I thought Robbie Webber’s comments on the Mayor’s blog post were interesting . . .
The email was entitled:
It’s about time! Mayor Dave explains costs of driving
And here’s what is said:
Many of us in the bike, pedestrian, and transit advocacy trenches have been saying all of this for some time: single occupancy vehicles as the primary transportation mode is very expensive, and NO, drivers do not pay for the roads with gas taxes.
http://www.cityofmadison.com/mayor/blog/index.cfm?Id=183
Blogs, forum comments, talk radio hosts, and others threatened by the idea of government support for walking, biking, and transit scream that, “Bicyclists don’t pay for the roads.” I’m willing to bet that most (not all, but most) of the people that ride their bikes for transportation, fun, exercise, or sport also own cars, so we are paying gas taxes too. Fortunately, we do not allocate access to our roads based on how much gas you buy. I’ve always driven high-mileage
cars, and driven very little, but I get to use the same roads as someone who drives a Tahoe and commutes 40 miles each way.But more important, and excuse the capital letters, MOST ROAD COSTS ARE PAID FOR BY LOCAL PROPERTY TAXES!
Raise your hand if you don’t pay property taxes in Madison. Ah ha! I see some of you folks from the outlying areas in the back there. But you get to use our roads as well, just like I get to use the roads in Verona, Waunakee, or Cambridge. And we all pay Dane County taxes too. OK, not you folks sneaking in from Sauk City or New Glarus, but you get the point.
So, the take away here is:
1. Accommodating driving is expensive for us all. If more people walked, biked, or used transit more often, we’d all pay less in taxes.
2. Most of us pay gas taxes, so please don’t assume that just because I’m on a bike right now, I never throw some money into the pool.
3. Most of the road costs are paid for by local property taxes, and we all pay those.
4. So we all get to use the roads, because we do all pay for them. But we are paying much more than we need to because some people drive way too much.
Thanks to Mayor Dave for saying just that. Too bad so many other elected officials haven’t had the guts to say the same thing. Maybe we need to give them some courage. Or challenge.
I just found it interesting to break it down this way. And when I asked her if I could post this, she said yes, and then quickly reminded me to say that yes, renters pay property taxes through their rents. (If you don’t think so, think about the recent non-profit property tax exemption discussion!)
Anyways, I think it is important to say again. Bikies don’t all think exactly the same, but I be willing to bet that most don’t think all driving is bad, in fact, as Robbie points out, many of them do drive. They just want people to think about how they travel and how they could be a little lighter on the environment and the roads. And if you don’t care about that, think about the huge capital budget and the taxpayers pocketbook!
