Why don’t we have Bicyclists help out a bit with the payment for bicycle lanes? They can have a registration fee, or a value added tax on the purchase of a new bicycle.

There are two arguments against this idea that I hear a lot:

A lot of us also own cars, and we pay gas tax too

And

Bicycles do not cause nearly as much damage to the roadways as cars do.

Both of these thoughts are very short sighted. It is not a matter of bicycles not harming the roadway surface; it’s the fact that it costs money to build these facilities for bicycles. As far as someone arguing that they also pay gas taxes, what is happening in reality is that you are expecting extra services, in the form of bike lanes, to be provided to you at no extra cost. This is ridiculous. It is even more ridiculous hearing it from the progressive left, who never mind paying extra taxes and fees for services.

I live in Portland . I pay local gas taxes, utility taxes, and various other fees (sky high water bills.) If I want to take my wife for a nice night out downtown and stay at a fancy Hotel, I still have to pay a hotel tax. Even though I am a resident and am already paying into the system. If I want to rent a car for the weekend, which I do often, I still pay Multnomah County ’s car rental tax, even though I pay the county $3,000 a year in property taxes. I do not expect these taxes to be waived. I am not asking for a free ride.

So, you want to commute by bicycle, pay your fare share. It won’t be too much to register. Well of course, the fee will probably rise every year, but hey, welcome to my world.