The Seattle P-I tossed out a weird bicycling story that broached the idea of bicycle licensing or registration after “some” began talking about it when Seattle endorsed the $240 million, 10-year bicycle plan.
The story was followed up the next day by an editorial opposing such licensing and registering.
It's an attention grabber, especially for cyclists, but where's the groundswell for the licensing move? Just one person is quoted in the P-I story, a letter-to-the-editor writer, so I guess this isn't something on anybody's short list.
Faulty
The premise of the story is based on the widespread incorrect assumption that bicyclists don't pay their fare share for the roads they use.
That's completely false and we all know it. Most bicyclists have cars, and we pay licensing fees and a gasoline tax like everyone else. But road construction and maintenance isn't funded by gasoline taxes alone. Funds come from property taxes, income taxes and sales taxes. Bicyclists pay all of those.
In fact, it's been argued that bicyclists pay way more than their fair share because so little of those taxes find their way into the bicycling facilities. And bicycles using bike lanes and trails are reducing traffic on city streets, which helps the tax burden.
Costs studied
The P-I says lawmakers in Olympia have asked state transportation officials to study a bike registration program. Every time, the DOT concludes that the fees won't raise much more than it costs to administer the program.
Bicycle Alliance of Washington director Gordon Black put it in perspetive:
The question of requiring bike registration fees is “one of those perennial things that crops up here. I always tend to believe that a lot of the times the people who are asking this question are saying bicyclists do not belong on the road. That's the kind of subtext (behind): 'Bicycles should be licensed.'
“We don't license walkers. Should we put a tax on shoes so that we can license walkers?”
Where bikes licensed
It's interesting to see the cities that do require bicycles to be licensed. One is the top Bicycle Friendly Community of them all — Davis, California.
There are 15,000 to 20,000 bicycles on campus at UC-Davis, and owners must pay $8 for a three-year registration. The fee helps fund bike programs and part of campus bike coordinator's salary. It doesn't raise enough for bike facilities, however.
Other cities with bike registration fees include Madison, Wisconsin, and Salt Lake City.
Recent Comments