quote:

Originally posted by Balzé Halzé:
A great majority of people who ride bikes also drive cars and buy gasoline. They've already been taxed for using the road. And in any case, the wear and tear that a bike puts on a roadway is nil.

However I'd venture that its a small minority of car drivers that ride bikes.

The taxes paid on car specific items ie gasoline and registration should be used to fix, replace, build roads, bridges and maintain the very things that allow automobile transportation.

If these bicycles are using the roads, yet demanding special lanes then they need to contribute to it's expenses beyond what they pay on a car, it's not a transportation tax, it's a gas tax, bikes use no gas and wear has nothing to do with it, asphalt ages over time, paint for special lanes fade, potholes crop up based on geology under the road if you want the bike lanes kept up, contribute.

Heck anyone that wants to ride a bike on a street should have to get a license for the bike. Then register the bike like a car for ID purposes in case its stolen, or they do something illegal, based on how some of the idiots ride we'll see a lot more tickets for blowing through stop signs and lights.

They should pass a written and physical (riding) test for a license to ride on public roads. For the safety of the children....

quote:

Originally posted by HRK:

However I'd venture that its a small minority of car drivers that ride bikes.

The taxes paid on car specific items ie gasoline and registration should be used to fix, replace, build roads, bridges and maintain the very things that allow automobile transportation.

If these bicycles are using the roads, yet demanding special lanes then they need to contribute to it's expenses beyond what they pay on a car, it's not a transportation tax, it's a gas tax, bikes use no gas and wear has nothing to do with it, asphalt ages over time, paint for special lanes fade, potholes crop up based on geology under the road if you want the bike lanes kept up, contribute.

Heck anyone that wants to ride a bike on a street should have to get a license for the bike. Then register the bike like a car for ID purposes in case its stolen, or they do something illegal, based on how some of the idiots ride we'll see a lot more tickets for blowing through stop signs and lights.

They should pass a written and physical (riding) test for a license to ride on public roads. For the safety of the children....

This.

Yeah, The Beatles had it 100% correct with Mr. Taxman.

quote:

quote:

quote:

Originally posted by HRK:

However I'd venture that its a small minority of car drivers that ride bikes.

The taxes paid on car specific items ie gasoline and registration should be used to fix, replace, build roads, bridges and maintain the very things that allow automobile transportation.

If these bicycles are using the roads, yet demanding special lanes then they need to contribute to it's expenses beyond what they pay on a car, it's not a transportation tax, it's a gas tax, bikes use no gas and wear has nothing to do with it, asphalt ages over time, paint for special lanes fade, potholes crop up based on geology under the road if you want the bike lanes kept up, contribute.

Heck anyone that wants to ride a bike on a street should have to get a license for the bike. Then register the bike like a car for ID purposes in case its stolen, or they do something illegal, based on how some of the idiots ride we'll see a lot more tickets for blowing through stop signs and lights.

They should pass a written and physical (riding) test for a license to ride on public roads. For the safety of the children....

^^^Exactly X 10.

If you want to hear a complaint, how about the 55 cents a gallon of Fed+State tax I pay on gasoline that goes in my boat. I guess the state can use those funds to subsidize the freeloading bicyclists, since the state doesn't need to upkeep any roads on the lake. The docks and ramps? Yea, I pay a per-use fee to use those as well.

I think that a tax on bicycles is silly.
But I would gladly pay it if it will just shut the whiners up.

Ah yes, it's just so typical, isn't it? We all rail about the never ending stream of new taxes and new taxes and new regulations and new taxes until, "wait, it's a tax on something that I'm completely and utterly ignorant or indifferent about? Oh yeah, I'm all for it in that case. I'm sure those people deserve it anyway."

Spare me.

I agree with Alan on this and would put the number of cyclists who also own cars at way above 50%.

This is just a stupid way for government to get more out of the individual. Fuck that.

"The Taxman" isn't really prescient. The Beatles were protesting a NINETY FIVE percent income tax on their works. In the old days, the top tax rate in the States was 90 percent. My uncle was taxed on OXYGEN 20 years ago when he was dying of lung cancer. The bastards really will tax your breathing.

Tax the bicycle rider(s) or;

Get rid of the relining a normal width car lane into a bicycle free-for-all, get rid of the 3' wide bike lane, get rid of bike paths, follow the law and ride single file at the furthest right of the lane or;

Put your hand out for the entitlement "free shit" while expecting other to support your lifestyle.

Yes but that 50% probably owns alternative fuel electric cars and don't pay road taxes anyway

quote:

Originally posted by 6guns:
I agree with Alan on this and would put the number of cyclists who also own cars at way above 50%.

This is just a stupid way for government to get more out of the individual. Fuck that.

So what? The bicyclist still isn't paying any taxes for the road while that automobile is sitting at home in the driveway. As already stated, it's a fuel tax, so no fuel use = no taxes paid. Bicyclist are just upset that the roadway will no longer be a 100% public good for them.

quote:

Originally posted by egregore:
Bicyclists don't pay gas tax for use of the roads, so they've got to make it up somewhere.

Why is this sarcasm?

Really? It makes perfect sense to me.

Drivers pay a HUGE percentage of the retail per gallon cost of gasoline as a road maintenance tax, then bicycle riders use those roads tax-free.

There have been many "rude bike riders are a pain in the ass" threads here. The fact that bike riders don't pay any part of the cost of the roads that they use is just a part of that ass-pain.

So, again, why is this sarcasm? It seems spot-on to me.

quote:

Originally posted by Balzé Halzé:
Ah yes, it's just so typical, isn't it? We all rail about the never ending stream of new taxes and new taxes and new regulations and new taxes until, "wait, it's a tax on something that I'm completely and utterly ignorant or indifferent about? Oh yeah, I'm all for it in that case. I'm sure those people deserve it anyway."

Spare me.

I'd say that most of this forum community isn't so much anti-tax, but objects to taxes being used to take from one person to subsidize another. In this respect, you are incorrect in your assessment. The objection is that bicyclists want to pay nothing, zero, nada, to the upkeep of the road infrastructure, while also demanding an equal share of the road, even to the point of demanding specific lanes for their use. This is similar to gas taxes being used to build light rail systems, greenways, or equestrian parks. It doesn't seem absurd to ask any group of users to support their use of public infrastructure.

The fact that bicyclists also own cars is an irrelevant red-herring. I own a few cars, but I still have to pay for airport fees when I fly, or ramp fees when I boat. Heck, aviation users even have to pay fuel taxes for flying in the air. $15 for the lifetime of a bicycle's use doesn't seem excessive considering the money that is spent developing all the bike trails and bike lanes.

Bicycles should have a licence plate and pay to get it if they are ridden on roadways. Most riders are courteous but many are assholes who need to be able to be tracked down and given traffic tickets whose fines are every bit as expensive as it would be if they were driving a motor vehicle. And tickets for road rage also. I decided to get a dash cam after three incidents with assholes bicyclists in the past month.

Interesting article from London on bikes freebees and roving gangs of light and lane crowding rogue bikers LOL

https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/...ng-war-on-normality/

quote:

Originally posted by SIGSense:
Libs love taxing things, and in Lib-run Oregon they've just passed the nation's first tax on... bicycles? Yes, bikes!

http://www.washingtontimes.com...lates-oregon-riders/

“We are taxing the healthiest, most inexpensive, most environmentally friendly, most efficient, and most economically sustainable form of transportation ever devised by the human species,” Mr. Maus said.

This is my favorite part. Its actually how obamacare works. Tax the healthy to pay for the sick.

quote:

Originally posted by Joe123:
We didn't vote Kate Brown in.

Actually, "we" did. She was appointed to finished Kitzhaber's term when he was ousted for corruption, but last fall she won a term of her own. No, I didn't vote for her, but the other dumbass lib voters did.

<rant>
Regardless of that, I for one am sick and tired of special bike lanes that are created by taking existing traffic lanes and reserving their use for bicycles. I don't think I've ever seen a bicycle in one of them. But the bikers seem to think they're entitled to this special treatment, all on the dime of everybody else. Fuck `em. If they want special places to ride, that the rest of us are barred from using, then let them pay for `em.

What the OP's link doesn't talk about is that in addition to this relatively piddling bike tax, fuel taxes will be going up another several cents per gallon AGAIN, vehicle registration fees will be going up, etc. All to pay for road infrastructure maintenance. Except that those revenues usually find their way into the general fund, where they get diverted to pay for all the politicians' pet projects.

About 20 years ago, about the time I bought my truck, they came out with a special license plate featuring a Coho salmon on it. It carried a surcharge above and beyond the regular registration fee, that surcharge to be used for salmon/steelhead/trout habitat restoration. That sounded fine to me, so I bought the damn thing. Then a number of years later I learned that only a piece of the surcharge, something like 20%, was actually committed to the habitat restoration fund, the rest of it went into the general fund for the pols to play with as they choose. Not talking about a shit ton of money here, but it's so damned typical.

</rant> OK, so I needed to blow off a little steam.

quote:

Originally posted by sigcrazy7:

quote:

Originally posted by Balzé Halzé:
Ah yes, it's just so typical, isn't it? We all rail about the never ending stream of new taxes and new taxes and new regulations and new taxes until, "wait, it's a tax on something that I'm completely and utterly ignorant or indifferent about? Oh yeah, I'm all for it in that case. I'm sure those people deserve it anyway."

Spare me.

I'd say that most of this forum community isn't so much anti-tax, but objects to taxes being used to take from one person to subsidize another. In this respect, you are incorrect in your assessment. The objection is that bicyclists want to pay nothing, zero, nada, to the upkeep of the road infrastructure, while also demanding an equal share of the road, even to the point of demanding specific lanes for their use. This is similar to gas taxes being used to build light rail systems, greenways, or equestrian parks. It doesn't seem absurd to ask any group of users to support their use of public infrastructure.

The fact that bicyclists also own cars is an irrelevant red-herring. I own a few cars, but I still have to pay for airport fees when I fly, or ramp fees when I boat. Heck, aviation users even have to pay fuel taxes for flying in the air. $15 for the lifetime of a bicycle's use doesn't seem excessive considering the money that is spent developing all the bike trails and bike lanes.

I am not anti-tax, I am anti-waste. I don't mind paying taxes for some goods a services that are beneficial to myself and the community.

Cyclists use the same roads we do, and are getting their own lanes in a lot of places, they use the traffic lights and signs (or are at least supposed to) and when they get in an accident they expect the same government services to respond. So yeah they should help foot the bill.

I am sure the city could have found waste somewhere else to cover whatever money they will get from this tax and I would prefer they do that. But I would really prefer that they find that waste, still implement this tax and then reduce the taxes on motor vehicles. Then instead of wondering if a cyclist also has a car it wouldn't matter since they would be paying taxes on their bikes and if they owned a car they would see a reduction in those taxes.

Don't forget shoes. People walk, jog and run on public thoroughfares. Running shoes should be taxed at a higher rate as they cover more miles (using more of the public thoroughfares). Stiletto heels maybe should get a pass (assuming they are worn by the right gender).