Originally Posted by
xizangstan
Fast forward to a concern some of us have regarding our treasured bikes of today: THEFT. I would go along with a mandatory licensing program if the system would make bicycle theft a major felony crime and actually prosecuted bicycle thieves. Seeing bike thieves serving hard time in prison for lifting valuable bikes would really boost my spirits and give me more faith in the 'system'.
You might have a point if stolen bikes was something the police might actually pursue, but given their reluctance to pursue any other crimes, that's highly unlikely.
Originally Posted by
contango
You mean, "I speculate the future in a different way". Nobody knows for sure how things are going to turn out. If fuel prices go high enough more people will look for alternatives - that might mean anything from cycling to car sharing to living closer to work.
Most of them will just make other sacrifices so they can continue to drive. Already seen it happen here, where poorer people will choose to buy fuel for their cars over food for their children. All that will happen if the price of fuel keeps rising is that the middle classes will make the same choice.
Originally Posted by
Retro Grouch
Yeah, I think they are missing a revenue opportunity.
No, they aren't. Several jurisdictions in a number of different countries have looked into it already, and have done the calculations. The conclusion has always been that it won't generate enough revenue to pay the costs of running the system. The question to ask is not "why should cyclists get off scot-free?". The question that really gets to the heart of this matter is "Will the rest of the tax payers be happy to see their tax dollars spent on subsidising a registration system for cyclists that would run at a loss?" The answer seems to be a resounding "no".