(bicyclists) "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."

Uh... right. The roads were originally planked and paved for carriages and bicycles - vehicles that are limited to the speed of a human or a horse. In the last 80 years, we have changed the nature of roads to accommodate the higher speeds of mechanized transport, mostly at PUBLIC expense. In the process, we've marginalized human transportation. Bicyclists and pedestrians have as much right to the road throughways as any other road user - if auto traffic travels fast enough or recklessly enough to warrant separate facilities for vulnerable roadway users, then that infrastructure should also be paid for with public resources - in the interest of fairness.

The only taxes and fees being paid by motorists and not bicyclists are the gas tax, and license & registration fees. Motorists SHOULD bear that tax burden, because their chosen mode of transportation has a disproportionate effect on the environment, public health, and safety. In a perfect world, all users should have unlimited access to the public right-of-way at no cost. We don't live in a perfect world, but I believe that it should still be true for anyone who chooses to move under their own power.

Unless we curb growth, we're going to keep seeing more people wanting access to the same space - hence, more congestion. Unless we want to knock down people's homes and businesses to add road lanes, the best solution is to get people out of their cars and either walking, biking, or riding the bus. (MAX and the streetcar are a waste of money - we need a bike rental program like Paris and electrified buses, IMO)

Respectfully,
matt picio