Originally Posted by
Burton
The five years I spent in Colombia make me think we`re not such a developed country after all. There every bike going into a shopping center is issued a pass by a security guard at a gate and the serial number is checked on the way out. Never saw a lock on a bike rack in a shopping centre. Did see a lot more police and private securiity guards (equipped with dogs and shotguns) and saw a lot less graffitti and never tripped any drug use in the streets - unlike North America where both are epidemics.
I'd much rather have graffiti and petty crime than a police state. Property crimes are much easier to solve than drug and gang violence like Colombia, and the best solutions don't even have to involve guns or the police.
Mandatory licensing will likely just cause a decrease in cycling and kill any possibility of it being a cash-cow for MTL... just like mandatory helmet laws kill cycling.