Commissioner Steve Stuart of Clark County, Vancouver, wants to tax bikes in order to pay for new bikes lanes and trails. Speaking on Wednesday he said “We license our dogs. You license your car. Why wouldn’t you license your bikes?”
Stuart is just trying to find money to improve cycling infrastructure, and proposes neither a mandatory fee nor enforcement: “Certainly, we’re not going to be sending sheriff’s deputies out there to check bicycle licenses,” he said.
Neither would the fee be excessive. Stuart, a cyclist himself, cites the dog licensing fee in the county, which is $16: “I can’t imagine even suggesting something higher than that. And I imagine something significantly lower.”
So, the fury from some quarters over this suggestion seems to be unfounded, but there is an interesting question. Should bikes be taxed to pay for bike lanes? After all, as Stuart says, cars are taxed, and this pays for roads. Or does it? I imagine that most of these tax dollars go elsewhere. And cars are a big environmental problem — heavy taxes on both cars and fuel are helpful to discourage use. Bikes are pretty benign to our world in comparison.
This seems like an ideal debate for the comments. Do you think that cyclists should pay (lets imagine that it would be possible to actually implement a yearly tax on non-registered vehicles)? Or should oil-drinking, fume-belching cars take the heat and subsidize a greener and healthier way of life?
County to consider bike license fee [Columbian]
Clark County commission broaches idea of tax on bikes [KGW via Bike Hacks]
Photo: Charlie Sorrel/Wired
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