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Re: Placerville Branch public meetings re bike lane conversion
Author: The Exchequer
Date: 04-11-2015 - 09:31
M. Harris Wrote:
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> A lot of "bikeists" these days really personify
> the term "bully". All take and no give-and-take,
> ignorant of basic rules of the road, arrogant
> toward the very taxpayers who enable them to
> freely ride on expensive paved trails, unwilling
> to share the cost of the road they demand we share
> with them. Enough of them are scumbag lawyers and
> environmental activists that their small numbers
> seem large and loud. The only effective way to
> counter them is with more opposition and a
> platform combining preservation of history, public
> benefit and community cooperation.
Although I own a bike, I do not do much bicycling and disagree with some of bicyclists' attitudes and views in my community. That said, your characterization of bicyclists as being "enabled" by taxpayers is way off base
Many bicyclists are also drivers. For example, a survey of a local bicycle advocacy organization indicated that 80% of the members own automobiles. Thus, these bicyclists already pay for bicycle facilities, to the extent that they buy gas and pay federal taxes on their purchases. Moreover, maintenance and repair and policing of local streets its typically financed from local property, wage or sales taxes. Thus all people who pay these taxes contribute to funding to address local road expenses.
Much more visible examples of transportation "bullying" are evident where new highways were built through dense urban neighborhoods during the last century, forcing thousands of residents out of their communities and creating barriers in those communities which still stand today.
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> A lot of "bikeists" these days really personify
> the term "bully". All take and no give-and-take,
> ignorant of basic rules of the road, arrogant
> toward the very taxpayers who enable them to
> freely ride on expensive paved trails, unwilling
> to share the cost of the road they demand we share
> with them. Enough of them are scumbag lawyers and
> environmental activists that their small numbers
> seem large and loud. The only effective way to
> counter them is with more opposition and a
> platform combining preservation of history, public
> benefit and community cooperation.
Although I own a bike, I do not do much bicycling and disagree with some of bicyclists' attitudes and views in my community. That said, your characterization of bicyclists as being "enabled" by taxpayers is way off base
Many bicyclists are also drivers. For example, a survey of a local bicycle advocacy organization indicated that 80% of the members own automobiles. Thus, these bicyclists already pay for bicycle facilities, to the extent that they buy gas and pay federal taxes on their purchases. Moreover, maintenance and repair and policing of local streets its typically financed from local property, wage or sales taxes. Thus all people who pay these taxes contribute to funding to address local road expenses.
Much more visible examples of transportation "bullying" are evident where new highways were built through dense urban neighborhoods during the last century, forcing thousands of residents out of their communities and creating barriers in those communities which still stand today.
