Roland,

What is BAD PUBLIC POLICY is to load up one mode of transport with taxes to subsidize other modes. What is FAIR PUBLIC TAXING POLICY is to have all modes directly taxed contributing to the infrastructure used. Therefore, applying tax fairness principals, a bicycle tax becomes part of the mix. To suggest that a bicycle tax will not generate substantial revenue is horse puckey. All a bicycle tax needs to do is cover the administrative costs to collect it and pay for bicycle infrastructure that you have claimed in the past is only 1.5 percent of PDOT’s budget. If the $25.00 figure is too small, then a correct figure could be easy calculated. The amount of annual dollars sought for bicycle infrastructure plus the administrative costs divided by the estimated number of adult bicycles equals an annual bicycle license tax. .

You can come up with all the excuses you want not to have a bicycle tax, but the simple fact is bicyclists are anti-tax themselves groupies that think the government (other taxpayers) should be supporting their lifestyle. They irresponsibly take away more than they contribute, should be paying their own way, and now wanting a platinum platter, shouldn’t even be, catered to on any platter, silver gold or whatever. Bicycle infrastructure is a luxury that needs to be paid for exclusively by the users.