From: Eric Westhagen [mailto:[email protected]] Now I have heard everything. Basing the road repairs on actual vehicle weight when talking about bicycles
Basing registration fees [that's what we're talking about - what Eric calls "licensing"] on the weight of the vehicle is absurd? Wisconsin DMV doesn't think so: The REGISTRATION FEES for "light trucks" are "BASED ON VEHICLE GROSS WEIGHT" http://www.dot.wisconsin.gov/drivers/plateguide/light-truck.htm Exceptions are farm vehicles (because they're presumed to be used primarily off the roads) and SUVs and Vans with passenger seating taking up more than 50% of the internal capacity (because that makes them "automobiles" http://www.dot.wisconsin.gov/drivers/plateguide/auto.htm instead of "light trucks" "Heavy trucks" and "trailers" http://www.dot.wisconsin.gov/drivers/plateguide/heavy-truck.htm FEES "BASED ON WEIGHT, mileage, and fees for operation in other states." If the registration fees ("licensing") for various heavy vehicles varies according to weight, why shouldn't it vary for light vehicles based on weight? As for bicyclists being elitist, the homeless people in Madison riding on (and living off of) their bikes give lie to the assertion that cycling is an economically elite activity. Maybe people who don't actually live and commute in Madison should refrain from making unverifiable generalizations about certain demographics within our population. If the assertion is that cyclists are elitist because they are a minority relative to motorists, well certainly that is the case now. But the graph in the article Scott cited, found full size here: http://media.oregonlive.com/commuting/photo/3jpg-1e109d8637c3ad0b.jpg shows a 275% increase in the number of bicyclists in Portland as a share of all commuters since the last census (and this is JUST work trips, not ALL trips), and it suggests that if we spent something more than a tiny percentage of our transportation budget (which cannot be repeated frequently enough, comes almost as much from property taxes as it does from all motorists' "user fees"), then cyclists would not be a minority among transportation modes. As long as we continue to spend not only all of the user fees, but also most of the property tax revenue spent on transportation, to benefit motor vehicles at the expense of every other mode, then of course motorists will be in the majority of road users. If we'd spent the last century subsidizing roller skaters at the expense of everything else (limited access, grade separated roads that prohibit all modes except roller skates, anyone?) then roller skaters would be the dominant mode of transportation in this country. Of course, there would probably still be people who are either ignorant of or refuse to acknowledge the disparity in funding, saying " why should we build paths for pogo sticks when they are such a tiny, elitist minority of the road users, and always so disdainful of those roller skaters swinging their arms and their weight around, when they're just normal people going about their normal business." In greater Copenhagen, the percentage of cyclists is about 40%, within the city itself, cyclists are more than 50% of the mode share. But of course they've spent the last three decades encouraging bicycle use, with both facilities for use and storage of bicycles, and laws (and enforcement thereof) that favor bicycles. Oh, but that's just northern Europe, you say, it doesn't apply here (usually this argument, when applied to, say, Davis, CA, or even Portland, OR, is followed by "they don't have winter" - but it sort of falls flat when describing Denmark). Within the central part of Madison, more than half of residents do something other than drive alone in their car: they walk, bike, bus, or at least carpool. Residents of the relatively dense, mixed land use central part of Madison who drive alone in their cars are actually in the minority. But of course the dense, mixed use, central part of Madison caters to the car less than any other area in our region. Which is not to say that central Madison doesn't cater preferentially to the automobile; it does, just somewhat less so than the periphery of the city. Thanks for the post, Scott. Scott wrote: http://blog.oregonlive.com/commuting/2009/10/only_in_portland_some_protest.ht ml or http://is.gd/4GBEf
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