Sunday, September 26, 2010

Bike lane tax

One of the questions that arrises is how would one pay for an elevated cycle network.

I checked this debate about taxing cyclists. What  Road Tax for cars pays for is very little but that varies from country to country, in most western counties buses and trains get some subsidy (up to 50%) but most drivers don't realise is that they also effectively get a subsidy to their road tax- that is the road tax doesn't cover cover 100% of what is spent on roads. As I said this varies alot so it's hard to draw a complete moral from this.

What road taxes do, do is make car drivers feel they should get something for their money. If people started to park lorries and trains in the middle of a motorway/free way they would more than gripe about it - it would effect the way they vote.

As for taxes - why not charge a low tax for effectively using the high speed cycle freeway/highway/motorway/autobarn that an elevated cycle lane would be. I'm in favour of £20 unlimited use for the year.

While you don't want to charge initially for the first few Elevated cycle lanes, I think that once people got a taste for cutting their commute time to work they might be willing to pay for it.