate motorists.

Government logic is like an MC Escher drawing.

:lol:

"We need the money for the administrative costs of obtaining the fee"

The registration is really only in effect to placate motorists.

Government logic is like an MC Escher drawing.


No no, Escher makes sense.

2. We ALL pay license fees by weight. My 20 lb curb weight Cinelli SuperCorsa road bike = $15 per year. A Ford F150 with curb weight 4000-7000 lbs pays $3000-$5250 each year for a plate. That's 75 cents a pound. Use your car/truck for work? Hand over about $3.75 per pound. 4000 lbs = $15,000 each year.This is a fairly popular cyclist position, that they'll support registration if it's done by weight, because a car will have to pay 30x as much.

Of course, why should it be done by weight? (Beyond that being pro-bike and anti-car, of course.) Most of the cost of registration goes to supporting the program itself, and that cost really shouldn't be very different between car and bike. The registration fees for cars isn't really meant to pay for the road now (where weight might be an issue) so why should the weight be an issue?

They don't usually do it straight by weight for cars vs. trucks already (it's either fixed or based on type of vehicle rather than it's weight) so why would they change it to be done by weight just to make some weight weenies feel smart about having a really light bike.

And really, if your bike is 20 lbs, why should you pay less than somebody with a 40 lb utility bike?

Wait, you guys have to register your bicycles? Do you get a fancy little license plate to hang off the back? That would be so neat!

I had one of those neat plates with my name on it when I was a wee lil chipcom...but my daddy got it from the five and dime, not from the city. :thumb:

Ride it in lieu of 2 or 3 tanks of gas in your car and badda bing, you're ahead.

I didn't know if my city had a bike registry or not, so I just went and checked. They do and it's $1. That's a very reasonable price, but I still don't think I will bother.

If you register a bike with a city, is the serial number only known by that city's police, or does it go in some nation-wide database? I feel like it would only be for that city, which would be even more useless. Most of my riding isn't even in this city.

There is a national bike registry that one can use to register one's bike. I think that one can also register just about anything from bikes to laptops to digital cameras to iPods at that or a similar site.

Wait, you guys have to register your bicycles? Do you get a fancy little license plate to hang off the back? That would be so neat!

I wasn't given a plate.

The fee is used to administer the fee and registration process and materials.

"The bureaucracy is expanding to meet the needs of the expanding bureaucracy."

:D

"I'd be down on dropping $15 on registration if bicycle theft was taken seriously and it was used as a tool to that end."

Hey, bike theft IS TAKEN VERY SERIOUSLY IN NOLA. Our thieves take it very seriously and it is a BOOMING business!

Oh, you meant the cops taking it seriously? No way that will happen.It is probably just a money grab of some sort-no matter if it is couched in terms that imply it will help bikes- it won't.

Oh, you meant the cops taking it seriously? No way that will happen.It is probably just a money grab of some sort-no matter if it is couched in terms that imply it will help bikes- it won't.

Yeah, I highly doubt it.

Car registration makes it more difficult to sell a stolen car and can be a valuable tool for law enforcement. Barring that, I can't see any reason for registration of bikes aside from someone looking to boost the general fund.

Also, for that system to be really effective you'd probably need to enforce mandatory registration, as with cars, and I don't think that would be a Good Thing (and it's definitely not at this point).