King5/AP: “A $25 bike fee included in the transportation revenue package announced Wednesday in Olympia is not sitting well among local cyclists. The proposal, announced by House Democrats, would raise $9.8 billion over the next decade. The bike fee is just a small part of that plan, but it’s quickly caught the attention of cycling advocates. … The proposal now on the table would require everyone who buys a bike for more than $500 to pay the $25 fee.”

Linky

It's a start!


(I'm just stirring)

All F;n bikes should have to pay to use the roads and bike lanes!

Why are we taking transportation dollars out of the budget to make bike lanes?


Fishy

because, for every bike on the road there is one less car, one less car means less wear and tear. less wear and tear on the roads = less maintanence costs...

bikes and pedestrians should be encouraged...

A one time fee of 25$ if over $500 is not unreasonable...

Every car/truck taken off the road is less money into the states coffers which then causes the pols in Olympia to come up with new schemes to replace those dollars.

I dont have time at work, but maybe someone can post the revenue that the state coffers receive, is it a revenue problem or a spending problem?




if that is the case than every pair of shoes should be registered for $25... sidewalks and crosswalks dont build and maintain themselves

Especially Hank's shoes. Do you realize how much that guy walks!

BS, I don't see many people commuting by bike from up here in Snohomish county. It works for those that live close to work,play and shopping but not for those that commute any real distance.
Everything that runs on the road should have to pay if they are making lanes for those things.

Fishy

Dont give them any ideas Piper.

and that $25 dollar registration is per shoe, comes with a license plate, and is added as a surcharge to your property tax... that way I can turn in the j-walkers that step in front of either of my cars, motorcycles or bicycles...

exactly why we should all be fighting these miniscule taxes increases that will do nothing to help the bottom line...

LOL...I think he told us he walks 12 miles a day @ work. hehhe

they already are... not long ago they raised the price of beer to $6.50 from $6.00

Screw it! Where's my Pogo Stick?

Bicycles slow me down, causing more pollution besides causing me grief with their "the road is mine" attitude. Pay up and shut up about it.

If you tax them... they deserve the lane... I'd love to take the cruzer down I-5 at rush hour


top speed 10mph.... fugg... (fvck u gass gusslers)

And, just in case it wasn't abundantly clear that the legislators elected in Lewis County weren't ridiculous enough, check out Rep. Orcutt's explanation of why he likes the bicycle tax...it's because bike riders exhale CO2 and cause global warming.

I wish he was kidding...but he's not.

Slappy, maybe you can help me out with this...what is it about you right wing fruitcakes that makes you treat science like it's a disease?

http://www.activistpost.com/2013/03/tax-bicyclists-for-exhaling-co2-when.html

Those "freeloading" bicyclists keep maintenance costs down on the roads that we car drivers have to pay for thru our gas tax...every biker on the road is doing us all a favor.

Fish on...

Todd

Probably not, Hank...it's not a "use tax" so much as it's a "damage tax"...cars driving on roads cause roads to age, and eventually have to be replaced. Drivers pay for this maintenance with the gas tax.

Bicycles don't really cause road wear.

Like I said above...bikers aren't causing damage that we pay for...it's the other way around. Every biker is someone who's not causing road damage and is keeping the costs down for the rest of us.

Why charge them for helping the rest of us?

Fish on...

Todd

Hey, be glad to Toddler!

Hint: Go back to the very first post......look at the bottom.



Dipstick opportunist......if you want to pick a fight with me at least do it on a serious subject.

Discussing a "serious subject" with you would be like having a conversation about quantum mechanics with a squirrel, Slappy.

Here's a hint for you: after your insightful post about how smoking doesn't actually cause any health problems I figured you'd have some insight into how Orcutt figures bicycle riders are causing global warming...since obviously neither of you consider things like facts or science when coming up with your grand plans.

Fish on...

Todd

Thinking was never your strong point was it, Mr. Ex-Lawyer?
Sorry to be so harsh, but blind acceptance of "best available science" (an over-abused term by a mile) should cause you to question the establishment when actions such as transplanting tabacco-exposed lungs yield good results...not just tabacco-exposed, but exposed to a pack-a-day for 20 years!!!!!.....ya get it there, boy?

Don't call me "boy", shitferbrains...for starters.

Fish on...

Todd

"Boy" is worse than "Shitferbrains"?

Just trying to get it straight.....wouldn't want to offend you or anything.

No...calling me "boy" is inaccurate.

Fish on...

Todd

There's that weak thinking again.......

No, that means calling Slappy "shitferbrains" is not only accurate, but demonstrably so.

Fish on...

Todd

Hank,

You have a problem with paying for bicycle lanes that the cyclists aren't helping to pay for via gas tax? First, roads are paid for through avenues in addition to gas taxes, but never mind that. Don't build bike lanes. Then bikes ride on the same road Slappy is trying to drive on and building up his blood pressure, about to burst a vein in his forehead, because there's a damn bike on the road in front of him. Seems like a no-win situation.

$25 is not the big deal. The problem I see is that the state creates more avenues of taxation than it can economically track; i.e., they'll spend more than $25 collecting, administering, managing, and tracking the $25. There's better ways to establish and manage the gov't revenue stream, but that's a different subject. And $499 is a cheap bike, not really good enough to be a daily commuter, more of a kid's play lot bike, but that too, is another subject. Stupid f'n legislators.

Sg

Interesting point on the subject of administering taxation and fee type programs SG. Spend ten bucks to save five is always bad math eh? God bless the government. So many examples of that exact point are being illuminated in this whole sequestration process. Further proof that it is not driven by a true efficiency and cost savings agenda, but rather some political BS.

As a side note but perhaps relevant, I was attempting to do my taxes a few nights back and noticed that the state of Alaska takes about $13 from each permanent fund dividend check that it issues to each of AK's 732,000 residents to "administer" the dividend program.

That works out to roughly 9.5 million dollars annually. Wow? I am entirely ignorant of what administering such a program would cost, but 9.5 million would buy a lot more full time jobs, computers, and file cabinets than I would think it takes to track that sort of data. Granted there are enforcement and investigations components, but still?

I think a "toll" would be a good idea.....collected every time a "Lance Boy" uses a bicycle path paid for by folks who don't use it. Oh, and drop that Five Hundred Dollar thing......that's ridiculous......make it Five dollars per gear....easier to verify.

Slappy is better at stirring the pot than he is at making sensible suggestions. Not that anyone is surprised.

Sht, Sg.......the whole thing is a pot stir............
Waste of time stupid damn idea from the get go.

Some just take themselves way too seriously.

I had a road bike for a while and put on some serious miles while training for triathlons.

While I didn't do much damage to the roads, my hemroids were a bloody massacre!

Sold the bike, you can have that sh!t.

Point being, bikers are in enough pain as is. Can't even take a decent dump without tears.

Least we could do is not charge em for their suffering.

Just get a car will ya?

Aha! So that's where your name came from........

(just yankin')

or would that be "Dropping Pearls"?

Rocket red would be more accurate. Haha.