Saturday, July 4, 2015

road tax warriors

Drive me nuts they do.

The argument goes something like this: Those damn cyclists! Riding all over my road! Getting in my way! Flouting the laws! Don't pay them road taxes like I do! Don't pay for the roads! Get off my lawn!

Welp, yeah.

Right.

Sure.

Those of you who read news stories which mention bicycles have likely come across the anti-cycling illiterati who use such logic in the comment sections. I have seen so much of this crap that it makes my head hurt.

And I hate that.

Thing is, you see, no one pays road tax.

There ain't no such beast.

That is worth repeating.

No one pays road tax.

There ain't no such beast.

Local roads are paid for by local government - read property taxes which all contribute to whether a home is owned or rented - and general funds from the province or federal government in the form of infrastructure grants. Provincial roads are paid for by the provincial government - read everybody no matter how they get around - and federal government grants. This is true for Canada at least.

This means that cyclists pay for roads. Even those that they cannot ride on. This is because cyclists, get this, live in houses and apartments just like everybody else and pay taxes on those properties. No. It's true. Really.

Anyway, maintenance of roadways comes from government - property and income taxes - and from gasoline tax.

Aha!

A tax that is not paid by cyclists which funds roads!

AHA!!!!

GET OFF MY LAWN!!!!!!!

Hang on a minute there.

Hit the brakes.

Remember that gas tax is a user fee based on how much fuel is being consumed. Resent this? Use less fuel. An increased use of fuel results in an increased amount of tax paid. This is simple math. Use more fuel, pay more tax. Deal with it or move on...

Also, it is worth noting that when there is an increase in the amount of fuel burned due to poor driving habits, heavy vehicles, inefficient vehicles, high mileage, etc there is incurred a subsequent increase in wear on publicly funded infrastructure by the individual user. Someone has to pay for road wear and logic would dictate that the biggest users of the road - both in terms of mileage, abuse, and tonnage - should be the ones to pay the biggest share in fixing the damn things.

Last time I checked, bicycles don't wear out roads...

Hrmmm. Wait a sec.

That is actually true.

However, we do help pay to build roads which are useless to cycling whether we use them or not, and we do, through other revenue streams which direct funds to road maintenance, help repair the damage done to our collective infrastructure by private road users who clearly don't pay their own way when it comes to maintenance...

This makes me think that cyclists should bitch and complain about cars and their drivers doing damage to public infrastructure disproportionate to how much is being paid by them to repair the damage they cause!

This is unfair!

Give me a rebate for riding a bicycle!

Raise gas taxes!

Get off my lawn!

(It is funny that no one resents pedestrians walking and proposes a shoe tax to help pay for roadways...

People do know that sidewalks are part of the road right of way, right?

Clearly, there should be a sidewalk tax imposed on walkers. Car drivers pay too much for that crap.

Get off my lawn...)

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