Originally Posted by
CliffordK
I'm not sure where you get the administrative costs. According to the article above, $1.2 Million raised, $100 Thousand in administration. So that comes up to be about 10%.... still pretty high. The grant system it is tied to likely will have a lot of fees too, but no more than it already has.
I suppose I don't see the $15 cost as a major expense on a one-time purchase of a new bike. However, it is extremely odd in the implementation, hitting small businesses heavier than department stores. And, I would much rather the state create a program to encourage riding bikes, rather than raise the costs to those starting out. For example, making pre-tax loans like is done in the UK.
There is a lot of work happening with the improvement of bicycling infrastructure. But there is still a lot of work to go including improving traffic light triggers. Also maintaining all the aging infrastructure. When paving, pave to the edge of the road, not just where cars drive. Our local off-street bike paths around here are decades old, and have bumps, roots, cracks, and etc... time to do some repairs.
And, of course, just making some new off-street paths or car-free zones.
For a revenue generating stream, this is a poorly considered idea. I agree that a 10% administrative cost is high but what should be considered is what can be done with the rest of the $1.3 million. A
5 foot bikeway costs an average of $130,000 per mile to build, The range is $5000 to $535,000 per mile, depending on many factors. A $5000 bike way is probably paint on existing roadway while $535,000 would include bridges or, maybe, a single bridge.
But a 5 foot bikeway is way below industry standards with the actual width being closer to 10 or 11 feet. That doubles the cost so a average mile of bikeway would cost $260,000. Their $1.3 million will build approximately 5 miles of bike path. That a lot of sturm und drang for just a little bit of return.