🚀 go-pugleaf

In article <D.Nash-1111941008420001@bubba.ots.utexas.edu> D.Nash@utexas.edu (Donald L. Nash) writes:
>>Well, this is true, of course, but a big part of the taxes and fees charged
>>to motor vehicles is designed to offset the damage they cause to the roads.
>>That's why larger, heavier vehicles pay more. 
>
>Quite true, and I have no problem with small fees for bikes.  If a big
>heavy car has to pay more than a small light car, then it is only
>reasonable for a comparatively tiny bike to pay a small fee.
>
>Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I think that some of the money from
>license plate fees goes into new road construction.  Even if bikers paid
>license fees, they would probably have a lot fewer roads to ride on
>without the motorists paying to have the new roads built since the
>motorists would still pay the lion's share of the fees.

I don't know the percentage of road construction funds that come from each 
source of state income, but I think that a lot of it is subsidized by general
tax funds, both state and federal.  The fees we pay for 'usage' of the roads, 
such as vehicle registration and gasoline taxes, only pay a portion of the 
costs of construction and maintenance, right?

Anybody have a good source for these kinds of statistics?

Interestingly, I've heard from groups like the League of American Wheelman,
that many of the first roads built in the northeast were built specifically
to provide routes for bicycles.  The notion of 'roads are only intended for
cars' is an after-the-fact invention.

-Mike Jackson
"My opinions are my own, of course, but they're still good ones."

"He has the right to criticize who has the heart to help" - Abraham Lincoln