Posted on 05/21/2015 1:05:24 AM PDT by Cincinatus' Wife
"I think the reason these anti-bike policies are being proposed is it’s a red-meat issue for a lot of Republicans," Bike Fed executive director Dave Cieslewicz told Madison.com. "They have stereotypes about what cyclists are and they don’t see them as their voters. They see attacks on cycling as politically beneficial."
WATERLOO, Wis. (BRAIN) — Trek Bicycle's president, John Burke, is urging Wisconsin cyclists to contact their state lawmakers in support of the state's Complete Streets Law, which Gov. Scott Walker has proposed eliminating. Burke, in an email sent this week, also urged them to oppose a $25 state bicycle sales tax proposed by a state representative.
The Complete Streets Law requires that when a road is built, designers must take into account the needs of cyclists and pedestrians.
Walker, who is expected to seek the 2016 GOP presidential nomination, has said eliminating the Complete Street Law, first enacted in 2010, would save $7.4 million in the state's next two-year budget period.
Burke said, "This important law has created more paved shoulders, bike lanes, and fewer dangerous intersections for both cyclists and pedestrians throughout the state."
Burke's sister, former Trek executive Mary Burke, ran against Walker for the governor's office last year.
In announcing its annual Bike Friendly States rankings earlier this month, the League of American Bicyclists cited Walker's proposed cuts as contributing to the state's ranking, which fell from third in 2014 to ninth in 2015.
"Gov. Walker has proposed a repeal of the Wisconsin Complete Streets law, cuts to state funding for bicycling and walking, and the elimination of the Knowles-Nelson Stewardship Program, which often provides matching funds for trail projects. If these changes come to pass, bicycling in Wisconsin will be set back significantly and it may be years to recover the state support for bicycling that has led to Wisconsin's history of being one of the most Bicycle Friendly States in America," the League said.
In his email, Burke said he learned of a proposed bike tax just this week.
"We cannot sit on the sidelines at a time when the bicycle is becoming an ever more important solution to this country's health, congestion, and environmental issues. Now is not the time to tax products that improve health, reduce congestion, and create a better environment," he wrote.
Burke asked recipients to email their state senator and representative to urge them to restore Complete Streets and $2 million in Transportation Alternatives Funding and to oppose the $25 bike tax.
"Taxes on other industries are being cut. This is no time to single out the bike industry for a tax increase. The bicycle industry produces over $1.5 billion in economic activity and supports over 14,000 jobs," he said.
Burke urged respondents to contact their lawmakers before Thursday.
The Joint Finance Committee made the bike tax proposal Tuesday, as an alternative for funding the Complete Streets program. The committee estimated a tax on bikes with 20-inch wheels or larger would raise $7.2 million over the next two-year budget period and $4.8 million a year thereafter, based on average annual sales figures extrapolated from an NBDA statistical report. Minus 3 percent for the state Department of Revenue, the proceeds would be deposited into the state transportation fund.
The Wisconsin Bike Federation strongly opposes the bike tax, the group said on its website. "While we don’t oppose some sort of revenue stream to support improvements for bikeways, that revenue source would have to equitable, dedicated to projects that benefit cyclists, and efficient to collect. The legislature shouldn’t be imposing a significant new tax without any study and without asking for feedback from the cycling public or the biking industry in our state."
A group spokesman noted that the Republican-controlled legislature has been eager to reduce taxes and fees on other industries, but seems to have singled out the bike industry for a new tax.
"I think the reason these anti-bike policies are being proposed is it’s a red-meat issue for a lot of Republicans," Bike Fed executive director Dave Cieslewicz told Madison.com. "They have stereotypes about what cyclists are and they don’t see them as their voters. They see attacks on cycling as politically beneficial."
Tax 'em. Let them pay the freight.
Trek sux. Specialized.
All you need to know...
A bicycle tax?
Jan 27, 2015: Oregon Senate bill would mandate bicycle licenses and registration – UPDATED
"...As I mentioned in the story, this bill was requested by a constituent of Sen. Boquist. His name is Ted Campbell and he’s a 71-year old retired mechanic who lives in Salem, Oregon. We talked to him on the phone last night to share his perspective. Below are some of his comments, edited for clarity:
“I see these bike lanes here in Salem and people don’t use them. They ride in the middle of the road. They run red lights… If a car did that they’d get a ticket.”
“I think my gas tax should be used to repair the road, not build bike lanes… I’ve heard people say, ‘I pay gas tax already,’ but they pay gas tax to drive on this road, not to ride bikes… And they ride into the traffic… And any time a bicyclist gets hurt they blame the motorist regardless of who’s at fault.”
“Down here at Salem city council somebody wanted a lane for longboards. They wanted their own lane to ride their longboard (skateboard). It’s just getting carried away! So I decided instead of sitting around and griping I’d do something about it.”
“We had a professor down here at Western Oregon University who said he wouldn’t ride until the county put a bike lane in on 99E. Than when it got put in he wouldn’t ride in it so he then he rode in the highway and got run over.” (This is a reference to a fatal collision in April 2012).
“I want people to got talk to their legislators about it (the bill). If nothing else, if it brings some attention to it that would satisfy me too. They need to get a ticket… They need to enforce the laws that are there.”
“The reason our roads are in such bad shape is the gas tax doesn’t go strictly to the roads. We need to fence it to just the roads.Fuel tax should be for maintaining the roads.”
“If it does nothing else other than get the police to enforce the laws that are there I’d be happier than heck.” .....
http://www.fastcoexist.com/3040634/7-cities-that-are-starting-to-go-car-free?partner=rss
Well, that’s a switch. One quarter of the highway trust fund is for mass transportation, building bike lanes included. Only 5.9 percent of low-income commuters take mass transit.
Here in California they tax manufacturing in the form of a Cap and Trade scheme and then they give one quarter of that money to mass transit.
They are building a high speed rail line that stops only in a few cities. Those cities will have trains and busses on their proprietary roads. Along those routes, one half mile on either side, they are building high density housing they call mixed use housing. They will have retail on the bottom floor and either be limited or have no parking. Tenants are expected to walk or bike that half mile to the mass transportation.
From the above link, Madrid has banned most traffic from certain city streets as part of a plan to completely pedestrianize central Madrid in the next five years.
In Paris, in the city center, people that don’t live in local neighborhoods won’t be able to drive in on weekends. By 2020, the mayor plans to double the number of bike lanes in the city, ban diesel cars, and limit certain high-traffic streets to electric cars and other ultra-low-emission vehicles.
Hamburg, A new “green network,” which will be completed in the next 15 to 20 years, will connect parks across the city, making it possible to bike or walk anywhere. The network will cover 40% of the city’s space.
Helsinki, In a new plan, the city lays out a design that will transform car-dependent suburbs into dense, walkable communities linked to the city center by fast-moving public transit. The city is also building new mobility-on-demand services to streamline life without a car. A new app in testing now lets citizens instantly call up a shared bike, car, or taxi, or find the nearest bus or train. In a decade, the city hopes to make it completely unnecessary to own a car.
Milan, If commuters leave their vehicles at home, they’ll get free public transit vouchers.
Copenhagen, over half the population bikes to work.
Bikes = limited, restricted transportation
Mass transit = controlled, limited transportation
What's the rationale, that the dayglo-spandex bfreaks that ride them have to be policed like motorists?
The article sounded like the proposed bike tax is targeting any bike. Either the biker enthusiasts they quoted or the article author (or both) could be purposely misleading.
(Disclaimer: Personal bad experience with bicyclist)
Some nut in our neighborhood rode his bicycle on the normal driving lanes, instead of using the designated bike lane.
During rush hour.
Which he tied up the traffic, other cars of course then tried to change their lanes dangerously, almost resulted in several accidents.
I have advocated that road bicycles have to pass a yearly inspection to prove they are are safe for many years.
Cyclist should pay some road tax for the upkeep of shoulders and such
I am not very welcome in meeting of cycling organizations
To be sure, the safety issues with bicycles are usually less, and are more obvious when something is wrong. Also riders do tend to have self preservation instincts. Ticketing riders of reflectorless bicycles, etc. should be sufficient.
I have one of each and love both.
I'm in a rural area and mostly ride country roads that receive minimum maintenance. There is little traffic. Since my bike doesn't do any damage to roads I don't feel that I should have to pay a tax BUT, if I rode city or state built bike paths I would feel like it was a fair request. I would love to have safe bike lanes and paths to ride and would not mind paying a yearly fee to do so.
I also agree that some cyclists are just plain weird and some are very rude. My local group of riders are pretty good but there are always a few that hold themselves in high esteem and look down their noses at non-riders and novice riders. They are also the ones that feel like they are above the rules of the road that all operators of vehicles are required to observe. They give all of us a bad name. I go out of my way to give vehicles an opportunity to pass me even to the point of pulling off the road if I'm going around blind curves, etc.
Of course, that works the other way too. There are a lot of rude dangerous automobile drivers out there that don't realize that cyclists have a right to be on the road.
How else to pay for bicycle trails and bike lanes?
The country overcommitted to the highway mania in the 1950's and 60's, which contributed significantly to the deterioration of the cities. We seem to have learned that lesson, and are doing a better job of respecting existing neighborhoods. This, by the way, includes mitigation and offset funding. If you want to take part of an urban neighborhood park to build a new off ramp from the interstate (to run more cut-through commuter traffic through formerly quiet residential streets), you had darn well better be prepared to offer something in return.
The opposite problem exists in newer cities and many suburbs that were build for the automobile from the ground up. As these communities have matured, many have reached the point at which they begin to realize that complete dependence on automobiles was a mistake. (This is often driven by increasing density and congestion.) It is good for children, teenagers, and the elderly to be able to get around easily. It is good for lower income people without cars to be able to get to jobs without heroic commutes. It is even good to get out occasionally and get some exercise, without having to hop in your car and drive to some designated yuppie dogtrot. But can you actually get anywhere worth going, without dodging cars?
Retrofitting and repurposing infrastructure gets expensive, and I suspect that's where most of the controversies arise. I'm not dogmatic about bike paths. In some places they work well, but many are only very lightly used. I am dogmatic, however, about sidewalks and wide shoulders, and frequent (pedestrian scale) crossings of arterial roads, so that highways do not become impassable barriers to the people who actually live in the neighborhood. Complete streets is a good idea.
Last but not least, I'll venture the guess that most of the time, sensible people find sensible solutions without it becoming much of an issue. My biggest pet peeve in the DC area is the lack of connecting side streets in so many places. Sprawling subdivisions were built around meandering, hilly tree-lined streets with few access points. That half-mile roundabout that you scarcely notice in your car is an obstacle to pedestrians and cyclists. I've grown to appreciate a regular street grid -- you know: city blocks, where all the streets actually connect -- which makes it easy to move a block or two over and avoid the heavily trafficked streets. It also drives me nuts when there's no way to get from A to B without getting out onto the arterial road -- which all too often has no sidewalk, and the shoulders were long ago turned into another traffic lane. Such roads become barriers. Heck, in Northern Virginia, it seems like half the parking lots don't connect. There are low cost solutions to many of these issues. Maybe road planners should be required to bunk down in a neighborhood for a month without a car before they can spend money building more amenities for automobiles at the expense of non-motorized traffic.
Do you use lane markings, road signage, and light-controlled intersections? Then you should have to pay a tax like every other road user. I ride a motorcycle, which has less road pressure than many road bicycles and therefore causes even less damage to roads. Yet I must pay the same tax as a car.
Sorry, no free loaders.
: )
Nice post.
Just another entitlement group wanting others to pay for infrastructure only they use.
Pay up if you want the bike stuff, or take the bus.
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