According to a recent Stanford University study, the fine particulate
portion of transportation pollution brings with it an annual health care
cost of $250,000 to $1million per ton of pollutant.
Our property taxes pay 40% to 60% of city and county ("local") roadway
construction and maintenance. They ought to pay at least that much of bike
path maintenance. However, use of this tax is very regressive in many
respects. A commuter fee would be a better source of revenue, as bike use
for commuting helps reduce traffic congestion.
I don't have figures yet for Madison, but it is not improbable that
bicyclist use of the CC Trail may prevent .1 tons of particulates per year,
which should qualify "us" to recieve $25,000 to $100,000 in saved medical
treatment costs to apply to path maintenance and improvements.
> ----------
> From: Joseph King[SMTP:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]
> Sent: Tuesday, November 05, 2002 4:13 PM
> To: bikies
> Subject: [Bikies] usage fee whiners
>
>
> 1. Usage fees create expectations. One problem with usage fees
> for bike paths is they create an expectation that the path will
> be open for use and usable. In the case of the Military Ridge
> Trail, you can expect large sections to be closed during periods
> of peak usage almost every year.
>
> 2. Because the Cap City Trail (CCT) is used for commuting,
> transportation costs and impacts become an issue. It is a good
> thing is that facilities like the CCT encourage people to commute
> by walking, skating, or biking instead of by car. When one
> considers that the cost to society to provide for cars is not
> completely compensated for by the various fees and taxes
> associated with car use, one must conclude that commuters on the
> CCT are saving society money! Whereas auto consumes our property
> tax, for example, which is used to help pay for the maintenance
> of many local roads not to mention the untold costs of pollution.
> For this reason, this toll changed to bicycle commuters is
> simply bad public policy.
>
> 3. Of course making the points above make you sound like a cry
> baby and a whiner to anyone that is not interested in public
> policies that encourage cleaner air and transportation
> alternatives. Especially unsympathetic are those that pay high
> annual fees to the DNR to boat or to hunt.
>
> Speaking of whining what about having to carry a card just to go
> biking. Really, who wants to carry another piece of paper? I
> mean, what color is it going to be -- not green I hope! Will we
> have to stop to show it to a person sitting in a booth or we will
> be issued electronic speed passes that can be used to track the
> movements of Tim Wong and the rest of the bikies gulag?
>
> --
> Joseph King
> [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> bombay: www.BombayBicycle.org
> madnorski: www.MadNorSki.org
> --
>
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