Get a bike to save the planet

[fdeck]

There is a very significant portion of the electorate in the US that don't ever want to vote for any tax, especially for something viewed as optional as bike lanes. If that came about, the money would probably be taken away from higher education, K-12 schools and social services, all of which are not "mandadory expenses."

Colorado is trying to add a .5% (1/2 percent) tax for road improvements and maintenance this year and it's probably not even going to get out of committee due to the sentiment mentioned above.

Right. Folks don't want to pay for my roads or schools through their taxes, but they want me to pay for their jobs through higher consumer prices.

Everybody pays a little bit for goodies that benefit someone else. Without that, we go back to the dark ages.

 

[fokof]

Learning to share a road don't cost anything to anyone.

Maybe a little time and patience.
Like we could read here from some posters

 

[Son of Wobble]

I'll stick with my coal-burning classic, thanks.

 

[Pilgrim]

Learning to share a road don't cost anything to anyone.

Maybe a little time and patience.
Like we could read here from some posters

You're right, and it's clear to me that many of the posters in this thread are thoughtful, considerate people.

But I'm not comfortable betting my life that the driver behind me has learned that lesson, free or not. Or betting that they're not checking Facebook on their cell phone. Or fishing for a radio station. Or looking for the sunglasses that just fell off the dashboard. That contributes to my lack of comfort when biking next to traffic.

 

[fdeck]

You're right, and it's clear to me that many of the posters in this thread are thoughtful, considerate people.

But I'm not comfortable betting my life that the driver behind me has learned that lesson, free or not. Or betting that they're not checking Facebook on their cell phone. Or fishing for a radio station. Or looking for the sunglasses that just fell off the dashboard. That contributes to my lack of comfort when biking next to traffic.

Me neither. I'm an avid, experienced cyclist, but there are traffic situations where I'm extremely wary, and some that I avoid altogether.

 

[-Asdfgh-]

You're right, and it's clear to me that many of the posters in this thread are thoughtful, considerate people.

But I'm not comfortable betting my life that the driver behind me has learned that lesson, free or not. Or betting that they're not checking Facebook on their cell phone. Or fishing for a radio station. Or looking for the sunglasses that just fell off the dashboard. That contributes to my lack of comfort when biking next to traffic.

Luckily in the UK people using their phones isn't so much of an issue, and it is illegal, but I suspect Sat navs (or nags as autocorrect suggested) are an issue, with people turning left when told, cyclists be damned. Mind you, some cyclists wear black, dark bicycle, no lights, which doesn't help.

 

[-Asdfgh-]

Me neither. I'm an avid, experienced cyclist, but there are traffic situations where I'm extremely wary, and some that I avoid altogether.

There is a roundabout near Leeds I don't even like in the car. Cycling would be right out.

 

[5544]

If people were serious about saving the planet, shouldn't they start by not having children?

 

[Gravedigger Dav]

Driving my car, I pay about 2 cents per mile in gas taxes, state plus federal. I pay for car registration, even when I'm not driving my car. My bike does negligible damage to the roads, compared to cars and especially trucks, so I'm lowering the maintenance budget. And the roads that I typically ride on are actually funded by my property taxes, which are higher because cycling has made my neighborhood desirable to live in.

Wrong. Wisconsin has the 16th highest gas tax in the U.S. at 51.3 cents per gallon. The national average is 48.62 cents per gallon.

 

[fdeck]

Luckily in the UK people using their phones isn't so much of an issue, and it is illegal, but I suspect Sat navs (or nags as autocorrect suggested) are an issue, with people turning left when told, cyclists be damned. Mind you, some cyclists wear black, dark bicycle, no lights, which doesn't help.

It's illegal here too. But riding a bike offers a vantage point to look down into cars and see what they're doing, and a lot of them are texting on their phones. We've also seen it on the highway, semi truckers holding their phones just above the steering wheel. When one of those trucks kinda wanders off the road, then makes a sudden correction, every few minutes, chances are they're on their phone.

Fortunately, bikes aren't even allowed on those roads in most states.

 

[Gravedigger Dav]

I agree with you. The US had the cojones to build the Interstate system in the 50's and 60's, and now can't afford to fix bridges from the 30's.

We're gonna have to pay for the roads we want - including bike lanes.

We have the money, but our priority seems to be wasting it on redundant and non productive social programs.

 

[Gravedigger Dav]

Some of my software in my old job nearly got used to monitor bridges for upcoming failure. I am sure my old employers would welcome the business. Not that it solves the funding issue, which baffles me. It would be nice to have evidence-based policies sometimes.

I wrote an application for that for the Oregon Department of Transportation. They used it to prioritize repairs and maintenance.

 

[Gravedigger Dav]

If people were serious about saving the planet, shouldn't they start by not having children?

 

[5544]

Less people means less people using resources that cause damage to the planet.

 

[Gravedigger Dav]

Less people means less people using resources that cause damage to the planet.

Responsible people don't damage the planet. They protect it.

 

[Jeff Scott]

 

[5544]

Responsible people don't damage the planet. They protect it.

Responsible or not, they are still causing damage indirectly by using goods and services used by companies and people that do damage the planet.

For example: How responsible is it for a person to have a store built just to purchase "organic" products? All the materials, time, energy, land, etc. used to put up the store instead of campaigning to have the existing store carry "organic" products.

I use the term "organic" in quotes because I saw a store selling "organic" bananas and all they did was place a 100% organic sticker over the existing Chiquita banana sticker and raise the price by 100%.

 

[Pilgrim]

We have the money, but our priority seems to be wasting it on redundant and non productive social programs.

Well, YMMV, and to avoid starting a thread-killing argument, I'll just note that the discussion of priorities for the use of tax money is one of the healthy aspects of a representative form of government.

 

[Gravedigger Dav]

Well, YMMV, and to avoid starting a thread-killing argument, I'll just note that the discussion of priorities for the use of tax money is one of the healthy aspects of a representative form of government.

With that I can agree.

 

[fdeck]

Wrong. Wisconsin has the 16th highest gas tax in the U.S. at 51.3 cents per gallon. The national average is 48.62 cents per gallon.

I cited cents per mile, and you're talking about cents per gallon. I looked up gas taxes in Wisconsin, and according to the websites that I found, we pay a sum total of about 50 cents per gallon, state plus federal. My car gets about 30 miles per gallon. That works out to a bit less than 2 cents per mile.