Originally Posted by
ItsJustMe
That's an interesting letter. One thing that it doesn't address, and I don't know if this is true in Canada but it is in the US, is that cyclists actually pay for MORE than their fair share of roadways.
The gasoline and licensing taxes that they're always on about cyclists not paying, those go primarily to pay for limited-access expressways that cyclists aren't allowed on anyway.
The surface streets that cyclists use are paid for primarily from property and income taxes, which cyclists pay just as much as car drivers do. Factor in the fact that cyclists cause essentially zero damage to the road when using them and that they require far less space, and it's easy to see that a cyclist is paying for more than their fair share of the roads that they're allowed to use.
Those are good points, but I was unable to find any information on what EXACTLY the automobile taxes pay for. Yes, Canada is the same as the USA, where property tax goes toward street maintenance, as well as snow clearing, garbage pickup, school/education, etc.
But it was difficult for me to get the figures or compile the figures on just how much MORE a cyclist would pay. It wasn't a concrete figure.
I think though, that your very last sentence, "Factor in the fact that cyclists cause essentially zero damage ..." was mentioned in the latter part of my letter.
I was trying to get many points in my letter, but the one I had hoped to get accross is that automobile use has a high social cost, THAT is why you pay. Cycling does not have as high a social cost (I'd say it is quite negligable).
I had also created a spreadsheet where I compare the revenue generated by automobile fees and taxes (including gas tax) to the $62.7 billion in social costs including road maintenance.
I do not have that spreadsheet here, but if memory serves, the automobile fees and taxes only paid for half of that $62.7 billion. Essentialy, motorists are not paying enough.
I am also limited to about 750 words and its hard to get it all in there.
I had reread my original post, and I see that it may be taken as me shaking a finger at the OP. That was not my intention. What I had intended to suggest to the OP was that facts such as these go a long way to shooting down the complaining. So if (s)he spent just a little time getting such info together, or a bunch of cycling advocates, then they can wear a look of smug satisfaction when they shoot down the complaining (Gawd it feels good, let me tell you).
The death toll, the health care costs, the cost to community and the environmental costs of automobile have become.....accepted or common place. One person dies from a coyote attack here in Nova Scotia and everyone demands a cull on coyotes. But none complain about the 300 that die in Nova Scotia every year in auto accidents. None complain about the high health care costs that come out of the tax paying dollars for treatment of injuries due to auto accidents.
Then it is demanded that cyclists "pay for roads."
