It's a Car, Car, Car World

Anyone see the letter to the editor in the Spokesman-Review this morning: the guy that wants adult bikes to be licensed and pay registration fees? He paid .50 cents when he was a kid. He's suggesting a $33 fee per bike. He also states that turning four lanes of traffic into two (as was done on a small section of 29th) creates more emissions and is therefore not green.

Argg. I'm positive that guy was at the last neighborhood meeting I talked at.

This is really a common line of thinking for drivers. I used to get angry with such perspectives, but now I just am trying to find a way to actually educate these folks in productive and respectful way. Often, it's just a different view of the world that cannot be reconciled. But sometimes, you run into thoughtful people that can stand back and look at the big picture a bit objectively.

Here's the flood of thoughts that come to mind as I read the letter this morning:

• Most adult cyclists own cars; from a fiscal perspective, when a car-owning cyclist rides on the street, the cyclist is subsidizing car drivers.
• I'm not familiar with a road in Spokane that has lost lanes and now results in gridlock, or even slowed traffic. The piece of 29th that lost two lanes is always moving. I live 3 blocks from this stretch of road and ride or cross this stretch nearly every day.
• The cost of implementing and enforcing licensed bikes will far outweigh the fees collected in any scenario. Registering cars is more about identifying owners to cars, which can be deadly when used incorrectly and are also useful in the commission of crimes. Bikes rarely run down pedestrians or are used for get away vehicles.
• In any case, I-695 basically stripped any excess revenue out of registration fees that may go to roads. If there's any thing at all left (doubt it) vehicle registration is one small part of taxes that help pay for roads; others include property tax, general tax revenues, and gas tax.
• The physical impact a bike has on our road ways is negligible. So from the infrastructure impact perspective we have another subsidy: most adult cyclists own cars and homes and otherwise input taxes into the road system that their bike does not affect.
• As for the cost of bike amenities; striping a lane cost money, but it's often in place of parking. How about instead of a bike lane, we charge for parking on all public streets? If you own a car, you should pay for parking it, especially if it's on a public right-of-way.

Many of these points are heresy to car drivers. We grow up in a society where driving a car and many of the costs associated with it are subsidized to the point of entitlement thinking.