Originally Posted by
tandempower
By biking for transportation you get more for less. By spending more for more lanes/roads for more motor-vehicles, you ultimately get less for more because land is being wasted as the overall quality of life in an area is being degraded and replaced with GDP growth to fund all the distractions needed to keep the people happy as their area is degenerating into a vast, paved grid.
True,
I'm getting more for less. But the general public is demanding more be done for less tax dollars. Thus the quality of the road suffers for everyone. We bicyclists are particularly hard hit because deterioration of the road surface is harder on our equipment and makes riding more difficult.
To be clear, I'm not talking about new road construction. Maintaining what we have is an important function of the revenue gathered through taxation. It's not sexy like new construction is but it's a necessary cost to society.
Originally Posted by
tandempower
Solution: keep certain roads in good condition BY reducing the total quantity of motor-traffic BY increasing the use of non-motorized transportation and transit.
That's not much of a solution. While
I ride a bike often and all year long, most people aren't going to do it...especially considering that they are receiving a 73% subsidy to drive their cars.
If we could pass sensible taxes that cover the complete cost of motor vehicle operation...i.e. get rid of the 73% subsidy...more people would be encouraged to get out of their cars. But I doubt that will happen anytime in the near, relatively far or even very far future.