con

My guess is that you have the money to play

Wogster

Okay, I think this is simply a tax grab, what I find interesting is that the fines for violating the act are also too low. With just a small sticker attached to the frame, it means that getting caught is going to be fairly rare, so a lot of people will skip it, as the fine is less then the registration fee. This means that the primary advantage of licencing bicycles, to reduce theft, is rather meaningless. The fine is less then that for a moving violation, so it takes also negates another advantage of bicycle licencing, allowing police to use the registration to fine the owner, if unable to fine the rider. Most people who do stupid things on bicycles, like running stop signs, running red lights, riding on sidewalks, etc. Will also skip registration, so instead of fining the owner for a moving violation, they write that ticket to A Nonymous as well as the ticket for not being registered.
Third issue, the sticker is too small for other vehicle operators to see, negating the ability to use licences as a way of legitimizing bicycles as road users, because drivers will quickly realize that most bicycles are not registered, and will assume none they come across are, whether they are or not.

I think the fee is too high, and the fines too low, I think a one time $15 or $25 registration would be more practical, when a bicycle is sold or transfered, the fee would need to be paid again by the new owner. The fine for not being registered should then be in line with the fines for a moving violation. There should also be a temporary licence $5 for out of state visitors wishing a temporary tag, or in state riders who are moving a bicycle not normally on the road for a special reason, for example a racer doing a charitable event. Licences should be a plate, with similar dimensions to a motorcycle plate, although possibly with a different colour scheme or background.

LarDasse74

Holy Cow!

That is outrageous.

I am not from Oregon. I am from Ontario, Canada. The nature of government is generally the same everywhere... it is just a little better kept secret in some places.

Neil_B

Do you really think that's what's gonna happen?

Neil_B

A boot stamping on a human face - forever. The study on possibly putting GPS units on cars is the most Orwellian thing I've read in a while.

Arvadaman

Pretty soon, you will be required to be finger printed, have a background check, and submit your medical records to possess a bicycle.

I bet you they will raid the funds from the bicycle improvement fund for other projects.

Neil_B

+1.

Neil_B

You realize this is a drawback to cycling's alleged increase in popularity. Doesn't at least 5% of Portland's work population commute by bike?

Hezz

I think that this Oregon law for bicycles is a crock. I object to it on moral grounds. All of the economic arguments are superficial jargon. Automobiles have been doing irreparable damage to the environment for years and we as automobile owners have nearly gotten off scott free for the damage that we are doing to peoples health and the health of the planet and to future generations. A tax three times higher should be placed on automobiles to fund the cycling infrastructure and to discourage the use of cars and encourage use of bicycles. Taxing bicycles will only have an effect the opposite of what is needed.

Nearly 40% of people in urban areas could ride a bike to work 8-9 months of the year but don't. We need a way to get these lazy ones on a bike at least 4 days a week to work. I would rather see vouchers for mileage allotment for individuals with cars and you are only allowed so much mileage a month to drive. Or, rather, a voucher on gasoline consumption. So if you want to waste your mileage driving to work when you don't need to that's your choice, but then you will have to cut back on other driving. Or if you want a big SUV. OK. But you won't be able to drive it as far because you only get so much gas.

It has gotten to the point in my city in winter that I have days where I am not even supposed to go outside because the air quality is so bad. So were is the tax on drivers for causing this. It is not nearly high enough. We need to discourage the use of cars as much as possible. We need to punish the wealthy house wife for driving around all day long alone in her big SUV. She needs to have a gas consumption limit like everyone else. This is just one example so don't flame me.

Neil_B

A much more workable idea, in my opinion, is turning some highways into toll roads, with income raised to finance transportation infrastructure improvements. For instance, Montgomery County, PA, has proposed making Rt 422, the primary highway into the far western part of the County, a toll road. Some of the money from tolls would go to finance the return of train service to the Reading/Pottstown corridor (last trains ran in 1981) and expand the trail network. Both will do a LOT to reduce traffic on both 422 and local roads.

I don't see bike licensing being successful, for the following reasons:

- enforcement of the rules will be very difficult, and compliance will be hit or miss.
- it will be perceived, right or wrong, as oppressive of the less well-off, and following the usual chain of events in the USA, it will become a racial issue.
- it will reduce the sale of bicycles, which provide a large part of the income of the recreation industry. The state takes a heft tax already on the sale of bikes (7 per cent in Philadelphia, for instance.) Why risk losing some of that?

CB HI

OH MY, they want to treat cyclist like 'sex offenders' and make them report each change of address within 15 days.

dlester

If any of that would actually happen you might have a point, but it won't. All monies will go first toward administering the new system (they will have to pay for extra staffing, license tabs, tracking system, etc, and 'management and administration' of the program). Then, whatever is left, will go into the 'general fund' just like all the other revenue. Then bicycle related projects will have to compete for those funds just like everything else. If you are under some illusion that money from bicycle registration would be held in some separate bicycle infrastructure account, then you are exactly the kind of voter politicians love.

snowman40

Your forgot to add that $54 every other year isn't enough and will, at first, make it a yearly thing. Once it becomes yearly, it wouldn't be to long until it is increased, because most of the taxes (or "revenues", "investments", or "funds" for those that are allergic to the T word).... and it is downhill from there...

I just glanced at my bike and realized that the license would be easy to fake......not that i would condone such actions. It would just be a stripe that reflects very well on my Fuji.

Arvadaman

+1 to snowman40 and dlester on this one. If you think that you are going to see new bike services and increased acceptance of bikes on the road, I have to disagree. The Oregon is looking for new revenue streams, not looking to make bicycling easier or better.

Here in Colorado, they are increasing the vehicle registration by about $41 per vehicle to "improve roads." As budgets get tighter for motorists, I heard people wanting to call for the registration of bikes and requiring fees from bicyclists for road use. Motorists were trying to share the misery with a wider range of people.

vja4Him

I like that idea .... Many people are just spoiled rotten ... !!! Drive your car to get a cup of coffee, then go home to drink that coffee! Then a few minutes/hours later, drive to a fast food restaurant to buy a hamburger, then later drive to the store to get something, or back to the coffee shop again.

I used to drive like that all the time. Make two or three trips each day, when I could have done everything in one trip. Now that I'm car free, I realize that I can do everthing I need with just my bicycle. Yesterday, when I left K-Mart and was packing the stuff onto my Townie, lots of people stopped to admire my bike, and I could hear then talking to each other in amazment that I was actually going to pack all that stuff onto my bike and ride away!!! The clerk in K-Mart already knew that I wanted everthing double-bagged, and even triple-bagged a few items, and packed them carefully for me so the bottles wouldn't break!!!

I just love it when the store clerks ask me, "Are you riding your bike?" And I still have my helmet on my head, with my rear-view mirror still clipped to my baseball cap under my helmet, and my colorful construction vest still on!!!

One of these times I must remember to answer something like, "No, I'm not riding my bicycle today. I'm just getting ready for Halloween," or "I'm just trying to get myself into the mood for riding later today."

vja4Him

There is also the problem with people stealing plates. I've had license plates stolen before, and I never even knew it!!! The thieves replaced my original plates with fake plates. I have no idea how long I was driving around with the phony plates.

One day after picking up my son from the baby sitters, after just a few blocks the police stopped me. He told me that there was no record of the plates I had on my van. He took the plates, and told me to go to DMV and buy new ones!

People could easily steal your plates off of your bicycle, probably much easier than car plates. Or just make fake ones.

vja4Him

Another plus for raising the gasoline tax!

Condorita

A CDL (Commercial Driver License) is NOT an endorsement; it's a separate license altogether. The Hazmat, like motorcycles, IS an endorsement.

Condorita holds a CA CDL with Hazmat and Tank endorsements; she let her M1 slide a few years ago.

crackerdog

This is a STUPID idea. It is anti-bike to the max. I already pay for the roads. Check to see what percentage of the cost to build and maintain a road is covered by gas tax. It is a small fraction, the rest comes from other taxes which I already pay. Now let's add the cost of environmental damage that cost taxpayers money. Water cleanup, fish habitat destruction, air pollution, soon global warming gases, foreign wars to keep oil flowing, gas and oil spills, the list goes on forever.
If cars ever start paying their fair share then I will listen to these type of proposals. Bicycles save taxpayers money not the other way around. I believe the approximate cost of a two lane road is now 2 Million dollars a mile. If we reduce congestion by using bikes and mass transit, the roads don't have to be widened and we save money.
Mandatory helmet laws when passed always reduce the number of cyclists, can you imagine how you would reduce the number of bicyclists by charging them $26 a year per bicycle? This is extremely dangerous legislation obviously from a bicycle hater.

Wogster

One thing nobody has touched on, is that for almost a century, there have been times when bicycles were very popular, and one level of government or another developed a licence program, as it lost popularity, the licence programs were deemed too expensive and dropped. I still remember that the City of Peterborough, issued bicycle licences in the early 1970's they were yellow, with black print and were the size of a playing card. By the late 1970's they had dropped the program, The revenue from the licences was used to administer the program, and to pay a police constable who went around to schools to talk about bicycle safety.

The fact the Oregon is willing to look at a program means that they have deemed cycling popular enough to figure it's worth taxing. If cycling were to lose popularity, they would probably drop it.

The difficulty is, having skimmed through the legislation, as someone posted it, I don't think it's being implemented well. To review why for those who missed the earlier posts:

1) Stickers are not readily visible to police, so it's hard to tell, for an officer walking, riding, driving down the street whether a bicycle is registered or not.
2) The fine for not having a licence is way too low, it's cheaper to get fined once a year, then it is to have a licence. I remember one time doing some work at a city animal shelter, where a man came to bail Fido out of doggie jail, he was given the option of getting a $50 licence or paying the $250 fine for an unlicensed dog, he got the licence.
3) The fee is a little high, $15/yr would be more reasonable, to save money the state could rider this onto the back of the existing DMV database.

bautieri

Take off the tin foil hat already, it's messing with my radio signal.

Asides from the good points Wogsterca has pointed out as to why this program will fail, I find the level of pessimism I see here amazing. Everyone wants to condemn this based on the assumption that it will be squandered which is a very real possibility, however noone wants to give it a chance. If a program is in place you as a voter can pressure your politicians to utilize the funding from this program if nothing is being done. Bicycle infrastructure costs money. Maintenance of said infrastructure costs money too. Right of ways to make MUPs and bicycle paths cost money. End of story. Money is going to come from somewhere, either directly tax the source or make everyone pay it with a property tax increase.


Oh and: How much oil, roads, infrastructure, pollution, electricity, and all the other factors pointed out above were the direct result of the manufacturing and transportation of your bicycle to you? That bike frame didn't swim and ride itself all the way from china.

Mr Danw

We pay for fishing licenses some of that goes to enforce fishing rules and some to improve fishing areas. License the individual rather than the bike. It was a good idea gone awry.

Wogster

I think you have a valid point, if bicycles are licenced by the state, the cyclists have gained the right to complain to their state representative when they come across poorly maintained bicycle infrastructure and the right to tear the same representative a new one for every proposed bicycle infrastructure project that their representative votes against.

JeanCoutu

I see this as an attempt to get some bikes off the roads.

jaxgtr

What I want to know is who is going to be "placing a permanent tag" on bike and how are they going to do it. I can see them drilling into your $4000 carbon frame to place the tag and then you frame explodes the next time your flying down a steep incline.