Comments on: Should Free-Wheeling be Free? One Oregon Lawmaker Says No.

By: dot

dot — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 12:19:13 +0000

Due to the car-centric world we live in, we need to do everything possible to get people on bikes! NO TAXES ON BIKES!!!!!

By: keri

keri — Fri, 10 Apr 2009 15:57:42 +0000

i love my bicycle and support most initiatives that advocate for a more free-wheel friendly world. however, this measure sounds my “are you serious?” alarm. it sounds more like a cry from the people that think we are getting some free ride because we don’t pay registration fees like vehicle owners do. lets remember that some of us (me) started riding because we couldn’t afford the bloated expenses of owning a vehicle. and i don’t ever remember asking to live in a car dominated society but that doesn’t keep a majority of the taxes i pay going toward roads used primarily by cars. i could support a “tax” such as the one cited by MC in the city of CO Springs where the money is used to fund cycling initiatives and can be tracked. the logic for implementing the law is pretty negative- we can ticket the bad guys and track people on bikes! lets stop being such downers government! focus on the positive and lets just get people on bikes. taxing them sure isnt the way to do it.

By: Michaelc

Michaelc — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 22:42:22 +0000

If you compare the amount of road wear that a 40lb bike creates vs a 3500lb car it is pretty clear that the proposed tax is too high. The bike tax should be 1/87th of the car tax as 40 is 1/87th of 3500.
You can also safely ride 4 bikes in the space of a large car, so clearly it not only wears the roads less, but makes better use of them (since most cars carry single occupants). One other advantage that is seldom mentioned is how biking solves the parking problem by fitting 7 or 8 bikes in one car parking space, and people taking bikes off the street entirely into their offices and homes.

By: Tom

Tom — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 21:58:38 +0000

Go John!
Great post…

By: john

john — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 18:12:29 +0000

No way should cyclists pay!!!
1) Bikes are heavy like cars and do not damage the road like a car does.
2) Most of these cyclists are taxpayers and already paid for the infrastructure through their property tax.
3) Cycling is pollution free. Why should anything that is pollution free be taxed!
So, could the stupid people of the world please shut up!

By: Nick Aster

Nick Aster — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 14:53:14 +0000

I don’t have a problem with paying a small amount to support better bike infrastructure but I wonder if there might be a better way? It seems like a big hassel to try and track down riders and tag their bikes somehow with a license. What about people from out of town? I feel like the police have better things to do than run around pulling over bikes and checking their license.
For now, I think people should be rewarded for biking and that bike lanes and other infrastructure should come out of the general fund. If we ever become Copenhagen, then we can talk about other fees because at that point it’ll start being reasonable.

By: Jen Boynton

Jen Boynton — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 11:51:24 +0000

excellent post. I’d gladly pay a tax in exchange for being a bit safer on the road via better bike lanes. Love the pic!